Harry and Meghan’s docuseries will drop on Netflix this week. Photo / Netflix
Harry and Meghan’s docuseries will drop on Netflix this week. Photo / Netflix
The only time Meghan and Harry were sighted with Netflix camera crew was during their philanthropy-centred New York trip last year, leading many royal commentators to believe their long-awaited documentary would be a curated puff piece.
But a lot of the filming appears to have taken place behind closed doors judging by the emotionally driven 59-second trailer released on Friday, and all of a sudden it looks like yet another bombshell exposé from the exiled Duke and Duchess of Sussex is imminent.
A six-part series, Harry & Meghan is helmed by notable director Liz Garbus, and centres on their fairytale romance. American actress meets handsome British prince and falls in love.
Soon after, it was a love they shared with eight billion people around the world and a union which propelled them among the most famous couples in modern history.
Given the privacy and protocols concealing the early days of their relationship, a level of secrecy which carried into their ill-fated stint as senior working royals, onlookers were rarely given any sort of candid glimpse into their world. This series, Meghan says, aims to bring that inside story to viewers.
Meghan told Variety that – despite all the noise surrounding their relationship – the core ethos of the series was about their romance.
The couple shared a string of candid photos in the teaser. Photo / Netflix
“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,” Meghan told the publication in October.
“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.”
And judging by the trailer, Meghan has come true on that promise, with viewers treated to a collage of never-before-seen candid photos of the couple from their wedding day, pregnancies and everything in between.
The documentary’s bio reads: “In an unprecedented and in-depth documentary series, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex share the other side of their high-profile love story.”
Royal bombshells
But, given the rumoured $183 million Netflix threw at Meghan and Harry as part of their multi-year content deal with the streamer, it would be virtually impossible for the pair to ignore the Buckingham Palace-sized elephant in the room.
In a telltale sign Meghan and Harry are set to lift the lid on relations with the royal family, the teaser trailer showed a gloomy, black and white picture of Prince William and Kate Middleton as Harry says in a voiceover: “No one sees what’s happening behind closed doors.”
A photo of Kate and Will used in the promo for the doco. Photo / Netflix
That picture – which one British TV host branded as a major “dig” at Kate – was juxtaposed by not one, but three moments showing Meghan breaking down in tears.
“I had to do everything I could to protect my family,” Harry is seen saying, as Meghan closes out the trailer, “When the stakes are this high, doesn’t it make more sense to hear our story from us?”
Netflix added in the description bio: “Across six episodes, the series explores the clandestine days of their early courtship and the challenges that led to them feeling forced to step back from their full-time roles in the institution. With commentary from friends and family, most of whom have never spoken publicly before about what they witnessed, and historians who discuss the state of the British Commonwealth today and the royal family’s relationship with the press, the series does more than illuminate one couple’s love story, it paints a picture of our world and how we treat each other.”
Meghan is seen breaking down multiple times. Photo / Netflix
Multiple reports suggest Harry and Meghan have been at odds with Netflix bosses in attempts to delay the show, following a chaotic period for the royal family, including the Queen’s death in September.
The couple are understood to have wanted to push the controversial TV series back to 2023 amid backlash over the new series of The Crown, which is chronicling the breakdown of Charles and Diana’s marriage.
