In 2020, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry signed a Netflix deal for an eye-popping sum—and ever since, the future of their production empire has been the topic of massive public interest. The gossip reached a boiling point last summer, due to news that the couple’s overall deal was not being renewed and speculation that Meghan’s lifestyle show, With Love, Meghan, was being canceled after its second season premiered to relatively little fanfare. Then, this month, Variety chimed in with a story about the couple’s alleged professional struggles, sporting this blunt headline: “Inside Meghan and Harry’s Falling Out With Netflix—and Why the Royal Couple Is Struggling in Hollywood.”
But while it’s true that Netflix is not as all-in on the Harry and Meghan business as it once was, insiders say that the big picture isn’t as negative as recent reports imply. For one, a spokesperson for the couple says that With Love, Meghan is not over at Netflix: The show will return for seasonal specials. And while the streamer did divest from As Ever—the lifestyle brand that Meghan launched earlier last year—the brand itself is still a going concern, making ongoing partnerships with other established businesses. In late January, As Ever launched a collaboration with chocolatier Compartés; last week it started selling a limited-edition gift set featuring As Ever tea and fresh gardenias from High Camp Supply.
“Meghan is very focused on continuing to build her brand, As Ever,” said a source close to the duchess. “In addition to the brand, Meghan and Harry continue to focus on both their production company work, including the upcoming theatrical release of Cookie Queens”—a documentary the couple premiered at Sundance this winter—“and their philanthropic work.”
As Ever seems like a success by most accounts, with its earliest drops selling out in under an hour. Though the Variety story estimates that Netflix was warehousing about $10 million of inventory last summer, a Times story from January that looks into the company’s data showed that As Ever appeared to have sold more than $36 million worth of jam alone. A source with knowledge of the company’s operations tells VF that jam is not even the company’s top-selling product, adding that As Ever’s January bookmark release sold out in 10 minutes, while a recent chocolate release sold out in less than an hour.
Still, the initial Netflix connection clearly helped open some doors for the company. Sources close to the duchess told the Mail on Sunday last year that As Ever’s initial white-label products were manufactured by Republic of Tea, a food company that also makes Bridgerton-branded product lines. In an interview with Inc. that was published soon after As Ever’s launch, Meghan said that the As Ever staff was in touch with Netflix’s Consumer Products Group daily.
Netflix’s divestment from the company was not itself a surprise—but it seems the timeline was. In April 2025, Meghan told Fortune that she and Netflix were in “harmony” over a five- to seven-year timeline. An insider tells Vanity Fair that concerns about the “difficulty of creating a sustained audience” did help hasten the split between As Ever and Netflix.
