The Duke and Duchess of Sussex founded their Beverly Hills non-profit in October 2020. The organization includes a charity foundation as well as for-profit entertainment entities including Archewell Audio and Archewell Productions.
The name of the company means ‘Arche’ — which in Greek translates to knowledge. The Bible also referenced the word in the New Testament where it’s used as a term for ‘leader’ with meanings relating to power and rule. ‘Well’ can have various meanings and often implies the excavation of a structure or ‘digging deep.’
Archewell is also named after the Sussexes first born son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. The word represents the combination of “strength and action” with the word well — and the resources each individual is tasked with drawing upon to make the world a better place.
Archewell Productions has released three documentary series (two in 2022 and one in 2023) for Netflix. The Sussexes were filmed for the at-home program ‘Harry and Meghan’ which documented their daily lives in California. In addition, the couple narrated the documentary ‘Live to Lead’ which featured in-depth interviews with world leaders like Jacina Ardern and environmental activists like Greta Thunberg. In August 2023, the production company debuted the five episode series ‘Heart of Invictus.’
The production company recently optioned Carley Fortune’s fictional romance novel “Meet Me at the Lake” which will be adapted by Netflix. In a statement to the Independent, the author said, “I’m so thrilled about working with Netflix and Archewell to bring Meet Me at the Lake to the screen.” After acquiring rights to the Penguin Random House book, the movie is believed to be on track for filming with pre-production now in the early stages.
In 2022 Archewell Audio released a 12 episode podcast called ‘Archetypes’ featuring the Duchess of Sussex interviewing famous media personalities and celebrities. The series earned an award as “Best Pop Podcast of 2022” from the People’s Choice Awards.
The Sussexes recently appeared in New York for World Mental Health Day to discuss building a safer social media world for young adults. The conversation with TV host Carson Daly was the first summit for the Archewell Foundation. Moderating for the panel discussion, Daly and the Sussexes discussed the pitfalls of the digital world and its impact on mental health.
