Prince Harry and Meghan Close Out 2024 at Major Turning Point

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s Netflix deal is expected to wrap up in 2025 while the duchess’ new lifestyle brand will launch—making the next 12 months crucial for their American success.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s 2024 was perhaps the quietest year of their relationship after a rollercoaster seven years dominated by wars with the media, royal bombshells, marriage, children and relocation to the U.S.

Comparatively, the main highlights of the past 12 months were two “faux” royal tours of Nigeria and Colombia.

However, 2025 may prove to be a crunch year as their Netflix deal is expected to wrap up with at least one new project, posing questions about what their future looks like after leaving the streaming platform.

At the same time, Meghan’s lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard is expected to debut after a soft launch in March, when she sent samples of jam to her A-list friends prompting a flurry of Instagram posts from stars like Chrissy Teigen and John Legend.

That all means that fans who have watched their star fall somewhat since the release of Harry’s book Spare in January 2023 will have a good idea by the end of 2025 whether they have found a way to make it soar again.

Harry and Meghan’s 2024

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have now clocked up almost two years with no major hostile interviews targeting the prince’s family, the last ones being grouped around the publicity for his 2023 book Spare.

Instead, the biggest moments in their year were overseas visits, first to Nigeria in May and then to Colombia in August.

The trips were organized like a traditional royal tour but without the inclusion of the British foreign office and or the status of a state visit.

Most fans would probably have struggled to tell the difference though as the red carpet was rolled out for them, having been invited to Nigeria by Chief of Defense Staff Christopher Musa, the country’s highest-ranking military official.

And they were hosted by Vice-President Francia Márquez in Colombia, where they danced the salsa and kissed in front of the cameras during a tour in which they appeared genuinely happy.

The other major highlight of the year for the couple was the soft launch of Meghan’s lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard.

The duchess sent around samples of jam to a host of A-listers and earned a glowing tribute from Teigen, whose Instagram post read: “We jammin!! This might have been one of the best bites we’ve had all year – all we used is some rustic bread, salted butter, triple cream brie, thick cut bacon and some @americanrivieraorchard jam!

“Took about 8 mins total and made us happy for the entire weekend.”

And in December Harry’s latest Netflix show, Polo, debuted, though the reviews were scathing and it got an audience score of 27 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

Harry and Meghan’s 2025

A calm but positive 2024 may well have been exactly what the Sussexes needed after 2023 saw a major backlash over their broadsides against King Charles III‘s monarchy and the collapse of their Spotify deal.

However, 2025 will likely see the end of another era as their Netflix deal is expected to wind up, with Meghan still due to release a new lifestyle show.

There was also previously talk of Harry and Meghan adapting the hit romance novel Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune, though there has been no casting news or release date since the initial reports.

One major question for the couple is what they do once Netflix expires and whether they will try to land a new deal.

The couple have been hanging out with Brian Robbins, Paramount Pictures CEO and Nickelodeon president, and his wife Tracy Robbins, including at the premiere of reggae biopic Bob Marley: One Love, in Jamaica, in January.

Fans may therefore keep an eye on the Sussexes 2025 for any signs they might jump ship to Paramount, which would also allow them to spin the end of their Netflix deal as their decision to depart, rather than the streamer’s decision to terminate a multi-year deal.

Whether they head to Paramount or not though, jumping ship to any other TV platform will inevitably mean negotiating a new deal and that will mean new content.

And TV executives would no doubt want some idea of what that content would be, meaning they would need pitches strong enough to land them the kind of paycheck they need to fund their substantial annual bill for private security.

That process could be a major test of whether the royal bombshells that defined three years of their lives from 2021 to 2023 really are a thing of the past—or whether the need for a new substantial paycheck might force the couple to offer something slightly more compelling than their other non-royal Netflix projects.

Harry & Meghan, in December 2022, flew to the top of the Netflix charts, making it hugely commercially successful, but they were criticized for re-hashing their Oprah Winfrey interview and royal broadsides.

Their other Netflix shows, Live to Lead, Heart of Invictus and Polo, steered clear of controversy but did not cause a major splash, suggesting they have so far failed to demonstrate they have top-tier commercial value outside the royal soap opera.

Another major change for them will be the full launch of American Riviera Orchard, expected in 2025.

Significant time has already passed since the soft launch but Meghan will also be under pressure to get the project right at a time when the couple’s overall brand is perceived as flailing.

The exact shape of the business is not yet clear and it may go significantly further than selling homemade jam.

Fans will be eager to see where Meghan takes it and whether there is a tie-in with the lifestyle show that is expected to hit Netflix.

Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek‘s The Royals Facebook page.

Do you have a question about King Charles III and Queen Camilla, Prince William and Princess Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We’d love to hear from you.