The Duchess of Sussex claims that Buckingham Palace used her to protect other members of the royal family. Video / Netflix
The award-winning filmmaker behind Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Netflix documentary has accused the Palace of trying to “discredit” the project.
Liz Garbus, who directed the six-part Harry & Meghan series, told Vanity Fair in a new interview that officials had lied about whether they’d been contacted in advance of its release in a bid to cast doubt on its content.
“For instance, Buckingham Palace said that we didn’t reach out for comment when we did. They did that to discredit us … and by discrediting us, they can discredit the content of the show,” she told the publication.
“We lived through some of those moments that were a little bit like Alice Through the Looking Glass.”
A war of words between the documentary’s creators and the palace broke out in the wake of Harry & Meghan’s release in December over whether or not they’d been given a right of reply to the couple’s many bombshell claims.
At the very beginning of the docuseries, it is stated that the palace “declined to comment” on its content.
The Daily Mail’s royal editor Rebecca English tweeted shortly after it premiered to confirm from her palace sources that neither King Charles nor Prince William’s households had been approached.
“Contrary to claims by the makers of the Netflix documentary, I understand neither Buckingham nor Kensington Palace or any members of the royal family were approached for comment on the content of the series,” she wrote.
Award-winning filmmaker Liz Garbus directed Harry & Meghan. Photo / AP
“I’m not expecting any comment from the royal households as it stands.”
In the series, Harry accused his older brother of having “screamed and shouted” at him during the infamous “Sandringham Summit” after he and Meghan announced their intention to “step back” from royal duties, and implied William had “bullied” the pair prior to their departure.
Harry also claimed his father had said “things that weren’t true”.
Buckingham Palace sources later confirmed via multiple UK outlets that they had received a request for comment via a “third party production company”, which they’d unsuccessfully attempted to verify with both Netflix and Archewell Productions.
But as the Sunday Times’ royal editor, Roya Nikkah, tweeted: “Sources say neither emails (to Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace) included substantial information on the series in for adequate right to reply.”
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry in a trailer for their Netflix documentary. Photo / Netflix
Variety then confirmed the “third party” mentioned was Story Syndicate, the production company co-founded by Garbus, which also co-produced the series alongside Archewell Productions.
In her Vanity Fair interview, Garbus also addressed criticism that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were simply rehashing old issues.
“People are very happy to read everything about Harry and Meghan when it’s somebody else writing about them,” she told the publication.
“But when Harry and Meghan want to tell their story in their own words, it suddenly becomes an issue. People are not forced to watch a documentary. It’s not going to be required in school. It is your choice what you binge and what you don’t binge.
“There have been more documentaries and books written about Harry and Meghan than Harry and Meghan have produced themselves.
“So I think it’s an interesting kind of pearl-clutching that doesn’t quite add up with the public’s appetite for reading stuff about them from other people.”
