Prince Harry and Meghan Markle should brace for a “major test” in the New Year as a key date looms, according to a royal expert.

The Duke and Duchess of Sus𝑠e𝑥 struck a lucrative £80million deal with Netflix after they stepped down as senior working royals in 2020.

So far, they’ve produced four projects for the streaming giant, their first was the bombshell docuseries, Harry & Meghan – released in 2022 and their latest one was Polo – released earlier this month.

Polo’s release date comes some 16 months after the couple’s Heart Of Invictus series, which focused on a group of service members on their road to the Invictus Games, and two years after Live to Lead, a series about leaders who have dedicated themselves to social justice.

Meanwhile, Meghan’s cooking show is also expected to be released in the new year, as it had reportedly wrapped up filming.

However, their contract with Netflix is nearing its end in 2025, with many speculating whether the streaming giant will want to renew it, as apart from their bombshell docuseries, their other shows did not meet the same success.

Now Newsweek’s royal correspondent Jack Royston, claimed the couple have another move up their sleeves – to head to Paramount instead.

But according to Mr Royston, even that move would pose its own challenges.

He wrote: “Fans may therefore keep an eye on the Sus𝑠e𝑥es 2025 for any signs they might jump ship to Paramount, which would also allow them to spin the end of their Netflix deal as their decision to depart, rather than the streamer’s decision to terminate a multi-year deal.”

He added: “Whether they head to Paramount or not though, jumping ship to any other TV platform will inevitably mean negotiating a new deal and that will mean new content.

“And TV executives would no doubt want some idea of what that content would be, meaning they would need pitches strong enough to land them the kind of paycheck they need to fund their substantial annual bill for private security.”

He said the process could be a “major test” for the royal couple in their bid to produce high-quality and successful content away from their royal links.

Mr Royston explained: “That process could be a major test of whether the royal bombshells that defined three years of their lives from 2021 to 2023 really are a thing of the past—or whether the need for a new substantial paycheck might force the couple to offer something slightly more compelling than their other non-royal Netflix projects.”