‘Laughing-stock’: Meghan and Harry risk royal backlash over Netflix documentary
The Sussexes will never be forgiven for a Netflix series destined to go down in history as “total rubbish”, according to a royal expert.
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are expected to “complain and explain” over six-episodes of their highly anticipated Netflix series, marking a rebuke of the royal family’s unofficial motto of dignified silence.
Three months after Queen Elizabeth II died, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will publicly air their grievances in a move royal experts say will make them a “laughing-stock” estranged from King Charles and the British public.
“He has done this with Netflix for money and they will reap all the benefits they deserve,” royal commentator Neil Sean told News Corp Australia.
“Obviously dimwitted Harry has no idea he has been played, but one day he will wake up.”
Mr Sean, a long-time royal author who chronicles the palace’s daily headlines on his YouTube channel, said the monarchy will leave the Sussexes behind once the full, “embarrassing” soap opera debuts.
The three-episodes of “Volume I” release on December 8, with the final three episodes of “Volume II” releasing on December 15.
It will follow the couple’s “love story” from their point of view, and is promoted as “what’s happening behind closed doors” after the couple dramatically left the UK for the US in January 2020.
Markle has said in interviews that she hopes people who watch the show feel that, “above all, love wins”.
“The piece of my life I haven’t been able to share, that people haven’t been able to see, is our love story,” she told The Cut.
“When the media has shaped the story around you, it’s really nice to be able to tell your own story.”
Harry and Meghan will be exclusively shown on Netflix as part of the couple’s reported $US100 million ($A147m) deal with the streaming giant.
“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,” Netflix said in a statement.
It includes commentary from historians discussing the British Commonwealth and the royal family’s history with the press, as well as on-camera interviews with unnamed “friends and family”.
“Most of whom have never spoken publicly before about what they witnessed,” Netflix’s statement went on, adding: “It paints a picture of our world and how we treat each other.”
As Prince Harry said in the trailer released this week, “No one knows the full truth. We know the full truth.”
On the other side of the Atlantic, the House of Windsor is bracing for the truth bombs after reports the Sussexes attempted to “tone down” the series after the Queen’s death.
Netflix refused to cut content and stood by Oscar-nominated director Liz Garbus, who replaced the original director of the series, Garrett Bradley, who left due to “creative differences”.
The documentary is said to include revelations about King Charles and Camilla, with Prince William and Kate also reportedly in the crosshairs. Absent from promotion of the film are previous claims made of racism made against the Royal family, which Prince Harry told Oprah he would never discuss further.
In a piece of pointed editing, the teaser trailer shows a brooding black-and-white image of Prince William and Kate as Prince Harry says: “No one sees what’s happening behind closed doors.”
Rather than redemption, Mr Sean said the only outcome of opening those closed doors would be their Netflix money, and further estrangement from King Charles.
“The UK public won’t be so quick to forgive when it all explodes, and he is left with chickens and the rescue dogs,” Mr Sean said, referencing Prince Harry’s new life in California.
“I think it will be viewed in years to come as total rubbish and they will be caught out simply because neither is bright and the people they associate with are not eloquent,” he added. “So it leaves you laughing, sadly, at them. I feel sorry for the late Queen who saw the good in everyone. However, even this, I hear, tipped a crown in another direction, and [the Queen] wondered what on earth Harry had gotten involved with.”
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