Harry and Meghan are set to be executive producers on two new Netflix shows, the streaming giant has announced.
One series will explore “the joys of cooking, gardening, entertaining and friendship”, while the other will give “unprecedented access to the world of professional polo”.
They will be produced by their company Archewell Productions – with the names and release dates of both programmes set to emerge in the coming months.
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March: Meghan back on Instagram
After stepping down from royal duties, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex signed a deal with Netflix that was thought to be worth more than £100m.
Three documentaries have been released since then – and the most recent was Heart Of Invictus last year.
The programme followed service members preparing for the Invictus Games, which was set up by Prince Harry in 2014 for injured and sick military personnel and veterans.
Live To Lead – which was presented by the couple – featured interviews with world leaders and influencers.
Their Harry And Meghan documentary made headlines around the world and quickly became Netflix’s second most-watched documentary ever.
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Released in December 2022, the six-part series saw Meghan discuss having a miscarriage, and Harry reflect on the death of his grandfather Prince Philip.
Image: The defendants hugged each other after being acquitted of the charges. Pic: Commercial Appeal/USA Today Network/AP
The 29-year-old’s death and a video of the incident – in which he cried out for his mother – sparked outrage in the US including nationwide protests and led to police reform.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents Nichols’ family, described the verdicts as a “devastating miscarriage of justice”. In a statement, he added: “The world watched as Tyre Nichols was beaten to death by those sworn to protect and serve.”
Memphis District Attorney Steve Mulroy said he was “surprised that there wasn’t a single guilty verdict on any of the counts” including second-degree murder. He said Mr Nichols’ family “were devastated… I think they were outraged”.
Image: Former police officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith were accused of second-degree murder. Pic: Memphis Police Dept/AP
But despite the three defendants being acquitted of state charges during the trial in Memphis, they still face the prospect of years in prison after they were convicted of federal charges of witness tampering last year.
Two other former officers previously pleaded guilty in both state and federal court. Desmond Mills Jr. gave evidence as a prosecution witness, while Emmitt Martin was blamed for the majority of the violence.
Sentencing for all five officers is pending.
Image: Tyre Nichols’ death sparked street protests in January 2023 in Memphis and across the US. Pic: AP
Video evidence showed Mr Nichols was stopped in his car, yanked from his vehicle, pepper-sprayed and hit with a Taser. He broke free and ran away before the five police officers caught up with him again, and the beating took place.
Prosecutors argued that the officers used excessive, deadly force in trying to handcuff Mr Nichols and were criminally responsible for each others’ actions.
They also said the officers had a duty to intervene and stop the beating and tell medics that Mr Nichols had been hit repeatedly in the head, but they failed to do so.
The trial heard Mr Nichols suffered tears and bleeding in the brain and died from blunt force trauma.
The defence suggested Mr Nichols was on drugs, giving him the strength to fight off five strong officers, and was actively resisting arrest.
In December, the US Justice Department said a 17-month investigation showed the Memphis Police Department uses excessive force and discriminates against Black people.
The US central bank held interest rates as it said Trump tariffs have risked higher inflation and unemployment amid “so much” uncertainty.
The announcement is likely to anger President Donald Trump, who has made the taxes on imports one of his signature policies and had threatened to fire the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve, known as the Fed, held rates at 4.25%-4.5%. Unlike the UK, the US interest rate is a range to guide lenders rather than a single percentage.
It means borrowing costs have remained unchanged for Americans, something Mr Trump had wanted to reduce.
Interest rates have been raised by the Fed to bring down high inflation in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the supply chain crisis brought about by COVID-19 lockdowns.
Fears of inflation rising higher as tariffs make goods on US shelves costlier, and of job losses from reduced spending, led the Fed to remain cautious.
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The full effect of the tariffs is “highly uncertain”, Mr Powell said on Wednesday evening, as those announced so far have been “significantly larger” than anticipated.
Image: US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference. Pic: Reuters
A 90-day pause was announced on the suite of taxes Mr Trump imposed on countries across the world, on top of the 10% base tariff, which has remained in place.
A trade war was kicked off between China as the countries escalated tariffs on each other to nearly 150%. Taxes on cars and some metals entering the US are still subject to a 25% tax.
If these tariffs remain, Mr Powell made the strongest statement yet that goods overall would become more expensive.
“If the large increases in tariffs that have been announced are sustained, they’re likely to generate a rise in inflation, a slowdown in economic growth and an increase in unemployment,” he said.
“The effects on inflation could be short-lived, reflecting a one-time shift in the price level. It is also possible that the inflationary effects could instead be more persistent,” he added.
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1:42
Trump’s tariffs: What you need to know
Uncertainty over the economic outlook also caused consumer and business sentiment to fall, “largely reflecting trade policy concerns”, Mr Powell said.
Despite Mr Trump appointing Mr Powell to the Fed chair position during his first term, the president has repeatedly spoken out against Mr Powell.
Markets rallied after Mr Trump ruled out ousting Mr Powell at the end of April.
It comes as the UK central bank, the Bank of England, is poised to cut interest rates on Thursday afternoon. The base rate is anticipated to drop to 4.25% before falling to 3.5% by the end of the year.
“We are already in active discussions with the top of the US administration on this subject,” he told MPs after an urgent question was raised on the matter in the House of Commons.
“We are working hard to establish what might be proposed, if anything, and to make sure our world beating creative industries are protected.”
He added that he is due to meet UK industry leaders on Thursday.
In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Mr Trump said he had authorised government departments to put a 100% tariff “on any and all movies coming into our country that are produced in foreign lands”.
Shadow culture minister Stuart Andrew asked what impact assessment the government has made and whether there are any contingency plans if an exemption can’t be secured.
Image: Chris Bryant is a minister in the culture department
Mr Bryant said he is “not sure precisely what is intended” with the film tariffs as he doesn’t know “what a tariff on a service would look like”.
“Most films these days are an international collaboration of some kind and we want to maintain that,” he said.
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2:42
Film industry tariffs don’t’ make ‘great deal of sense’
He appeared to rule out retaliatory tariffs if Mr Trump follows through with his plan, saying the Labour government of 1947 introduced tariffs on US films because they thought too many were being shown in the cinema and “it didn’t go very well as a strategy”.
“The Americans simply banned exports of US films and we ended up watching Ben-Hur repeatedly in every cinema.
“The successful bit of what we did in 1947 and 1948 was that we invested in the British film production system. And that led to films like Hamlet and Kind Hearts and Coronets. I think that that’s the pattern that we still want to adopt.”
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At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, party leader Ed Davey urged Sir Keir Starmer to work with allies in Europe and in the Commonwealth to “make clear to President Trump that if he picks a fight with James Bond, Bridget Jones and Paddington Bear, he will lose”.
However, the PM said it is “not sensible or pragmatic” to choose between Europe and the US, with Downing Street still seeking to negotiate an “economic deal”with Washington that it hopes could offset some of Mr Trump’s measures.
Mr Trump said the film tariffs were necessary because other countries were “offering all sorts of incentives to draw” filmmakers and film studios away from the United States, calling the issue a “national security threat”.
But insiders have questioned whether it will be effective as the exodus of the film industry from Hollywood is mostly due to economic reasons, with other countries having lower labour costs and more expansive tax incentives.
Much of the 2023 box office smash Barbie was filmed at the Warner Bros Leavesden studios, in Hertfordshire, as was Wonka and 2022 hit The Batman, while the vast majority of James Bond films were shot at Pinewood Studios, in Buckinghamshire.
It was also unclear whether the duties will apply to films on streaming platforms as well as those that are released in cinemas.