Meghan and Harry launching two new series at Netflix featuring cooking, gardening and polo

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have two new non-fiction series in the works at Netflix, it was reported Thursday (11 April).

It comes at the tail end of the couple’s five-year deal with the streaming giant, inked in 2020 for an estimated $100m after they resigned as senior members of the royal family and relocated to the US.

The first series will see Meghan celebrate the joys of cooking, gardening, entertaining, and friendship, Deadline first reported.

Leah Hariton (Selena + Chef) serves as showrunner, while Michael Steed (My Next Guest Needs No Introduction; Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown) serves as director.

Meghan and Chanel Pysnik will executive produce for Archewell Productions – the Sussexes’ media firm.

The second series, primarily shot at the US Open Polo Championship in Wellington, Florida, “will provide viewers unprecedented access to the world of professional polo. Known primarily for its aesthetic and social scene, the series will pull the curtain back on the grit and passion of the sport, capturing players and all it takes to compete at the highest level”.

Miloš Balać, who has worked on Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s Welcome to Wrexham, will serve as showrunner.

Both untitled shows are in the early stages of production, Deadline reports.

Prior to her 2018 royal wedding to Prince Harry, Meghan ran The Tig – a lifestyle blog she created in 2014 before shutting it down in 2017. Cooking has also been a longtime love for former Suits star, who previously shared her recipes for beet cheesecake, and spicy broccoli and hempseed stew on The Tig.

While working as a senior member of the royal family in 2018, Meghan launched a charity cookbook to raise money for victims of the Grenfell Tower fire.

Harry has competed in polo tournaments throughout his life and counts Argentinian polo star Ignacio Figueras as one of his closest friends.

The Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club is not far from Harry and Meghan’s Montecito home, where they are currently raising their two children, four-year-old Archie Harrison and two-year-old Lilibet Diana.

Under the deal with Netflix, the pair released a six-part docuseries titled Harry & Meghan, which became Netflix’s most successful documentary launch ever.

Since signing the deal, the Sussexes have also completed two other documentaries – Heart of Invictus and Live to Lead – that received a more middling viewer response.

However, Harry and Meghan were heavily scrutinised in the wake of reports that executives at both Spotify and Netflix were left “underwhelmed” by their lack of experience as producers. Spotify subsequently ended its $20m deal with the Sussexes and Archewell Audio after just one season of Meghan’s podcast, Archetypes.