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Almost three years after stepping down from royal duties Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are ready to speak their truth, today dropping the first look at their new tell-all documentary. Simply titled Harry & Meghan, it comes as part of the couple’s multi-million dollar deal with the streaming giant – one which includes documentaries, docuseries, feature films, scripted shows and even children’s programming.
As of yet, no content has been released as part of their deal, though the couple did say that they wanted to create something that would be both positive and educational. “Our focus will be on creating content that informs but also gives hope. As new parents, making inspirational family programming is also important to us. [Netflix’s] unprecedented reach will help us share impactful content that unlocks action,” they said at the time.
Details about their documentary have remained scant up until this point, however with the first trailer now available, further information has also been released to the public. Here’s what we know so far.
According to Page Six, the documentary will be an “at-home with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex-style” programme, however, in a recent interview with The Cut, Markle hinted that it would focus more on their love story. “The piece of my life I haven’t been able to share, that people haven’t been able to see, is our love story.” All of their future work will carry the “resounding knowing, that, above all, love wins”.
“It’s nice to be able to trust someone with our story – a seasoned director whose work I’ve long admired – even if it means it may not be the way we would have told it,” Meghan later told Variety of the decision to work with director Liz Garbus. “But that’s not why we’re telling it. We’re trusting our story to someone else, and that means it will go through their lens,” Markle said of the decision to work with director Liz Garbus. “So much of how my husband and I see things is through our love story. I think that’s what people around the world connected to, especially with our wedding. People love love. I’m not excluded in that sentiment. And our definition of love is really expansive: partner love, self-love, the love of community and family. We use that as the baseline of the kind of shows and documentaries we want out there.”
The just over-one-minute-long clip opens with the voice of Prince Harry saying, “It’s really hard to look back on it now and go, ‘What on earth happened?'” Splicing together clips of the pair being snapped by paparazzi and making various Royal appearances against a backdrop of newscasters remarking that Meghan is “becoming a Royal rockstar”, the trailer cuts to black with the click of a finger. “There’s a hierarchy in the family — there’s leaking, but there’s also planting of stories.
Looking into the “pain and suffering of women marrying into this institution”, the trailer concludes with Harry saying that no one knows the real truth — “only we know the real truth.”
Insiders have also alleged that Harry and Meghan are “panicked” in light of the Queen’s recent passing and have been trying to “tone down even the most basic language”. Another said, “They’ve made significant requests to walk back content they themselves have provided.”
The documentary has already made waves on both sides of the Atlantic, especially in light of Queen Elizabeth’s recent passing and the news that Harry will release his memoir, Spare, in January. Royal experts claim that the two bombshell projects will do little to lessen the wedge between the Sussexes and the rest of the royal family. It’s rumoured that Harry and Meghan have been paid over $100million for the fly-on-the-wall series which is likely to shed light on many of the not-so-savoury aspects of royal life.
Harry & Meghan will be released in two instalments. Volume One will air on Netflix on Thursday 8 December, with Volume Two premiering the following week on Thursday 15 December.
Kate and William’s recent visit to the US was overshadowed by controversy due to a scandal over “racist” comments made by Lady Susan Hussey, William’s godmother, at an event hosted by Queen Consort Camilla. Needless to say, the new documentary couldn’t have come at a worse time for the royals… though, is it ever a good time for them?
Ngozi Fulani said that she felt “interrogated” by Lady Susan, who continued asking her which part of Africa she was from, despite being born in the UK and stating multiple times that she was British. Officials said they were taking the incident “extremely seriously”.
Sources have suggested that Harry and Meghan wanted to edit the documentary to soften its portrayal of the royal family – specifically King Charles III, the Queen Consort, and the Prince and Princess of Wales.
“A lot of conversations are happening. I hear that Harry and Meghan want the series to be held until next year, they want to stall. I wonder if the show could even be dead in the water at this point, do Harry and Meghan just want to shelve this thing?” Netflix, however, is supposedly “keen” to have the documentary ready to stream for December.
You can watch the trailer for Harry & Meghan below.