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Pomp and Circumstance: Harry and Meghan’s ‘All-American’ Celebration for Lilibet and Spotify Deal Comes to an End

Photo of Rebecca Davis O’Brien Rebecca Davis O’Brien
1,009 2 minutes read
Image credits: The Guardian

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle celebrated their daughter Lilibet’s second birthday with an “all-American affair” in California. Royal expert and journalist Jennie Bond believed that the celebration would include a sprinkling of celebrities and a laid-back party. Meanwhile, a separate source claimed that King Charles III had his aides looking at custom-made cubby houses for Lilibet’s gift.

In other news, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s $20 million, multi-year deal with Spotify came to an end after just one series, leaving many wondering what this means for the Harry and Meghan brand. Insiders close to Spotify revealed that the couple did not meet the productivity benchmark required to receive the full payout from the deal.

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Image credits: Page Six

Spotify is facing investor pressure to improve its performance after making a net loss of £367m last year. The company’s chief executive admits that they had been “too ambitious” in their spending plans. In February, an activist investor warned that costs had “exploded” at the company. Against this backdrop, Spotify announced 200 job cuts at its podcasting business this month and is moving its focus away from headline-grabbing exclusive content deals.

The Duchess’s Archetypes podcast, which topped the podcast charts for Spotify in several markets, received mixed reviews from critics. Variety cited an unnamed source who said Spotify had been expecting more content from the couple, while another unnamed source said Harry and Meghan wanted to move away from exclusive Spotify distribution to find a new home for their audio projects.

Since stepping back from royal life, Harry and Meghan have focused on making money through media ventures, such as Harry’s tell-all autobiography Spare and an agreement with Netflix to produce streaming content. Experts once predicted these ventures could help the couple build a $1bn business empire in the US. Spare sold more copies in its first week than any other memoir in the UK, with Harry receiving an estimated £16m advance. The Netflix series was a huge hit, with nearly 2.5 million people watching the first episode on the day of its launch in the UK.

Image credits: POPSUGAR

As for the Spotify deal coming to an end, Mark Borkowski, a crisis PR consultant and author, said that the couple has lost their “novelty value” and that they need to “start coming up with some interesting content”. While it remains to be seen what the future holds for the Harry and Meghan brand, it’s clear that the couple has made a significant impact in the media industry and has shown no signs of slowing down.

Image credits: CBS News

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Photo of Rebecca Davis O’Brien Rebecca Davis O’Brien
1,009 2 minutes read
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