- Published
When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex quit working for the Royal Family in 2020 and moved to California, they brought something even Hollywood can't manufacture: royalty.
asserted
Hollywood → publish → something
But while Harry and Meghan enjoyed some success in showbusiness, their Hollywood reign proved short-lived and California has greeted news of their departure back to the UK with a shrug.
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California → enjoy → shrug
In pursuing their American dream, they said they were seeking more than financial independence.
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they → pursue → independence
In their 2021 blockbuster interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan described the freedom to make her own choices as "liberating".
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Meghan → describe → choices
Harry later said America offered his family a degree of privacy and freedom they "undoubtedly wouldn't be able" to enjoy in the UK - and that it was the life his mother, Diana, would have wanted for him.
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mother → say → him
The couple settled in Montecito - a celebrity enclave a few hours north of Los Angeles with neighbours like Oprah Winfrey, Gwyneth Paltrow and Rob Lowe.
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couple → settle → Winfrey
Multimillion dollar podcast and Netflix deals followed.
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deals → follow → ?
"They were so sought after, they were names that would hit the press and command attention right away," says Stacy Jones, chief executive of Hollywood Branded, a marketing and PR agency.
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Jones → seek → Branded
"There are endless parties, endless events and endless things to do if you are a celebrity inside Hollywood," she says.
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she → be → Hollywood
"But you soon realise that all those endless things are promoting something to sell."
And the royal couple had plenty to sell.
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couple → realise → plenty
LA-based royal watcher and journalist Elizabeth Holmes, who wrote HRH: So Many Thoughts on Royal Style, says: "I think part of why this [the Sussexes leaving the US] was surprising to me was just because it did feel like they were sort of settling into their life in California."
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they → base → California
Not everyone is sad to see them go.
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them → see → ?
The New York Post, often scathing about the couple, greeted the news of their departure with the headline "Throne Back!", declaring that America's "long national nightmare is over".
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nightmare → greet → headline
They managed something most newcomers to Tinseltown never do: persuading some of its biggest companies to invest heavily in them.
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newcomers → manage → them
Attracting that initial investment proved easier than sustaining it, however.
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Attracting → attract → it
Their multi-year Spotify deal, reported to be worth up to $25m (£18.3m), produced Meghan's 12-episode podcast Archetypes, featuring guests such as Serena Williams and Mariah Carey.
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deal → report → Williams
In 2023, however, Spotify and the couple's Archewell Audio announced that they had "mutually agreed to part ways".
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they → announce → ways
Their five-year Netflix deal, signed in 2020 and reportedly worth between $60m and $100m, delivered several programmes.
uncertain
deal → sign → programmes
But it has since been replaced by a less lucrative arrangement, against the backdrop of a broader downturn across the entertainment industry.
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it → replace → industry
Behind the projects, the Sussexes' production business also experienced high staff turnover, with reports that some former employees privately called themselves the "Sussex Survivors Club".
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employees → experience → themselves
Harry, too, found commercial success, but largely when he was selling his own royal story.
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he → find → story
His memoir, Spare, was a publishing phenomenon, reportedly coming with a $20m advance.
uncertain
memoir → come → advance
It sold more than six million copies worldwide, making it the fastest-selling non-fiction book on record.
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it → sell → record
As part of its promotion, Harry held a public conversation with trauma specialist Dr Gabor Maté, in which he explored how his royal childhood had shaped him.
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childhood → hold → him
In an interview with BBC Newsnight on Thursday, Maté said Harry had come across as "very personable, very sensitive" and someone doing his best to make sure "he doesn't pass on his traumas to his children".
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pass → say → children
The Duke of Sussex remains enormously marketable when the subject is Harry himself, the Royal Family or the causes with which he has long been associated.
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he → remain → which
He became chief impact officer at the Silicon Valley coaching company BetterUp and co-created and executive-produced the Apple TV+ mental-health series The Me You Can't See, with Oprah Winfrey.
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You → become → Winfrey
His Netflix projects have drawn heavily on his established interests.
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projects → draw → interests
Heart of Invictus followed wounded and injured military veterans preparing for the Games he founded, while Polo explored another of his passions.
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Polo → follow → passions
Neither attracted anything approaching the attention generated by the couple's six-part documentary series Harry & Meghan, or his revelations in Spare.
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Neither → attract → Spare
In one of his relatively rare major public appearances, Harry also delivered the keynote address at an informal meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York in 2022, marking Nelson Mandela International Day.
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Harry → deliver → Day
He spoke about his mother, his connection to Africa and Mandela's legacy.
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He → speak → Africa
But he seemed to struggle to break out of his royal typecast role in the US.
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he → seem → US
As for former Suits actress Meghan, she branched out into a Netflix cooking and lifestyle series.
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she → branch → series
This content showed off their idyllic life with adorable "rescue chickens" and fresh-grown strawberries, against the scenic backdrop of the Santa Ynez Mountains.
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content → show → Mountains
With Love, Meghan was cancelled after two seasons, but it has been nominated for an Emmy in the Outstanding Lifestyle Series category.
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it → cancel → category
Netflix also ended its involvement in Meghan's lifestyle brand, As Ever, earlier this year.
"
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Netflix → end → brand
Netflix produces movies.
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Netflix → produce → movies
Netflix doesn't produce jam," says Jones, the brand guru.
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Jones → produce → jam
Critics assailed the carefully curated lifestyle presented by Meghan as tone-deaf.
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Critics → assail → Meghan
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
