Where is Meghan Markle’s cooking show? The Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix project could face the ax as the £80m streaming deal hangs in the balance, insiders claim, following the couple’s Polo doc.

When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle signed their $100m (£80m) contract with Netflix, they promised to make TV that ‘informs but also gives hope’ through a ‘relatable lens’.

But after their latest project Polo – a five-part docuseries about arguably the most privileged sport on the planet – the streaming giant is said to be unimpressed, and so are many reviewers and viewers.

For almost a year Meghan has been rumored to be making her own show celebrating “the joys of cooking, gardening, entertaining and friendship”.

But there’s no sign of any release date for the series, which was also set to complement American Riviera Orchard, and which also seems to have failed to get off the ground.

A Netflix insider told MailOnline today that Meghan’s cooking show may not see the light of day. Others suggest it might, especially if it boosts Meghan’s lifestyle brand, but it will be make or break for the couple who had hopes of building a TV dynasty.

And after their Polo show flopped, the source said: ‘There won’t be another deal. There may be one offs, but that’s it’.

Meghan was reportedly not at Oprah’s surprise party for their mutual friend Gail King’s 70th over the weekend.

“A-listers are now actively staying away from them and events they apparently want to attend,” the MailOnline insider said. ‘One told me it doesn’t look good to be around them.’

MailOnline has asked Netflix for comment. It is not known how much, if any, of Meghan’s show has been filmed yet. But there were reports that the project had started when she was spotted at a grocery store doing a photoshoot in a park in Beverly Hills in June.

Some of the answers to Prince Harry and Meghan’s recently released Netflix the five-part series, Polo, has been brutal.

“Unintentionally hilarious,” said one, half wondering if it was a spoof. “Boring,” read a further verdict – while another, bruising, simply deemed it “tacky”.

The Guardian, whose staff have praised the couple for Megxit in the past, was scathing.

‘It’s a show about privileged people that shows us exactly how privileged they are, which means there’s not much drama to be found,’ their review exclaimed.

TV critic Stuart Heritage gave it two stars and said: ‘They made a reality show about how hard they were and then they stuttered. The Harry & Meghan show was followed by two forgettable documentaries, one about the Invictus Games and one about some nebulous concept of leadership. At some point in the future, there will be a Meghan cooking show that Netflix seems reluctant to show.’

The company invested in no poster campaigns for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s latest project, and its only promotional effort consisted of a two-line statement from Harry on the streamer’s website.

Executive produced by both Harry, 40, and Meghan, 43 – they also appear briefly on screen in the documentary – the series reflects the Prince’s enthusiasm for this elite sport.

And indeed, behind the scenes, both he and Meghan were very hands-on when it came to filming and editing the show.

The pair spent many, many hours sifting through footage and advising on what should make the cut.

Fascinatingly, the show’s other executive producer Milos Balac worked on the hit FX/Disney+ documentary series Welcome to Wrexham, which followed Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s takeover of the Welsh lower league football club.

Next year, then, looks set to be an uncertain one for the Sussexes, especially for Meghan, who faces her biggest solo challenge of all – the launch of her Netflix cooking show and much-debated lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard.

After Polo’s apparent failure, so much is riding on her cooking show that some are calling it the ‘last chance’ for her to ‘save’ the couple’s lucrative Netflix deal – which is, after all, their main source of funding.

A Californian source told the Mail’s Alison Boshoff: ‘It’s make or break. People say Netflix is ​​exhausted. It’s so much work with her and frankly the “deliverable” doesn’t seem worth it.’

Another entertainment executive noted: ‘Her show has to be a huge hit to flip their deal and their reputation in this town.’

Well-placed sources indicate the launch of the show and the brand will happen in the first quarter of the year, and judging by the fact that it is not part of any Netflix schedule in January, we must expect late February – after Harry’s Invictus Games in Whistler, Canada – or even March for the launch.

A Netflix source says details of Meghan’s project are only being shared with a ‘small’ audience of executives in the US.

The shows — filmed not at her Montecito home, but at a nearby mansion — have been directed by veteran Michael Steed, who worked with the revered late chef Anthony Bourdain.

The show-runner is Leah Hariton, who previously did Selena + Chef in 2020 with actress Selena Gomez.

They have been produced for Netflix by The Intellectual Property Corporation, which is an off-shoot of Sony Pictures Television.

The big Netflix deal for Harry and Meghan ends its five-year term in autumn next year, and boss Ted Sarandos wants to see results.

However, well-placed Hollywood executives say any new deal won’t amount to anything like $100 million because of the lack of content the pair have actually produced.

Remarkably, the Sussexes have not managed to produce a single drama or film – unlike their role models Barack and Michelle Obama, whose company Higher Ground made the hit Leave the World Behind and the critically acclaimed Rustin.

Much therefore depends on how the brand is received by the public. And sources are confident that Meghan is determined to ‘own’ the project, as the Duchess might put it herself.

Prince Harry, 40, who served as an executive producer alongside Meghan, 43, promised the series, released globally last week, would showcase “the true depth and spirit of the sport” as well as “the intensity of its high-stakes moments”.

However, the five-part docu-series, which centers on the build-up to the Polo World Cup in Florida and focuses mainly on players such as Adolfo and Poroto Cambiaso, Timmy Dutta and Nacho Figueras, struggled to impress critics.

The series hardly features Harry and Meghan and has been nicknamed the ‘Nacho Show’ behind the scenes because it focuses primarily on the Argentinian player – Harry’s best friend – and Adolfo Cambiaso, nicknamed the Michael Jordan of polo.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex signed a five-year deal with the Californian streaming giant in 2020 worth an estimated $100 million (£80 million).

But there has been uncertainty over whether the deal will be renewed next year, particularly after their £15m Spotify contract ended at the beginning of June last year.

In February, Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria revealed that Harry and Meghan ‘actually have a lot in development’ under their Archewell Productions arm.

According to The TimesMs Bajaria told a Netflix promotional event in Hollywood that the Sussexes were working on ‘a couple of unscripted things’ – believed to be documentaries – plus a film and a series, all of which are in ‘very early development’.

Specific details of the broadcasts are unknown, but the film may be related to Harry and Meghan’s planned £3million adaptation of the novel Meet Me At The Lake.