Prince Harry's 'bizarre Vladimir Putin remark that baffled Spotify bosses' before axe

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle previously had a multi-million dollar deal with Spotify to produce podcasts - and according to reports, before the deal was axed, Harry wanted to chat to controversial guests, including Vladimir Putin

Fans waited with bated breath after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle signed a huge multi-million dollar deal with Spotify.

It was December 2020 that the Sussexes put pen to paper on the major deal to produce podcasts but less than three years later, the agreement was axed. It came after just one series of Meghan's Archetypes podcast - with Harry only appearing on one podcast and not fronting his own series. It led to questions about why Harry did not produce any solo content as part of the deal before it ended - however, reports at the time the end of the deal was announced claimed that he did speak with multiple producers about possible shows.

According to Bloomberg, one idea was for Harry to interview controversial guests such as Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, chatting about their formative years and how it shaped them as adults today.

It was also claimed that Harry also hoped to interview Pope Francis in an idea for another show focused on major societal issues, such as climate change and religion. The publication reported: "The practicality of these ideas struck some people in the Harry-podcast cosmos as questionable at best, given that people like Putin and Zuckerberg rarely give wide-ranging interviews about the topics they're passionate about — let alone about their upbringings and personal childhood traumas."

In June 2023, it was announced that Harry and Meghan's Spotify deal was coming to an end. The streaming giant and the Sussexes' production company released a joint statement announcing they had "mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together."

In the days after, a top Spotify executive called Harry and Meghan "f***ing grifters" after their podcast deal was axed. Bill Simmons, Head of Podcast Innovation and Monetisation at Spotify, said: "The f***ing grifters. That's the podcast we should have launched with them. I've got to get drunk one night and tell the story of the Zoom I had with Harry to try and help him with a podcast idea. It's one of my best stories."

It comes as Harry has been on a trip to Vancouver, just months before his Invictus Games begins in the city in February 2025. He's attended Canadian football's Grey Cup, launched an Invictus Games schools programme and visited First Nations chiefs, gifting Invictus Games tickets to young people at the event.

Harry, a former British Army captain, launched the Invictus Games in 2014 as an international sports tournament for injured service personnel and veterans. In February, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex officially kicked off the countdown to the 2025 Winter Games at an event in Whistler. The games will feature the debut of winter sports including Nordic skiing, wheelchair curling, snowboarding and alpine skiing.