Harry and Meghan’s team defends Netflix trailer stock footage

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in a scene in their kitchen from Harry & Meghan. Photo / Netflix

Allies of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have defended their highly-publicised Netflix documentary against accusations of misinformation, claiming that it is “standard practice” to use stock footage and photographs in television and movie trailers.

The trailer, which has sparked controversy for comparing the treatment of Meghan to that of Diana, Princess of Wales, is now facing fire for showing pictures of paparazzi and press photographers out of context, at locations and events where the royal family were not even present, according to The Telegraph.

One of the scenes shows a crowd of photographers at a Harry Potter film premiere, while others contain footage taken of Katie Price during her court case and of Michael Cohen - Donald Trump’s former lawyer - being photographed in the US.

A source involved in the production of the Netflix documentary confirmed that the Sussexes did not have a say in the trailer’s editorial decisions, but said the chosen footage was “standard practice in documentary and trailer production”.

“You use stock images to tell a story,” they said. “It’s not meant to be literal in a trailer.”

Among the Duke and Duchess’s many new ventures is the Aspen Institute’s new Commission on Information Disorder, a commission that aims to prevent online and media misinformation.

The couple shared a string of candid photos in the teaser. Photo / Netflix

The docuseries, entitled Harry & Meghan and releasing on Netflix on December 8, will follow the Duke and Duchess as they delve into the obstacles they faced, resulting in their exit from the royal family.

The series is expected to centre around the role of media, directly comparing the treatment of the Duchess of Sussex and her late mother-in-law Diana, Princess of Wales.

In the trailer, we see Harry condemn the “pain and suffering” experienced by the women who have married into the royal family, while displaying footage of then-Kate Middleton when she was dating Prince William being crowded by a swarm of photographers.

Scene from Harry & Meghan Netflix Series. Photo / Netflix

A photograph is shown of the royal family at Trooping the Colour in 2019, which has been framed with the Prince and Princess of Wales at the centre rather than the late Queen Elizabeth, with Harry talking over the scene: “There’s a hierarchy of the family.

“There’s leaking, but there’s also planting of stories. It’s a dirty game.”

Netflix has confirmed that volume one will be released on December 8 – coincidentally three months exactly after the death of Harry’s grandmother – with volume two set to air on December 15.