Prince Harry had insisted that once he discovered Griffiths was a journalist, he cut off contact with her. Dolan said: "If he loses then he's on the hook for upwards of $10 million.

"Now we're approaching that anniversary of her sad death in 1997. And the bottom line is that if he goes ahead and executive produces a documentary about his mother without William's permission, that's the end of their relationship. There will be hell to pay.

"And so it's either going to be Diana or, of course, there is a Thomas Markle senior angle that is Meghan's father, who, let's not forget, almost died in the Philippines intensive care unit and couldn't get hold of his daughter, was desperately calling her old number.

"Well, suddenly, maybe she'll gain an interest in her father if there are dollars to be made."

Meghan Markle's spokesperson confirmed she split from Netflix and is taking complete control of her As Ever brand as she feared the streaming giant had become "too cautious".

A spokesman for As Ever confirmed: "As Ever is grateful for Netflix's partnership through launch and our first year. We have experienced meaningful and rapid growth and As Ever is now ready to stand on its own.

"We have an exciting year ahead and can't wait to share more."