The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s £2.2 million ($3 million) film adaptation of a romance novel is on the verge of being scrapped, according to reports.

Little progress has been made on the Netflix adaptation of Meet Me at the Lake, Carley Fortune’s hit romance novel, since the Sussexes secured the rights to produce the film in 2023. 

However two years later, the project does not have a director and is nowhere close to choosing the cast, the New York Post reported.

It comes after the Duchess of Sussex apparently abandoned her Confessions of Female Founder podcast after just 11 episodes. Her previous podcast with Spotify, Archetypes, was not renewed after its first season.

The reports come ahead of the end of the £74 million deal between Netflix and the pair, which expires in September this year.

The New York Post claimed that more TV projects were forthcoming between Harry and Meghan’s company, Archewell, and Netflix.

But a Netflix source cited by the Daily Mail said that the company was counting down the days for the deal to expire because Meghan’s last TV show, With Love, Meghan, was a ratings disaster.

The first season of the show ranked 383rd on the streaming service, with 5.3 million views since its debut in March, a figure Hollywood trade bible Variety called “very low”.

The second season, which has already been filmed, is set to air later this year.

The source said: “This deal is dead. She (Meghan) had everything going for her - name, platform, press - and the numbers were dismal.

“They’re just waiting for the credits to roll. They’re letting it expire without drama. There’s no appetite for anything new”.