Harry and Meghan's 'greatest champions' leave Netflix: Streaming giant exodus targets 'royal vanity projects' as bosses take axe to series with 'zero financial return'

Harry and Meghan have lost their two ‘champions’ at Netflix as the streaming giant takes the axe to projects delivering them 'zero financial return'.The Sussexes appear to have been caught up in the streamer’s brutal cost-cutting drive, with an insider claiming bosses have concluded viewers will not subscribe ‘to see a Meghan show’.Netflix has cut 1,000 jobs around the world, including executives who brought With Love, Meghan to screens and backed the Sussexes’ explosive docu-series about their rift with the Royal Family.The couple will now be without their ‘human shields’ after Meghan's lifestyle show and Harry's polo series both flopped, the source said.Netflix's new British-born TV boss is expected to shun costly ‘royal-linked vanity projects’ and focus instead on finding the next Stranger Things. As it laid off around one in 20 staff this week, it emerged that director of original series Carolina Garcia, the Netflix executive who oversaw the streaming giant’s relationship with Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Productions, has left after a decade.And yesterday it was revealed that Bela Bajaria has also gone, just months after saying the company had an ‘amazing’ relationship with the Sussexes and urging fans to ‘watch this space’ for new projects.Ms Bajaria and Ms Garcia were said to be such staunch supporters of Harry and Meghan that they were described as the couple’s ‘human shields’. A Netflix insider said: ‘There is a huge restructuring. They had to make cuts as decisions were made that had zero financial return.‘I suspect that Harry and Meghan were part of that because people are not going to subscribe to see a Meghan show.’But their departures leave the Sussexes facing a markedly different regime under new chief content officer Peter Rice, with an insider predicting a move away from ‘royal-linked vanity projects’. With Love, Meghan was not renewed and her two great champions have left NetflixMeghan's Netflix cheerleader Bela Bajaria (pictured this month with Ben Affleck). There has been shock as she has left the streamer to be replaced by Peter Rice, ex-chairman of Walt Disney Television Carolina Garcia, the Netflix executive who oversaw the streaming giant’s relationship with Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Productions, has left after a decadeMr Rice, who was born and raised in the UK but is now in LA, is now in charge of the streaming giant's TV and film output and is expected to take a markedly different approach.'There will be major casualties. He is charged with finding the next Stranger Things or Emily in Paris, rather than some royal-linked vanity project,' another Netflix source said.His predecessor had appeared buoyant about Harry and Meghan's future.In March she dismissed claims that the streamer has been distancing itself from them after a 'falling out'.She said: 'I would say don’t believe whatever you read. Maybe we should all do a little fact-checking. But here’s the thing: We still have a relationship with them, we have movies in development with them, we have an amazing doc with them, they have things in development on the TV and film side.'Meghan is reportedly determined to return to acting while continuing to run her As Ever business, but the row over Guy Ritchie's hit series The Gentlemen is said to have left her 'very cautious' about considering further scripts.She is believed to feel 'used' by those behind the show, following speculation the duchess was close to joining the cast. The rumour emerged just four days before the Sussexes moved back to the UK.Mr Ritchie was said to have held preliminary talks with Meghan, although he apparently responded 'really?' and 'not a chance' when asked about the prospect of the former Suits star appearing in the show.And a source close to its production team last night bluntly insisted the series did not need 'stunt casting' to succeed. It followed leading stars such as Theo James and Ray Winstone appearing incredulous at suggestions the duchess could join a future series.Meghan is said to have been hurt by the ordeal and now plans to be more selective about scripts, amid concerns producers could use the prospect of her involvement as a PR coup to generate interest.Meghan is said to be keen to return to acting, both on screen and even on stageBut Netflix is still expected to want to bid for Harry's rumoured documentary about his mother, Princess Diana, ahead of the 30th anniversary of her death next year.The will-she-won't-she speculation over Meghan's potential acting comeback began just days before she and Harry moved back to the UK with their children in August.Insiders on The Gentlemen have dismissed claims the streaming giant 'used' her to promote its new season.Sources close to Meghan accused those behind the show of revealing her potential involvement in the crime drama to generate publicity, claiming that it had left her with a 'sour taste'.But that claim was rejected out of hand by those with close ties to the show's production team.'This is not a show in need of stunt casting,' a show insider told The Times.On August 22, Tina Brown, former editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, wrote on Substack: 'I learned this morning that the casting of Meghan Markle in season 3 of Guy Ritchie's series The Gentlemen has been withdrawn.'The backlash in the UK was so intense, it became untenable to go forward.'Hollywood entertainment website Deadline also reported that Meghan had been in preliminary talks over a possible role in the third series.In September, stars of The Gentlemen dismissed claims Meghan could join the cast, with Vinnie Jones insisting the show already boasts 'a lot of pretty women'.In his typically direct style, the British actor and former professional footballer said: 'I think it's hot air.'He added: 'We've got a lot of pretty women in this series, so I'm not sure there's room for any more.'James, who plays drug baron Eddie Horniman, joked when asked about the Sussex rumours: 'No. Prince Harry is playing one of my love interests. So that's the Meghan Markle thing.'He later said: 'I think it's a spurious rumour. She'd fit in well because she's actually from the Royal Family, but I think the practicalities of that are impossible.'Winstone, who plays a drugs baron, added: 'It's the first I've heard of it,' but added she would be a 'better-looking' addition than him.Hugh Bonneville, who stars as Lord Hawthorne, was equally dismissive, describing it as 'a genius bit of marketing by the person who dreamt up that idea', while new star Maya Jama said: 'I'd be the last person to know.'Mr Ritchie declined to give interviews on the red carpet at The Gentlemen premiere in September, where he could have quashed rumours he had held talks with Meghan.But he is said to have responded with a simple 'really?' when the duchess's name was first mentioned.Asked if she had a realistic chance of appearing in the series, he reportedly responded: 'Not a chance.'Industry experts even claimed talks of Meghan being linked with a role in the show could have been leaked as a cynical PR tactic to create a buzz around her upcoming arrival in the UK.Mark Borkowski, one of the UK's leading PR gurus, said he felt 'the timing of this has an ulterior motive to do what it's doing, to generate as much attention as possible without saying anything at all'.Addressing claims that it was a deliberate leak from the Sussex side, he told the Daily Mail: 'It's totally plausible, because there's not been a single quote from the production, so they're enjoying all the publicity, it's good for them.'And now, two months after her involvement was first mooted, friends of the duchess have broken cover to claim Meghan was 'used to help promote' the second series of the show.One source said Meghan was used to bolster publicity because Netflix knew the second series was not 'as good as the first' and had 'already commissioned a third'.'It's the oldest marketing trick in the book: get a big name to read a script, then leak that you're "in conversation" with them when, in reality, nothing is particularly far along,' the source told The Telegraph.Audience figures showed official ratings for The Gentlemen fell by approximately 15 per cent from the debut of the first series, which was streamed by 3.5million viewers in March 2024.The first episode of series two had around three million British viewers in the week following its release.Meanwhile, Harry and Meghan face the prospect of a radically different relationship with Netflix following the departure of Ms Bajaria.The duchess previously had longstanding ties with Netflix, signing a $100million five-year deal in 2020. However, the deal lapsed last year after her lifestyle show, With Love, Meghan, received mixed reviews, and its second series failed to make the top ten in either the UK or US.A Netflix consultant who worked closely with Ms Bajaria told The Times: 'Effectively, their biggest champion has gone and they are uncertain about who will be shouting for their cause in the future.'Teams at the company were well aware of how she was fiercely loyal to the couple and determined to prove they were a successful signing, even when the response from viewers was different.'Before her marriage to Harry, the duchess starred in the popular US legal drama Suits, playing lawyer Rachel Zane for seven series.But after her final episode aired in 2018 and she joined the Royal Family, she stepped away from acting and has not taken a conventional role since.In 2022, Meghan insisted she had no plans to return to acting, telling Variety: 'I'm done. I guess never say never but my intention is to absolutely not.'However, she has recently dabbled in a return to acting, making a cameo appearance as herself in the upcoming US film Close Personal Friends, which stars Lily Collins and Brie Larson.She also appeared as a guest judge on MasterChef Australia in July, after filming the episode in Melbourne in April during a four-day tour of the country with Harry.As for any serious plans to act again, anything Meghan eventually stars in would 'attract huge interest'.'The prospect of seeing her return to acting will drive big audiences,' the source said. 'And ultimately, someone – whether it's Netflix, Amazon or another studio – is going to make a lot of money from it.'The Duchess of Sussex declined to comment. Netflix has been approached for comment.