Harry and Meghan just had a ridiculous rival idea – and it’s barely believable

OPINION – REBECCA RUSSELL: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s latest offering sounds oddly familiar

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are trying their hand at something new (Image: Getty)

Surely Prince Harry and Meghan Markle really don’t think they can out-Jilly Jilly Cooper? Queen of the bonkbuster? Surely not.

It was not with an insubstantial degree of mirth this week that we heard that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s next big brainwave has been to create a scripted drama based on the fierce and highly exclusive world of polo.

That sounds familiar, I hear you say, and you’d be right. It just so happens that that is exactly what the late great Dame Jilly’s smash hit Disney+ series, Rivals, is on. Who’d have thought?!

Of course, Harry has spent nearly his whole life on the polo field and still plays at least once a year for a public charity match. There are few people who know the ins and outs of the game better than him, so, in theory, this show should really bring the game to life. Prince Harry has spent much of his life playing polo (Image: Getty)

Dame Jilly Cooper’s Rivals was an instant hit (Image: Disney Plus)

It can be a controversial sport, though, with Harry himself was previously caught up in criticism by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) after his beloved horse, Drizzle, sadly died of a heart attack during a match.

The polo field was also the setting of an alleged incident where Dr Sophie Chandauka, chairwoman of Harry’s HIV and Aids charity, Sentebale, spoke about when the Duke’s association with the charity sadly crashed and burned.

Dr Chandauka claimed that Meghan manoeuvred her out of the way during a prize-giving ceremony at the match – a frosty interaction she later spoke about: “Prince Harry asked me to issue some sort of a statement in support of the Duchess, and I said I wouldn’t.”

Naturally, their diving headfirst into a world that has been controversial for them in the past could draw interesting comparisons – but let’s wait and see.

Dr Sophie Chandauka claimed the incident took place at a polo match (Image: Getty)

Polo has been a controversial subject for the couple (Image: Getty)

Scripted drama is certainly a departure for the Sussexes, but it could finally be the medium where they find their metier.

After all, they’ve tried documentaries, authorship, podcasts, philanthropy and business ownership – this has got to be it, hasn’t it? Surely this is where we will all see that their talent lies … the talent that has secured them no fewer than three enormous multi-million-dollar deals.

So do you hear what they’re telling us? Their Netflix deal isn’t dead in the water. Stronger even. There hasn’t been a row, insiders were mistaken when they eviscerated the relationship to Variety, the CEO hasn’t unfollowed Meghan on Instagram, and everything’s fine. Peachy, even. The couple were recently the subject of a controversial Variety interview (Image: Getty)

Rivals is based on Dame Jilly Cooper’s rauchy books (Image: Jed Cullen/Dave Benett/Getty)

Let’s just hope their drama has characters to rival Rivals’ lascivious lothario Rupert Campbell Black, Machiavellian Lord Baddingham and the powerhouse TV producer, Cameron Cook. Do we somehow doubt it? Yes. But I’m willing to be pleasantly surprised.

Of course, they have already tried and failed with a documentary about polo, but the less said about that, the better.

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If they are capable of making a drama that you physically can’t stop watching, that paralyses you in suspense as the next episode loads, and one that promises to make you return time and time again, then good on them.

But if they don’t, and it joins the hallowed halls of the other flopped projects that don’t quite dance to the tune of the millions funnelled into them, then we’ll be back here when they announce their next great idea … if they make it, that is.