Prince Harry’s New Netflix Show Proves He’s ‘Still Part of That Very Exclusive Elite Set,’ Commentator Says: ‘Out of Touch with the Public’
Prince Harry has a new Netflix show on the way. It’s about — drumroll, please — polo, a favorite sport among many British royals. His and Meghan Markle’s Archewell Productions is, in partnership with the streamer, going inside the world of professional polo. Per a commentator, it’s not necessarily a good look for the Duke of Sussex. Why? Because his “man of the people” image falls away, showing Harry’s still an “elite.”
Harry’s Netflix show about professional polo proves he’s still part of a ‘very exclusive’ world
Although years removed from royal life, Harry’s still an “elite.” And his new polo Netflix show, according to commentator Rafe Heydel-Mankoo, makes that clear.
Primarily filmed at the U.S. Open Polo Championship in Wellington, Florida, the same place where the Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended a charity polo match on April 12, 2024, Harry’s new show 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,” per Deadline.
“This all goes to show that Prince Harry is actually quite out of touch with the public,” Heydel-Mankoo said on the U.K.’s GB News (via Express). “Because, of course, polo is the sport of Kings.”
“So as much as he tries to tell us that he is distanced from the monarchy and a man of the people,” he continued. “This … really goes to show that he is still part of that very exclusive elite set.”
Harry is executive producing the show for Archewell Productions alongside Meghan. Miloš Balać, of FX’s Welcome to Wrexham, is the showrunner.
Harry doesn’t have much of a ‘commercial skill set’
Heydel-Mankoo continued, saying the Duchess of Sussex’s new Netflix show “fits hand in glove with Meghan’s wider rebrand of her lifestyle brand.”
The series will, per the announcement on April 11, 2024, see Meghan “celebrate the joys of cooking & gardening, entertaining, and friendship.”
News of the show, which Meghan is executive producing, came after she unveiled her new lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, on Instagram.
However, looking at it next to Harry’s highlights a lack of “mass appeal” regarding his “commercial skill set” goes.
“It shows the problem with Harry,” he said. “Because the fact that he is doing a show on polo, which is hardly a mass appeal thing, shows that there is not much of a commercial skill set he actually has.”
The commentator continued, referencing Harry & Meghan and Heart of Invictus: “He knows how to be a prince, how to be a soldier, and how to play polo. He has done the Prince Harry and Meghan documentary. He has done the soldier Invictus. This is the third thing he has got left.”
“But the problem there, of course, is that polo isn’t like football,” Heydel-Mankoo went on. “There is a reason why it is not played on television. [It] is because they have a very small audience for these sorts of things.”
Harry and Meghan’s Netflix shows are in the ‘early’ stages of production
There are few details about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s upcoming Netflix shows as they’re “early” in production.
Titles and release dates are on the way “in the coming months.” So, for now, that means the couple’s other Netflix shows are an option. They include Harry & Meghan, Live to Lead, and Heart of Invictus.
Meghan’s new podcast is also in the works as well as the launch of her lifestyle brand.
