Prince Harry, Meghan Markle ‘at odds’ with Netflix over family doco
Prince Harry could easily repair his image with one move, a royal expert says, as a former British PM rubbishes Netflix series The Crown.
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Prince Harry is said to be “at odds” with Netflix as he reportedly pushes to make “extensive cuts” to a controversial documentary of his life in the US with wife, Meghan Markle, that forms part of a $200 million television deal.
According to reports, the Sussexes are seeking to make the changes as a significant portion of the series was filmed before the Queen’s death in September.
“Harry simply does not want it coming out before Christmas,” a source reportedly told The Sun.
It is understood that Netflix initially resisted the couple’s attempts to push the series back. But it is not known if a final decision has been made.
Prince Harry’s memoir Spare was set to be published in tandem with the show and publishers have agreed to postpone its release until January 10.
Meanwhile, a royal expert claimed Prince Harry could repair his image in Britain and become a “hero” if he ditched the Netflix deal and handed back $200 million.
“If he has a guilty conscience he could do something about it – of course he could,” royal expert Angela Levin said.
“They could give them their money back and walk away. But he doesn’t want to.
“He’d be a hero if he walked away. Harry should walk away.”
The Duke of Sussex’s relationship with Netflix could be tested further after public figures in the UK slammed season five of The Crown, which began streaming this week.
The new series focuses heavily on the deteriorating marriage between the then Prince Charles (Dominic West) and Princess Diana (Australian actress Elizabeth Debicki) in the years just prior to her death in 1997.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair slammed the series as “utter rubbish”.
Mr Blair appears in the latest season, which depicts Prince Charles attempting to recruit him as an ally amid a push to get the Queen to abdicate.
The former leader unequivocally dismissed the claims.
“It should come as no surprise that this is complete and utter rubbish,” a spokesman for Mr Blair said.
Mr Blair was in power during the period of Princess Diana’s death in 1997.
He forged a close but occasionally fractious bond with the Queen during that time, a period that was depicted in the film The Queen (written by The Crown’s creator, Peter Morgan), which earned Helen Mirren an Academy Award.
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Originally published as Prince Harry, Meghan Markle ‘at odds’ with Netflix over family doco