This has been rumored for months but we haven’t gotten a solid confirmation or announcement before now: The Duchess of Sussex is doing a cooking show! Not only that, but Prince Harry is producing a show about polo! For months now, industry sources have previewed Meghan’s eventual move to lifestyle/cooking, but we kept waiting and waiting for the official announcement. I even thought it would all come out as a package deal: a cooking show, a kitchen/cookware line from American Riviera Orchard, plus a “Meghan’s Montecito Kitchen” cookbook. Instead, ARO got soft-launched first, and then the cooking show, and we’re still waiting to hear about a cookbook!
Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry are cooking up two new projects with Netflix. Deadline can reveal that the pair have two non-fiction projects in production at the streamer. They form part of the overall deal that her and husband, Harry, The Duke of Sussex, signed with the company in 2020 via their Archewell Productions banner. The first series will see The Duchess, otherwise known as Meghan Markle, celebrate the joys of cooking, gardening, entertaining, and friendship.
It will be produced by Sony Pictures Television’s The Intellectual Property Corporation, which is behind series including Hulu’s The D’Amelio Show and A&E’s Leah Remini: Scientology & the Aftermath.
Selena + Chef’s Leah Hariton will serve as showrunner with Michael Steed, who has helmed episodes of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction and Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, directing. Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex and Chanel Pysnik will exec produce for Archewell Productions alongside Hariton and Aaron Saidman and Eli Holzman for IPC. It comes after Meghan launched her new business venture American Riviera Orchard.
The second series follows the world of professional polo. Shot primarily at the U.S. Open Polo Championship in Wellington, Florida, at The USPA National Polo Center, the series will explore the world of the sport, which is known primarily for its aesthetic and social scene. It 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. Prince Harry has been known as a keen polo player and is often photographed playing internationally. The series will be produced by Boardwalk Pictures, the production company behind series such as Netflix’s Chef’s Table, Pepsi, Where’s My Jet? and Sex, Love & Goop. Miloš Balać, who has worked on FX’s hit docuseries Welcome to Wrexham, will serve as showrunner.
Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will exec produce alongside Pysnik for Archewell Productions, with Andrew Fried, Sarina Roma, and Dane Lillegard exec producing for Boardwalk Pictures and Balać and Ian Samplin also exec producing. Both untitled shows are in early stages of production.
The polo show… my guess is that Harry is probably a fan of Netflix’s Full Swing and/or Drive To Survive, which delve into the worlds of pro golf and Formula 1, respectively. Harry thought “we could do that with polo!” I think that’s really cool, honestly. Tennis tried to create a Drive To Survive-like show with Break Point, but producers didn’t know what the f–k they were doing and they ended up platforming and whitewashing two of the most problematic abusers on the men’s tour. Polo is a great sport for this kind of docuseries treatment because polo is largely inaccessible to general sports fans, and the show could introduce a wider audience to the sport and actually grow the sport too.
As for Meghan’s show… she will “celebrate the joys of cooking, gardening, entertaining, and friendship.” OMG, she’s going to have friends over to cook with her and maybe we’ll see her gardens in Montecito! Y’all know Abigail Spencer will appear on the show.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.