Sad news for Meghan Markle as she suffers new career blow

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attends day two of the Invictus Games 2020
(Image credit: Photo by Samir Hussein/WireImage via Getty)

Meghan Markle has reportedly received some seriously sad news as she suffers a new career blow with the cancellation of a highly-anticipated project.

Since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle “stepped back” as senior members of The Firm two years ago, the couple have gone on to establish several major new projects and partnerships away from the royal spotlight. Perhaps the most prominent of these are Harry and Meghan’s Netflix deal and their Spotify podcast deal, with a brand new Netflix series being announced last year. The project, which some fans claimed she named after herself, was given the working title, Pearl. 

The Duchess and David Furnish were announced as executive producers but now Meghan Markle has suffered a new career blow as its reported Pearl will go no further.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex gives a speech during the Invictus Games 2020

Just last month, the platform is said to have revealed a loss in subscribers which negatively affected their market value. Now, according to the BBC, Netflix has now reportedly cancelled the development of Pearl as part of a cost-saving measure. 

The animated series was set to follow a 12-year-old girl called Pearl as she’s inspired by exceptional and influential women in her own special journey to discover who she truly is.

Opening up in a statement to finally share news of the project with fans in July last year, Meghan declared she was “eager” to bring the series to life on screen.

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“Like many girls her age, our heroine Pearl is on a journey of self-discovery as she tries to overcome life’s daily challenges,” she stated at the time. “I’m thrilled that Archewell Productions, partnered with the powerhouse platform of Netflix, and these incredible producers, will together bring you this new animated series, which celebrates extraordinary women throughout history.

"David Furnish and I have been eager to bring this special series to light, and I am delighted we are able to announce it today.”

Despite her obvious passion for the project, it seems Meghan’s Netflix series will never be brought to fans as she’d hoped. However, this was only one of several projects Netflix is understood to have been working on with the Sussexes.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend the sitting volleyball event

It’s thought that the streaming giant will continue with a number of them, including Heart of Invictus, a documentary series. This will cast a light on a group of truly remarkable competitors from around the world as they prepared for the recent Invictus Games in The Hague.

Prince Harry and Meghan flew to Europe from their new LA home to attend the Games and the couple even paid a joint UK visit to see the Queen at Windsor Castle ahead of this.

Although Meghan Markle might be disappointed at the reported cancellation of Pearl, she and Harry will likely be looking forward to seeing their documentary series air across the world. 

Emma Shacklock
Senior Lifestyle Writer

Emma is a Senior Lifestyle Writer with six years of experience working in digital publishing, ranging from book publishing to magazines. She currently looks after all things Lifestyle for Woman&Home, Goodto.com, and My Imperfect Life.