Netflix cash is king for Harry – despite ‘Diana:The Musical’
IT was a source of upset so raw Prince Harry chose to air his grievance in public when he sat down with Oprah Winfrey.
As he and wife Meghan spoke to America’s chat show queen during their explosive interview in March, he told how his father, Prince Charles, had “literally cut me off financially” after the pair stepped down as senior royals.
Harry implied they had been left strapped for cash, which was why they went on to ink deals with the likes of Spotify and US streaming giant Netflix.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex said it was never their intention to broker such multi-million dollar deals, although it was later claimed talks began long before they left the UK.
During their cosy chat Harry famously paid tribute to his mother, Princess Diana, telling Oprah: “I’ve got all my mum left me, and without that, we would not be able to do this.” Months later, the royal expenditure reports emerged revealing the couple had been more than economical with the truth.
In the fiscal year beginning April 2020, Charles’ accounts suggest about £4.5 million was spent funding the activities of both Harry and Prince William’s families.
Months on, the couple bought their £11 million Californian mansion from where they have since arranged other lucrative deals.
The rate at which the Sussexes appear to act has left some PR experts claiming they could become a billion-dollar brand like the Obamas.
It’s fair to say then they are not short of a bob or two.
So why then does Harry still persist in working with Netflix, who are reportedly portraying his own mum in a slew of supposed tacky depictions on their hit series The Crown?
The Duke and Duchess are believed to be working on several projects including a fly-on-the-wall documentary about their lives as part of their multi-year deal with the streamer signed in September last year.
But pressure is mounting on the Prince after British filmmaker and socialite Jemima Khan – a close friend of Diana’s – pulled out of helping to advise on the script for
The Crown. She withdrew from the project, she said, because Diana’s story was not being handled “as respectfully or compassionately as I had hoped”.
I’m sure it wasn’t anything to do with her split from the show’s creator Peter Morgan who she briefly dated...
Either way, Harry himself has admitted The Crown is “fictional”.
He told his friend James Corden he had watched the show saying: “They don’t pretend to be news. It’s fictional. But it’s loosely based on the truth.
“Of course, it’s not strictly accurate, of course not, but loosely it gives you a rough idea about what that lifestyle, the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else, what can come from that.”
In addition to The Crown, let us not also forget Netflix is also streaming the dreadful “Diana: The Musical” yet it appears to not matter a jot to Harry and Meghan.
At what point do you put someone besmirching your own mother ahead of your own already filled pockets?
I, like may others, think it beggars belief.
They say blood is thicker than water when it comes to family – but not as thick it seems a bundle of dollar bills for some.
Loyalty and royalty clearly come at different prices.
FEW come much bigger than Aaron Rodgers when it comes to American football. As the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, he earns more than £25 million per year, but his greatest performance is possibly that of role model to millions of kids.
Yet this week, after catching
Covid, his hero status was monumentally sacked.
After telling the world he had been “immunised” in August, it turns out Rodgers lied and instead was taking his own concoction of pills. He hadn’t been vaccinated, knowingly putting others at risk by breaking American football’s strict protocols dealing with the unvaccinated. How utterly selfish.
You don’t just get the shot for yourself. You also get vaccinated for those around you. For everyone you come into contact with.
After first taking a knee in protest about racial inequality during the national anthem before a match in 2016, quarterback Colin Kaepernick feared he was subsequently blackballed and has never played the sport again. Rodgers, who was forced to miss a game, could be back this week. Think about that.
It’s fair to say then they are not short of a bob or two...