Harry and Meghan have lost two senior Netflix supporters as the streaming company restructures and cuts about 1,000 jobs worldwide, raising questions over the future of their relationship with the platform.
Carolina Garcia, who oversaw Netflix’s relationship with the Sussexes’ Archewell Productions, has left after a decade. Bela Bajaria, the company’s former chief content officer, has also departed after previously speaking warmly about the couple and their projects.
The executives were regarded as strong advocates for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Their exits come after Netflix chose not to renew Meghan’s lifestyle programme, With Love, Meghan, while Harry’s polo series also failed to make a significant impact.
A Netflix insider said the cuts formed part of a major restructuring, adding: “They had to make cuts as decisions were made that had zero financial return.”
Asked whether the Sussexes’ projects could have been affected, the insider said: “I suspect that Harry and Meghan were part of that because people are not going to subscribe to see a Meghan show.”
Netflix’s content operation is now being led by Peter Rice, a British-born executive who was raised in the UK and is now based in Los Angeles. He is expected to take a different approach to the company’s film and television output.
Another Netflix source said Mr Rice had been tasked with finding the next major hit rather than pursuing expensive projects linked to the Royal Family.
“There will be major casualties,” the source said. “He is charged with finding the next Stranger Things or Emily in Paris, rather than some royal-linked vanity project.”
Ms Bajaria had appeared to reject claims in March that Netflix was distancing itself from Harry and Meghan. She said at the time that the company still had “an amazing doc with them” and projects in development across television and film.
Her departure leaves the Sussexes facing a markedly different internal landscape at Netflix. A consultant who worked closely with Ms Bajaria said the couple’s “biggest champion” had gone, leaving uncertainty over who would support their projects in future.
Meghan’s five-year deal with Netflix, reportedly worth 100 million dollars, lapsed last year. Her lifestyle series received mixed reviews, while its second series failed to enter the top ten in either the UK or the United States.
The couple’s Netflix partnership began with their documentary series about their break with the Royal Family. The company is still expected to be interested in a rumoured Harry documentary about his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, ahead of the 30th anniversary of her death next year.
Meghan is also understood to be considering a return to acting while continuing to run her As Ever business. She has reportedly become more cautious after speculation that she might appear in Guy Ritchie’s series The Gentlemen.
There had been reports of preliminary discussions over a possible role, but people connected with the production rejected claims that the series needed celebrity casting. Mr Ritchie was also reported to have responded dismissively when asked about the prospect of Meghan joining the show.
Meghan has not taken a conventional acting role since leaving Suits and joining the Royal Family, although she has made a cameo appearance as herself in the forthcoming film Close Personal Friends and appeared as a guest judge on MasterChef Australia.
The Duchess of Sussex declined to comment. Netflix has been approached for comment.
