Harry and Meghan: Couple’s next project is ‘Feel good and light-hearted’ Netflix rom coms

Harry and Meghan's next move: 'rom coms, and feelgood entertainment'. Photo / Netflix

Their Netflix documentary series was billed as their “love story” and they have rarely missed an opportunity to gush about their romance.

Now, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex plan to harness their own experiences as star-crossed lovers to make rom coms.

The couple, who signed a multi-year deal with Netflix in 2020, are moving away from content about themselves and have several “fun” television series in the pipeline, the Telegraph understands.

“There will be more of a heavy focus on fictional, scripted content,” a source said.

“It will be rom coms, feel good and light-hearted programmes.”

The couple will not appear on screen, instead adopting less time-consuming executive producer roles, which will allow them to pursue other projects and philanthropic work.

Harry and Meghan in their bombshell six-part docuseries Harry & Meghan. Photo / Netflix

It comes after the Duke revealed in his memoir that he used to binge watch Friends, while Meghan has admitted watching When Harry Met Sally “a million times” as well as “all the Julia Roberts rom coms”.

She told Variety magazine last year: “People love love. I’m not excluded in that sentiment. And our definition of love is really expansive: Partner love, self-love, the love of community and family. We use that as the baseline of the kind of shows and documentaries we want out there.”

The shift from documentary-style content, marks a notable departure for the couple who have, so far, largely focused their efforts on their own experiences.

In moving towards fictional romance, the Sussexes follow in the footsteps of the Duchess of York, whose second historical romance novel for Mills & Boon is published next month.

The development will be considered a welcome respite by those who have found it hard to escape the thoughts of Harry and Meghan in recent months, following the back-to-back releases of the Duchess’s Spotify podcast, Archetypes; their Netflix series and then Prince Harry’s memoir.

Meghan's Archetypes podcast. Photo / Spotify

The couple have kept a low profile since the publication of the Duke’s book, Spare, last month, and are keen to keep their heads down.

“They’ve had enough of being in the spotlight for now,” one friend confirmed. “It was a difficult few weeks in many ways and they want to take a step back.”

Instead, they are understood to be focusing on charity work closer to home, in California, which they can pursue under the radar.

Although they were spotted among the guests as their neighbour and television host Ellen DeGeneres renewed her wedding vows to Portia de Rossi last week, they are not expected to undertake any official engagements or travel until the spring.

Prince Harry's memoir Spare. Photo / Getty Images

They are also both working on individual projects, including the Duke’s Heart of Invictus documentary series which is due for release this summer.

Despite all of the noise surrounding the Sussexes’ potential appearance at the King’s Coronation, the couple are not thought to have received any formal contact from either the Archbishop of Canterbury or the Royal family, suggesting that the apology and potential reconciliation that the Duke has called for may not be forthcoming.

Both Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace refused to acknowledge any of the couple’s recent claims, a strategy which some believe may make it difficult to move forward, even privately.

Meanwhile, the move towards scripted content triggered yet more staff changes at Archewell, with both Ben Browning, internal content head, and Fara Taylor, who leads the marketing team, leaving later this year and not being replaced.

The departures follow those of Mandana Dayani, chief operating officer of Archewell, and Rebecca Sananes, head of audio.