How Prince Harry and Meghan are copying Ryan Reynolds' Welcome to Wrexham and ... trends now
Prince Harry's recent victory at a charity polo match in Florida, captured by an army of Netflix cameras, offered an insight into how he and Meghan Markle seek to make their millions after retreating from royal duties.
The Duke of Sussex was seen locking lips with Meghan as his team took the top prize at the Royal Salute Polo Challenge - with the action captured by a Netflix team run by Miloš Balać, showrunner on Ryan Reynolds sports doc Welcome to Wrexham.
Balać's programme, exploring the 'aesthetic and social' side of polo, is one of two the Sussexes are making with the streaming giant - with Meghan creating a homelife programme set to tie in with her new lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard.
Echoing the Duke's choice of showrunner, the Duchess' programme is being run by Leah Hariton, who produces Selena Gomez's cooking show Selena + Chef, which sees the popstar learn how to cook dishes with professional chefs.
Both programmes are being executive produced by Archewell Productions, the couple's own creative firm, with titles yet to be announced.
Harry and Meghan lock lips as she presents his polo team with the trophy for winning the Royal Salute Polo Challenge in Florida's Palm Springs
The couple were seem strolling around Grand Champions Polo Club in Florida - flanked by an army of Netflix camera operators producing a new documentary on the sport
Nacho Figueras - a polo player and close friend of the Duke - hopes the documentary, being produced by the Sussexes' own firm, will shine new light on the elite sport
The Netflix series, one of five either made or under production as part of Archewell's Netflix deal, is being filmed by the team behind Welcome To Wrexham. It charts Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney's (left and right) purchase of the Welsh football side
Meghan launched her American Riviera Orchard lifestyle brand on Instagram with a retro-styled video of her in a home kitchen
Her new Netflix cooking show is being made by the same showrunner behind Selena Gomez's hit programme Selena + Chef, which has won the popstar (pictured) merchandising deals
But they point the way for how Harry and Meghan seek to make their fortune following their exit from royal life, after earlier efforts to break into the media failed to launch.
Harry impressed during the Palm Beach polo mini-tournament, played against a squad led by friend, Argentine polo player and model Nacho Figueras.
In Friday's matches, his Harry's Royal Salute Sentebale team beat Figueras' squad 3-1, with the prince scoring the opening goal.
He picked up the ball at midfield - 150 yards (137 meters) from the goal - and repeatedly hammered it the rest of the way, popping it through the goalposts.
He also stopped his friend from a possible breakaway, though he let out a loud yelp of frustration when he missed a pass to a teammate that could have led to a goal.
About 300 spectators attended the matches, part of a fundraising weekend that will raise $1 million for Sentebale, a charity Harry co-founded to support children and young adults in southern Africa countries.
Organisers say the event has raised $15million for the charity since 2006.
And as the Duke, Duchess and polo star strolled around the Grand Champions Polo Club, they were tailed by crews from Boardwalk Pictures, who previously filmed Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney for Disney+ documentary Welcome to Wrexham.
Its first series won five Emmys earlier this year, including Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program.
A combination of the actors' star power and the documentary itself has made the small Welsh football side one of the most famous football teams in the world.
The club is the third-oldest professional football side in existence - but had been languishing in obscurity when it was purchased by the Hollywood duo.
Now its club shirts sell out almost instantly. Harry will be hoping the Wrexham effect rubs off on the 'sport of kings' - of which his father, King Charles III, was a keen player in his youth.
Between Miloš Balać's filmmaking chops and the huge platform Netflix offers, it is hoped Harry's documentary will give polo a similar boost - comparable to that of Formula 1 after high-octane series Drive to Survive won the motorsport new fans.
The success of the F1 series - which revisits the previous year's season with behind-the-scenes insight and interviews from drivers and team bosses - prompted a flood of other sporting dramas on Netflix and other streaming platforms.
Netflix has since produced series on the Tour de France, stock car racing series Nascar, golf's PGA Tour and the ATP and WTA grand slam tennis tours.
'We have been working on this (documentary) for a long time. It was always Harry's dream and passion to share with the world it takes to be a really competitive polo player at the highest level,' Figueras said.
He added of the Duke's polo skills: '(He is) a very good rider... a very good athlete, he has great eye-hand coordination. He's a very good polo player.'
Harry swings his mallet as he gets stuck into the Royal Salute Polo Challenge in Wellington, Florida on Friday
The Duke and Duchess' every move was captured by a Netflix crew for an upcoming documentary they are producing on the sport
Meghan was joined at the event by close friend and tennis legend Serena Williams (pictured)
Harry's friend and polo player Nacho Figueras hopes the Netflix show will boost polo's profile as Drive To Survive (pictured) has done for Formula One
But the Sussexes are facing a popularity crisis compared with the rest of the Royal Family - and are only viewed more favourably than the Duke of York
Suggestions have been made that the Duke's recent appearances have been carefully stage managed - often happening unannounced or behind closed doors (such as at the Diana Awards, pictured, last month)
Other recent appearances, such as at the Sport Gives Back Awards (above), have been pre-recorded
The showrunner on Meghan's new lifestyle show worked on Selena Gomez's Selena + Chef (available in the UK on Apple TV+)
Its director, meanwhile, is known for his work on Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown show (pictured)
A statement published on the Archewell website this week said the polo programme 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'.
Harry is also likely staking hopes on the programme improving his approval ratings with the public.
Polling by Ipsos in February suggested just over one in four Brits have a positive impression of the Duke -
