EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: New blow for Harry and Meghan as TV boss leaves production company founded by the Sussexes

When the Duchess of Sussex was interviewed on the red carpet at a showbusiness event in Los Angeles last November, she stated that she and Prince Harry had “so many exciting things lined up” to announce.

“Things that make people feel – I was going to say 'good', but it's more than that – things that make people feel something, right?” Meghan gushed.

Unfortunately, the most powerful feeling for a key member of their team, I heard, was the desire to quit.

The manager of Archewell Productions, the company Harry and Meghan founded amid much fanfare in 2020 to make television shows and films, has left, stage left.

Bennett Levine, who was promoted to manager of Archewell in 2022, left the company this month. When he was appointed co-ordinator for the company in 2021, his appointment was hailed by the Sussexes' most outspoken cheerleader, Omid Scobie, as a sign that Archewell was 'a hive of activity that continues to grow'.

Levine confirmed his departure in a message to contacts on social media. “I am happy to share that I am starting a new role at Cinetic Media,” he says of his new job at an American film financing and distribution company.

A source tells me: 'It's a blow to the company. There's no doubt about that.'

Production managers handle the business, financial and recruitment side of film and television productions.

Levine's surprise departure comes amid rumors that Netflix may not renew its deal with Archewell. The US streaming giant reportedly paid the Sussexes £80 million in 2020 as part of a deal that expires in 2025.

Levine worked on the tawdry documentary series Harry & Meghan, which Archewell produced with Netflix and was released in 2022.

Rumors that the California-based couple may be preparing for the end of their Netflix deal were fueled by their trip to Jamaica last week for the film premiere of Bob Marley: One Love, as guests of Paramount Pictures boss Brian Robbins. Paramount is a major streaming rival to Netflix.

Music streaming giant Spotify canceled its £18 million deal with the couple last summer, reportedly because it 'expected more content' from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their Archewell Audio team. The couple produced just one podcast and a half-hour “holiday special” in three years.

Archewell has been contacted for comment.

Spy Keira is on the run

There was a familiar look on a woman jogging in central London this weekend.

On closer inspection, she was Keira Knightley, and the film crew riding next to her on a motorcycle was a sign that this wasn't just another fitness session.

The 38-year-old star of Atonement and Pirates Of The Caribbean wore a burgundy hoodie and camouflage leggings as she ran across Waterloo Bridge while shooting a scene for the upcoming Netflix spy thriller Black Doves.

She plays a politician's wife and a loving mother with a secret life as a spy. But keep it under your hat…

I wonder if she saw that coming? Mystic Meg, who predicted the future for millions in her newspaper columns, left a fortune of more than £1 million in her will, half of which went to her friend and fellow astrologer Janine Palmer.

Margaret Anne Lake, who died last March aged 80, left an estate of £1.27million after her debts and bills were paid, according to recently released probate documents.

Meg, who presented a segment on the National Lottery TV show in which she looked into her crystal ball to predict a future winner, left £100,000 to her executors to be used to rehome the horses she owned when she died.

Her half-sister, Dorothy Taylor, will receive the other half of her estate.

How Star Wars Rey lost the Force during lockdown

The Force was with Daisy Ridley when she played Rey in 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Yet the 31-year-old actress reveals that Covid lockdowns left her with a crippling fear of going out.

“I do suffer from social anxiety,” she says. 'The first dinner I went to after lockdown, I literally came home and cried for an hour. I didn't know what to say, I didn't know what to do. I felt really exposed, like I had nothing to talk about.”

The banker's daughter, who is married to Murder On The Orient Express co-star Tom Bateman, added: 'My husband and I spend an awful lot of time together, which is comfortable and wonderful. But then I go to someone for an hour and think, 'Why was that so hard?'

Crime author Sir Ian Rankin is annoyed at having to 'translate' his Inspector Rebus novels for the US editions.

“In America, no publisher trusts readers,” says the novelist.

'So Fleshmarket Close, a real street in Edinburgh, title of one of my books, in America it's called Fleshmarket Alley. Americans come to Edinburgh looking for Fleshmarket Alley and write to me: 'Dear Mr Rankin, I was really annoyed and disappointed…'. Rankin adds, “Rebus in America can't wake up with a cigarette butt in his mouth. And you can't use an eraser, you can use an eraser.'

She ran her Hollywood wife's pub for years, while she had to process the last orders

Johnny Depp was linked with a bid to buy the Grade II listed village pub from Paul Hollywood's wife Melissa Spalding, but now it could be closed and turned into a house.

The Checkers Inn, in Smarden, Kent, has been owned and run by the Spalding family for many years – including long-serving landlady Melissa, who married the Great British Bake Off judge last September.

But the historic site, which dates back to the 16th century, could now be converted into a 'family home' after a planning application was submitted to Ashford Borough Council.

The owners claim the business is 'unsaleable' because there are two other pubs in the village.

This sounds ominous for country sports enthusiasts: an aristocratic estate is closing its long-standing shooting sports organization tomorrow.

The 3,000-acre Ugbrooke Estate, the seat of Lord Clifford of Chudleigh in Devon, has been offering game shooting to guests since 1896. 'We have always been committed to achieving the highest standards for our shoot; ethical, environmental and experiential,” says Lord Clifford's son Alexander.

'After much careful consideration, we have decided that the time has come to close the shoot and put our energy, focus and investment into a series of sustainable ventures.'