When she started posting links on the ShopMy e-commerce site, some thought that this was going to prove an irresistible source of serious income for the Duchess of Sussex.
It couldn’t be easier, really – influencers link posts from their Instagram to the online shop, and then rake in a percentage of every item of clothing, make-up or homeware sold as a result.
Some of the top creators make up to $1million (£740,000) a year with a cut of between 10 and 30 per cent per item, depending on the retailer.
The ‘creators’ are ranked in a tiering visible only to other ShopMy entrepreneurs; the biggest earners are ‘icons’ and the lowliest ranking is ‘enthusiast’.
After an initial flurry on the site, in which she directed shoppers to the sweaters she wore in her Netflix show With Love, Meghan, the denim dress she wore on a ‘date night’ with Prince Harry to watch Beyonce and her make-up and hair favourites, Meghan has fallen silent.
Indeed, she’s not posted in over two months on ShopMy and it seems that her ranking has dropped from icon to enthusiast as a result.
While she continues to appear regularly on her own Instagram page and that of her brand, As Ever, she or her team are not linking through for ‘easy money’.
Maybe the rewards didn’t justify the (minimal) effort, or maybe… she just doesn’t need the cash?
Meghan has not posted in over two months on ShopMy and it seems that her ranking has dropped from icon to enthusiast as a result. Meanwhile, she continues to appear regularly on her own Instagram page and that of her brand, As Ever
At the start of ShopMy, Meghan directed shoppers to a number of items she had worn, including the denim dress she woreon a ‘date night’ with Prince Harry to watch Beyonce
A spokesman for the couple did not respond to requests for clarification but a source says that – however lucrative – this potential revenue stream is simply not important to her. ‘Her current priorities are centred on As Ever and expanding her business ventures. ShopMy represents an exploration into social media that she enjoys.’
The source adds: ‘The duchess has consistently approached ShopMy with a focus on authentically sharing products and designers she supports, particularly female founders she wants to uplift.’
The deal is then: Meghan doesn’t need the money, because she’s making plenty already.
As speculation grows over the couple attempting to renew links to the UK – with two key members of the Sussex team meeting the King’s aide, Tobyn Andreae, earlier this month, as revealed exclusively by The Mail on Sunday – it’s intriguing to examine what commercial successes the couple have had since moving their lives to California.
The bottom line, of course, has always been significant for both Harry and Meghan. As they seemingly make steps towards rebuilding bridges with the Royal Family, you have to ask: How would a rapprochement serve the Sussexes?
And, more than this, might they need to make up with the King for financial reasons. After all, he used to fund his son Harry’s life … right down to a wardrobe allowance for his wife.
People who know the Sussexes say the reopening of communications doesn’t mean they’re any less committed to life in Montecito.
I’m told: ‘They’re very happy living in and raising their family in California and, as it stands, have no plans to leave. The duke will of course continue, as he has done since he emigrated, to visit the UK in support of his charitable causes and patronages.’
Meghan and Harryarrive at Grand Champions Polo in Florida, US. The couple are said to be happy living in California and have no plans to leave
Meghan is not mentioned in the latest edition of Montecito Journal, which ‘must hurt’, writes Boshoff
Indeed, Montecito is the epicentre of how they are marketing themselves – don’t forget that Meghan’s As Ever brand was originally known as American Riviera Orchard, after the area in which they live.
That said, for someone with Gwyneth Paltrow-Goop-style aspirations, Meghan isn’t even mentioned in the latest edition of the Montecito Journal, which has ‘Female Founders’ and philanthropists in Montecito as its cover story this month. Dozens of local women are featured, but Meghan does not make the cut. That must hurt.
In reality, it is their expensive lifestyle here which is driving much of Meghan’s energetic commercial activity.
Five months after Megxit in February 2020, the Sussexes bought their house in Montecito for $14.65million (£10,890,000).
And it’s that purchase which seems to have fired the starting gun on the Sussexes’ endeavours. In their tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey the following year, which took place while Meghan was pregnant with daughter Lilibet, Prince Harry reflected on their money-making activities to date. He said their deals with Netflix (signed in September 2020, reported as $100million over five years) and Spotify (signed in December 2020, reported at $20million) had both been driven by financial necessity.
The prince said he was cut off by his family in the first quarter of 2020, shortly after he and Meghan announced they would step back as senior members of the royals.
He added that he still had the money left to him by his late mother, Princess Diana.
‘Without that, we wouldn’t have been able to do this,’ he said, referring to the family’s move to California.
Even the reputed £10million left by Diana wouldn’t be enough to sustain the couple’s lifestyle for long, as their expenses add up to around $4million a year after tax
If Harry and Meghan had really been getting $100million over five years from Netflix at a steady rate of $20million a year, then you could consider it taken care of. But a source with knowledge of the Netflix deal say it’s never worked out like that
But even the reputed £10million left by Diana wouldn’t be enough to buy his house and sustain their lifestyle for long.
The couple are widely reported to have taken out a mortgage, with repayments apparently standing at $480,000 a year. On top of this, property tax will be a further $68,000 a year. Utilities are estimated at $24,000 a year, staffing costs $250,000 and security – always a priority for Prince Harry, who made two tours of duty in Afghanistan with the Army Air Corps – is said to cost up to $3million a year.
It all adds up to needing to clear around $4million a year after tax, which is quite a task.
Sources also indicate that the price Harry and Meghan pay to run their Archewell production company is significant, ‘probably $3million a year, which as an overhead commitment is quite big by Hollywood standards’, though some of those costs come out of charity funds.
If Harry and Meghan had really been getting $100million over five years from Netflix at a steady rate of $20million a year, then you could consider it taken care of.
But a source with knowledge of the Netflix deal say it’s never worked out like that.
They said: ‘From speaking to someone with knowledge of the deal, it looks like they’ve probably managed to maybe keep $10million-$15million or a touch more purely for themselves over the nearly five years so far – not bad business, but that kind of money doesn’t last long with their lifestyle.
‘Netflix paid for the production of [the tell-all hit documentary series] Harry & Meghan, which would have included a big fee for them.
‘I’d guess [the money Netflix spent on it] works out at $20million all-in.
‘Netflix haven’t done too badly out of the relationship in as much as they’ve probably only gone out of pocket to the tune of around $40million or thereabouts, and they did at least get a huge hit documentary out of the investment, and a less successful show in With Love, Meghan.
‘The whole arrangement was basically a trade-off for Netflix getting the Harry & Meghan documentary and they will regard it as a modest win.’
This week, though, Netflix released viewing figures for With Love, Meghan, revealing it was a relative flop – ranking at No 389 in their six-monthly engagement report, with just 5.3million viewers across the globe.
To put that into context, the most popular show was the British drama Adolescence, which got 145million viewers this year. Other winners included the drama Missing You which got 58million viewers and Department Q which drew 25million.
There was worse news for Prince Harry. The documentary show which he produced, Polo, ranked at number 3,442 (out of around 7,000) with a disastrous 500,000 views globally.
The documentary went behind the scenes at the elite sport and was derided as dull and ridiculous.
Half a million views puts it on a par with re-runs of a nine-year-old cartoon, He Man: Masters of the Universe.
Yet the expectation remains that their Netflix deal will be renewed. I’m told Ted Sarandos thinks Meghan is a ‘rock star’ and will announce the deal renewal and a third series of With Love, Meghan, around the same time that the second, already filmed season, is screened later this year.
It’s likely that Netflix won’t be so keen on briefing about the size of their commitment for the show: It’s probable that they’ll pay Meghan between $3-$5million a year for it.
But all this cash is about way more than the TV shows. What’s changed is that Meghan now has a ‘sell-out’ personal brand in As Ever, which, notably, is a partnership with Netflix. After selling out her jams, sprinkles and cookie mixes, she has now added a sell-out rose wine, though admittedly she has never revealed the quantities of stock for any of these products.
Everything which she puts her name to goes like a rocket and it looks as if the former actress is going to be the chief breadwinner of the Sussex family by a country mile, with Harry financially trailing in her wake.
What a turn-around from the situation when they met – when she was a modestly successful TV actress and he was a prince with great prospects.
In terms of As Ever, despite the hype, one should be realistic that it is still very early days for the brand, and neither Netflix or Meghan are revealing any sales figures.
However, entertainment executives with experience of spin-off deals say that the money she is set to make from As Ever will at least match the income from her production deal – so at least $3-5million – which will keep the family in cashmere pyjamas for the foreseeable future.
That’s not to say that everything in the Sussex world is rosy. The Spotify deal was yanked, with only a small percentage of that headline $20million figure received and just one podcast series hosted by Meghan, Archetypes, produced.
The duchess now has a deal with the relative podcasting minnow Lemonada Media, which is unlikely to be lucrative. And while her Confessions of a Female Founder podcast for them drew press attention, it didn’t top the charts, and she recently said that there were no plans for a second series.
‘As I knew I was in this building phase of my business, what an amazing opportunity to pull back the curtain and let people see what’s happening at the start… And to then take everyone’s advice and mine included and to say, “I love that there’s so much excitement and desire for another season, but I need to focus on my business”,’ she said. ‘And at a certain point, the only thing I want spread thin is my jam.’
Meghan adds that perhaps she’ll reconsider her position by the end of the year, or beyond.
But it’s notable that she also said: ‘I just made a choice to say it’s a really good time to put all of my energy into the thing that I’m building.’
And that ‘thing’ is undoubtedly her lifestyle brand.
Certainly, there is a significant way to go, and a lot of competition.
For example, other influencers in the hostessing space, like Lucky Girl wine’s Akila Releford Gould – a striking Californian who says she wants to be the ‘black Gwyneth Paltrow’ – have a larger inventory, their own vineyard, and run lucrative networking events.
Meanwhile, what of Prince Harry? He still has two paying jobs, one with Travalyst – a company that promotes sustainable tourism – and one with the coaching company BetterUp, where he is the chief impact officer, which is understood to be the more highly paid.
The Atlanta company reports revenues of $215million in 2024, sharply up from $151million in 2023.
It has a rather lowly score of 3.4 out of 5 on jobs app Glassdoor, with former employees grousing about low pay and ‘dysfunctional’ management. In 2023 the firm laid off a reported 15 per cent of staff.
Many are cheesed off over the company’s focus on recruiting influencers and celebrities, such as Harry. One writes that they should ‘dump’ the prince and another complains that the culture of ‘radical candour’ is actually simply ‘toxic’ in reality. Most staff – like Harry – work remotely.
Travalyst, meanwhile, appears to be growing less quickly. According to the most recently filed accounts with Companies House, it has assets of £320,000. It tries to promote sustainable tourism by standardising the way, for example, that airline emissions are reported. Its clients are chiefly booking websites.
While Meghan devotes herself to the business realm, Harry’s main focus – following the couple’s ‘brand separation’ which I first reported on nearly two years ago – is charitable. This is why he went to Angola without Meghan for the Halo Trust this week. His cherished African charity, Sentebale is, of course, a mess and he has had to walk away from it after falling out with the chairman.
The Archewell Foundation – which Harry and Meghan are involved with – supports some notable initiatives around social media and bullying, but is largely grant-making, and relatively small scale. In 2023 it handed out just $1.3million in grants. Without a massive benefactor, it’s hard to see how it is going to make more than a modest impact – and they’ve not found one of those yet.
Which leaves only the Invictus Games, Harry’s admirable venture for wounded and sick military service personnel. The first one was in London in 2014 and the next games will be a winter version in Vancouver and Whistler later this year.
Then comes Birmingham in 2027 with Prince Harry having apparently extended an invitation to his father, the King.
It seems only natural that Harry, having been so completely eclipsed commercially by his wife, would love to reclaim the kudos of his birthright in some way. But after so many betrayals, it remains far from clear if that is within his grasp…
