You wouldn't immediately put Meghan Markle and Prince Edward in the same category. Aside from their royal connections, the pair appear to have taken very different paths in life. Yet they do share one rather unfortunate trait: both tried to carve out successful media careers beyond royal life, and both found the reality far tougher than expected.

However, there is one glaring difference between them. Prince Edward eventually knew when to call it a day. That being said, there is still time for Meghan, 44, and Prince Harry, 41, to do the same. Many will know that the Duke of Edinburgh, 62, launched the television and film production company, Ardent Productions, in 1993.

At 29, he was just hoping to make a name for himself outside of his royal status before he entered his 30s. But sadly, he faced an uphill battle before it even began.

Producing programmes about the Royal Family was the obvious route, but Edward was adamant he would avoid doing so because it would "give the wrong impression".

However, when Ardent Productions struggled to make a profit, Edward gradually leaned into royal-themed programming in an effort to keep the company afloat.

It is a scenario that feels familiar today – a royal desperately trying to make a commercial venture work while the public looks on in embarrassment.

In 1996, he made a documentary about his great-uncle Edward VIII, who famously abdicated the throne to marry an American divorcee, which was widely regarded as a success.

In 2001, Ardent was commissioned to make Royalty A-Z, a series which would focus on the Windsor family up to the present day.

But it was the beginning of the end when Ardent crew members were caught in the town of St Andrew’s in Scotland, where Prince William had just enrolled for the beginning of his first year at university.

As privacy agreements were in place for William at the time, paparazzi were forbidden from publishing shots of him.

King Charles went "ballistic" and the following year, Edward stepped down from the company, opting to focus on life in the royal fold with his wife, Sophie.

The lesson? Edward recognised when a venture was no longer working, especially when it came at the expense of his family. Fast-forward more than two decades and Meghan and Harry appear determined to take the opposite approach.

There was the couple's Spotify deal, reportedly worth an eye-watering £18million, in 2020. They produced just one show, Archetypes – a podcast hosted by Meghan.

But that deal was "mutually" ended in 2023 after sources claimed there was not enough content produced to warrant the full payout.

Also in 2020, the Sussexes struck a lucrative deal with Netflix. They released a number of shows on the platform, but With Love, Meghan was the only one to run for more than a single season, and that was only because two seasons were released back to back.

Meghan's Confessions of a Female Founder podcast was another major flop and her focus has since shifted to her lifestyle brand, As Ever. The Duchess of Sussex now spends her days selling jam and sending gift boxes to people who have been critical of other members of the Royal Family.

That is where the comparison with Edward becomes impossible to ignore. His media venture may have failed, but he accepted reality and moved on.

Meanwhile, Meghan and Harry seem convinced that the next project will finally be the breakthrough. But then the next one comes and another after that.

It's proof that Edward walked so Meghan could run. The difference is that Edward eventually stopped running into the same wall.