Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are 'No Longer Taken Seriously' After Ditching the Royal Family for Hollywood
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry tried to make it in Hollywood after moving to the U.S., but the couple continues to disappoint critics.
Dec. 13 2024, Published 6:00 p.m. ET
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's latest series, POLO, failed to satisfy critics' expectations, which could mean the Sussexes' future in Hollywood is over.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's 'POLO' was slammed for being 'boring.'
Initially, 2024 was seen as the Sussexes' “redemption year,” but their projects failed to rehabilitate their public image.
“[Harry and Meghan] have alienated themselves," American royal commentator Kinsey Schofield told TalkTV. "They’ve made so many wrong moves that I don’t think they’re taken seriously anymore."
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's tell-all series broke records for Netflix, but their creative projects failed to make the platform's top ten list.
POLO was branded as out of touch because the sport is associated with royalty and nobility.
“I've never seen a more blissfully unaware couple," Schofield shared. "Their lack of self-awareness is the only thing they should be receiving trophies for."
"I do think [The Lost Prince] documentary humiliated them," the podcaster added while discussing the German film about the duo. "It magnified the fact that Harry and Meghan have had many more failures than successes since they chose to step down as senior members of the royal family.”
OK! previously reported POLO's low ratings could affect the Sussexes' multiyear deal with Netflix.
"The new polo documentary hasn't received good reviews, and this is another foray into producing from Meghan and Harry," brand expert Nick Ede said in an interview.
"It could, like the Invictus documentary, start well due to the public's fascination with the pair and with polo potentially," he noted.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are currently based in California.
The Sussexes' explosive tell-all series, Harry & Meghan, broke records for Netflix, but Live to Lead, Heart of Invictus and POLO have yet to reach the network's top ten list.
"With very little airtime, we don't get to see the pair much and also hardly any PR around the series, this looks like it's oh no rather than Polo!" Ede explained, as the Sussexes only appeared briefly in the fifth episode of the program.
"We are still waiting for the new food show from Meghan," Ede said of Meghan's upcoming series.
Polo is known to be an expensive pastime, which might be why viewers didn't want to tune into the new documentary.
"Polo is a very niche sport. It's very much a sport for very wealthy people," royal expert Phil Dampier told an outlet. "The average person can't afford a polo mallet or stick let alone a horse or a horse box."
"I don't think it's going to attract many new players," Dampier continued. "I spent many, many days watching the royals play polo, and I have to say it's pretty boring."
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's 'POLO' was perceived as out of touch due to the elite nature of the sport.
When Netflix first released the trailer for POLO, viewers predicted the show wouldn't perform well.
"It's hilarious, but not in a good way. It's so tacky and cringey, it is literally all the worst things about polo. I watched it in appalled hysterics,” a source told an outlet after seeing the promotional video.
"The irony is that polo is actually a surprisingly inclusive sport these days," they added. "You do see plenty of rich kids but there are also plenty of kids from less rarefied backgrounds who just happen to be fantastic riders who are sponsored by the teams."
