Prince Harry and Meghan Markle blame external factors such as the deaths of the late His Majesty and Prince Philip and a pandemic for their inability to gain a professional foothold after retiring as active members of the royal family in early 2020, Page Six reports.

"They seem to think it was really bad luck," a Los Angeles insider told the Daily Mail.

In fact, a lot has happened since they announced they were stepping down in January 2020: that year, COVID-19 took the world by storm; in 2021, the couple appeared on a bomb special with Oprah Winfrey in March; in April, they watched Philip pass away; in June, daughter Lilibet Diana, Princess of Wales, was born; in 2022, the late Princess Diana celebrated her platinum jubilee in June and died in September at age 96.

On the business front, the two signed major deals with Netflix and Spotify in 2020. The now-terminated Spotify deal produced only one show, "Archetypes," which was hosted by Meghan and debuted in August 2022 (largely overshadowed by the late Majesty's obituary on September 8). A six-part documentary, "Harry & Meghan," hit Netflix in December 2022, and "Harry's Heart of Invictus" will premiere next month. In addition, Harry's memoir, Spare, was released this January to great acclaim.

The two, however, have been in the midst of a pandemic that struck the same month as their departure in March 2020, Philip's death in April 2021 overshadowed Oprah's interview the month before, and the late Queen's death less than a month later caused the aforementioned "Archetypes" to be suspended. He is said to believe that timing was not on his side.

Although the Spotify deal is over, the partnership with Netflix is still in place, with more offerings planned for this year and next. According to the Daily Express, royal commentator Alison Boshoff said that the couple is frozen out in terms of future career prospects in Hollywood, and that "the couple's ambitions of becoming a global humanitarian power couple seem to be on ice, at least for the time being."

But all is not lost for the Sussexes, says Edward Coram-James, public relations expert and chief executive officer of GoUp. The end of their contract with Spotify does not mean that they will lose future contracts. 'That means these contracts are likely to be much lower, and it's unlikely that Sussex's focus will be on producing video and audio content.' Ultimately, the two "can't afford any more duds or cancellations," Coram-James said.