Prince Harry is said to have considered a string of desperate podcast concepts as his multimillion-dollar Spotify partnership struggled to produce material – with sources telling RadarOnline.com one idea was inspired simply by his request for a cup of hot chocolate.
The Duke of Sussex, 41, and Meghan Markle, 45, signed their lucrative audio agreement through Archewell Audio in 2020, but the partnership ended in 2023 after producing Markle’s Archetypes series and a holiday special.
Harry is understood to have explored several concepts during the deal, although none developed into his own regular podcast.
One source familiar with the development process claimed to Radar: “There was a sense that everyone was desperately searching for something that could become Harry’s big podcast. He was a globally famous royal with extraordinary access, but converting that into a repeatable entertainment format was proving surprisingly difficult. Some of the brainstorming inevitably became increasingly unconventional.”
Among the more notable suggestions was reportedly “Harry and His Hot Chocolates” – after Harry requested cocoa during a meeting in which potential programs were being discussed.
The concept would supposedly have involved Harry traveling around the United States sampling and rating hot chocolates.
Other ideas attributed to Harry during his Spotify period were considerably more ambitious.
Bloomberg reported in 2023 that Harry discussed interviewing controversial global figures, including Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, about their childhoods and how their early experiences shaped the adults they became. He also reportedly considered a program centered on fatherhood.
A second insider claimed: “The hot-chocolate idea sounds almost comical because it demonstrates how broad and desperate the search for ideas for Harry had become. There were enormous expectations surrounding the deal and a recognizable name wasn’t enough – they still needed an idea capable of sustaining episode after episode.”
The Sussexes’ entertainment ambitions have nevertheless continued elsewhere.
Their Archewell Productions partnership with Netflix began in 2020 and produced the six-part Harry & Meghan, which the streaming service says attracted 23.4 million views during its first four days and became its fifth most-popular documentary series.
Other productions have included Heart of Invictus, Live to Lead and Polo.
Markle subsequently moved into lifestyle programming with With Love, Meghan, combining cooking, gardening, crafts and conversations with guests. Netflix said the show recorded 5.3 million views during the first half of 2025 and reached its Top 10 in 24 countries.
Netflix extended its relationship with Archewell in August 2025 through a multi-year first-look agreement covering film and television projects rather than simply abandoning its relationship with the couple when their original arrangement evolved.
Projects announced under that partnership have included an adaptation of Carley Fortune’s Meet Me at the Lake and the documentary short Masaka Kids, A Rhythm Within. Netflix also partnered with Markle on her As Ever lifestyle business.
But Harry’s unrealized audio ambitions remain strikingly different from those polished screen projects.
Another source claimed: “Harry was determined to come up with podcast formats that felt substantial and unmistakably his own.
“He didn’t want to become another famous person sitting behind a microphone having predictable conversations with celebrity friends. The difficulty was finding a concept that was original, achievable, and capable of sustaining an entire series.”
The source continued, “As that search went on, the brainstorming became increasingly ambitious and, at times, pretty unconventional. Harry was considering everything from intensely serious conversations about people’s formative experiences to much lighter entertainment concepts. There was clearly pressure to find the big idea that justified having someone of his profile tied to such a major podcasting deal.
“What’s ironic is that the pitches which never made it beyond the development stage ultimately generated an extraordinary amount of attention themselves. People are still talking about some of those abandoned concepts years later, even though Harry never ended up fronting his own regular Spotify series.”