Prince Harry and Meghan Markle may have a better chance of achieving a major Hollywood success if they are willing to take a step back and allow experienced television professionals to take charge. According to royal commentator Kinsey Schofield, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex may have found one of their most promising entertainment projects yet through their partnership with the production company behind the popular series Gossip Girl.

Speaking about the couple’s latest Hollywood venture, Schofield suggested that their collaboration with Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage’s Fake Empire Productions could have significantly greater potential than some of their previous projects. Her optimism, however, appears to be based less on Harry and Meghan’s own entertainment credentials and more on her confidence in the producers involved.

The Sussexes are attached to a new scripted television drama through their production company, Archewell Productions. The project, announced earlier this year, is being developed with Fake Empire, the company associated with several successful television dramas. Harry and Meghan are serving as executive producers on the series, which will reportedly explore the competitive and glamorous world surrounding polo in Wellington, Florida.

The drama is expected to center on two rival polo teams and the people connected to them. Its storyline will reportedly combine competition, romance, family conflicts, wealth, social status, and personal ambition against the backdrop of one of Florida’s most exclusive equestrian communities.

For Schofield, the subject matter itself may not immediately appear to guarantee mainstream success. A drama focused on rival polo families could seem relatively niche, particularly because polo is not a sport with broad mass-market appeal. However, she believes the creative team has the ability to transform the setting into something much more accessible and entertaining.

The producer duo behind the project has a strong history of creating television programs centered on wealthy, attractive, ambitious, and complicated characters. Schwartz and Savage previously worked on shows such as The O.C., Gossip Girl, and Hart of Dixie. Their work has often revolved around social competition, romantic relationships, family problems, privilege, and scandal.

Those themes could make the new polo drama appealing even to viewers who have little interest in the sport itself. Rather than making polo the central attraction, the series could use the sport as a backdrop for stories involving relationships, rivalry, money, influence, and social power.

Schofield believes this approach could give the project a better chance of connecting with audiences than some of Harry and Meghan’s previous entertainment efforts. She specifically contrasted the upcoming scripted drama with Harry’s 2024 Netflix documentary series Polo, which received a largely negative response.

The earlier project focused on the world of professional polo, a sport closely associated with Harry himself. Although it offered viewers access to an exclusive sporting environment, the series struggled to generate the level of enthusiasm or cultural impact that the Sussexes may have hoped for.

The new production could benefit from being fictional rather than documentary-based. A scripted drama allows its creators to heighten the emotional stakes and create larger-than-life characters without being restricted by the realities of the sport. Stories involving romantic tension, family conflict, wealth, betrayal, and competition could potentially attract a much wider audience.

Schofield nevertheless believes that Harry and Meghan should avoid becoming too heavily involved in the creative process. She argued that one of the most effective decisions the couple could make would be to hand significant creative control to the professionals responsible for producing the show.

In her view, Schwartz and Savage have already demonstrated that they understand how to turn elite social environments into compelling television. Their previous successes provide evidence that they know how to build characters and storylines capable of attracting large audiences.

Rather than attempting to make the series primarily about themselves, Harry and Meghan would therefore be better served by allowing the project to exist independently of their public identities. The show, according to Schofield’s argument, should not become a platform designed primarily to promote the Sussexes, Harry’s connection to polo, or their personal views.

This could be particularly important because the couple’s entertainment career has frequently attracted attention not only because of the projects themselves but also because of their royal background. Their enormous public profile can generate initial curiosity, but curiosity does not necessarily translate into long-term audience loyalty.

A successful television series ultimately needs strong storytelling, memorable characters, effective production, and broad audience appeal. If viewers feel that a project exists mainly as a promotional vehicle for its celebrity producers, they may be less willing to embrace it as a genuine entertainment product.

Schofield’s advice is therefore straightforward: Harry and Meghan should allow Fake Empire’s experienced production team to handle the creative work. Their role could remain focused on executive production and providing insight where appropriate, while the professional television creators take responsibility for developing the story, characters, tone, and overall direction.

The recommendation comes after a period in which the Sussexes have experienced mixed results in the entertainment industry. Following their move to California, Harry and Meghan signed major commercial and media agreements, including a widely discussed deal with Netflix. Through Archewell Productions, they produced documentaries, lifestyle content, and other projects.

Some of those productions attracted significant attention because of the couple’s fame, while others struggled to make a lasting impact. Meghan’s lifestyle series With Love, Meghan, for example, generated considerable media coverage but also received mixed reactions from audiences and critics.

Their relationship with Netflix also changed this year, with Meghan reportedly ending her association with the streaming company in March. The development highlighted the challenges involved in maintaining a long-term position in an intensely competitive entertainment industry.

For the Sussexes, the new scripted series could therefore provide an opportunity to establish themselves more firmly as entertainment producers. Instead of relying solely on their royal history to attract viewers, they could demonstrate that they are capable of helping develop commercially successful original programming.

The involvement of Schwartz and Savage could be particularly valuable because of their established understanding of television audiences. Their previous work has shown an ability to take familiar themes such as wealth, romance, rivalry, and family tensions and turn them into highly watchable dramas.

The polo setting may also provide the series with a distinctive visual identity. Wellington, Florida, is known for its affluent equestrian community, making it a natural backdrop for stories involving privilege, competition, and social status. The combination of glamorous locations and dramatic personal relationships could potentially give the series an appeal beyond the sporting world.

However, the success of the project is far from guaranteed. The Sussexes will still face the challenge of overcoming audience skepticism created by some of their earlier entertainment ventures. Viewers may also judge the show independently of the couple’s celebrity status, meaning that strong publicity alone will not be enough.

Ultimately, the biggest question may be whether Harry and Meghan can resist the temptation to make the project too closely connected to their own public image. If they allow professional producers and writers to develop the series without excessive interference, the drama could potentially stand on its own.

For Schofield, that willingness to step aside may be precisely what gives the project its greatest opportunity. Rather than turning the series into a personal vehicle for Harry, using it primarily to promote polo, or filling it with overt messaging, the couple could simply provide the production team with the resources and freedom needed to create compelling television.

If the new drama manages to capture the combination of glamour, romance, rivalry, scandal, and social intrigue that helped make Gossip Girl successful, Harry and Meghan could finally have a Hollywood project that resonates with a much broader audience.

The irony is that their best path to entertainment success may involve making themselves less visible. By trusting experienced creators, avoiding excessive creative control, and allowing the story to take center stage, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex could give their latest project a genuine chance to succeed on its own merits.