Prince Harry, Meghan Markle slammed for ‘misleading’ footage in new Netflix trailer
Prince Harry has taken aim at the Palace in the Sussexes’ new Netflix trailer as the pair are again accused of using “fake” photos and footage.
Royals
Don't miss out on the headlines from Royals. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have again been called out over the use of “misleading” footage in their latest Netflix trailer.
It comes after it emerged that the second trailer for the six-part series used footage of the paparazzi following British glamour model Katie Price outside court.
A brief clip from the latest trailer for Harry and Meghan shows a group of photographers rushing towards a concrete building which is clearly Crawley Magistrates Court, where Ms Price appeared last December to be sentenced for drink driving.
“I was terrified — I didn’t want history to repeat itself,” Prince Harry says as the footage is played.
Another clip shows a scrum of photographers forming around a car as Markle says, referring to the royal household, “I realised they are never going to protect you”.
Rather than showing the Sussexes being hounded, the footage is of Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, leaving his New York apartment in 2019 to serve time in prison for financial crimes.
A third image from the second teaser shows a photographer taking a snap of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle from a balcony while they were visiting the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu in South Africa.
Royal expert Robert Jobson tweeted: “This photograph used by @Netflix and Harry and Meghan to suggest intrusion by the press is a complete travesty.
“It was taken from an accredited pool at Archbishop Tutu’s residence in Cape Town. Only 3 people were in the accredited position. H & M agreed the position. I was there.”
The latest footage controversy comes after it was revealed that a photograph in the pair’s first Netflix trailer, which apparently showed the Sussexes being hounded by paparazzi, was actually taken at a Harry Potter premiere five years before they met.
Another photo of Prince Harry shielding his face from the paparazzi was actually taken in September 2007 at Heathrow Airport when he was with former girlfriend Chelsy Davy.
Netflix cropped Davy out of the picture and the image appears to have also been digitally altered to emphasis the flash photography.
The streaming giant has promised an “unprecedented and in-depth documentary series” over six episodes where the royal couple “share the other side of their high-profile love story”.
The first three episodes of the series — volume one — will being streaming on Netflix on December 8.
Volume two, the last three episodes, will premiere on December 15.
The docuseries is said to offer an insight into why the Sussexes really stepped back from their royal duties in March 2020.
It comes in the aftermath of another royal family race row involving Lady Susan Hussey, Prince William’s godmother and lady-in-waiting to the late Queen.
The 83-year-old was stood down from her honorary duties last week after Ngozi Fulani, founder of charity Sistah Space, described how she had been quizzed about where she “really” came from at a Buckingham Palace reception.
‘DIRTY GAME’: HARRY TAKES AIM AT PALACE INSIDERS
The new one-minute trailer for the eagerly awaited Netflix docuseries on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle opens with a voiceover by the Duke of Sussex saying, “It’s really hard to look back on it now and go: ‘What on earth happened?’”
In the suspenseful clip, which shows various photos and footage of the royal couple, Prince Harry’voiceover narration hints at a conspiracy theory type of background to the couple’s relationship: “There’s a hierarchy of the family, you know, there’s leaking, but there’s also planting of stories. It’s a dirty game,” says Prince Harry.
Prince Harry’s late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, is seen in the trailer being hounded by paparazzi, after a “war against Meghan” is alluded to by one commentator.
The Duke of Sussex says: “The pain and suffering of women marrying into this institution, this feeding frenzy. I was terrified, I didn’t want history to repeat itself. No one knows the full truth. We know the full truth.”
The issue of race is raised as Christopher Bouzy, a tech entrepreneur and a longtime supporter of the couple, says of the pair’s experience: “It’s about hatred. It’s about race.”
Mr Bouzy, who often comments about the rift between the Sussexes and the Palace on Twitter, previously tweeted that he thought Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, both 40, were ageing in “banana years”.
“I don’t understand why since they have a team of people who wait on them hand and foot 24/7,” he posted.
The California-based couple’s account of royal life shows no indication of making peace with the royal family. Instead, the tone is hard hitting and investigative.
Senior royals seem to be implicated in the plot against the pair, with an image of the Buckingham Palace balcony, over which Prince Harry says: “There’s a hierarchy of the family. You know there’s leaking, but there’s also planting of stories.”
Prince Harry and Markle are no longer working royals and therefore did not appear on the balcony for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
This trailer begins with Markle being enthusiastically received by the public and treated like a “royal rock star” and it also includes a shot of Catherine, Princess of Wales, looking hard faced and emotionless alongside Camilla, the Queen Consort, and Sophie, the Countess of Wessex.
“Everything changed”, says Prince Harry about the attitude towards his wife.
PIERS MORGAN ACCUSES PRINCE HARRY OF EXPLOITATION
Piers Morgan has hit out at Prince Harry, describing the use of his late mother Princess Diana “to flog a reality TV series” as a “grotesque exploitation”.
In his column for The Sun, Morgan said the Netflix trailer “flashes up imagery of Princess Diana to try, once again, to directly link and compare the two women”.
“Yet Diana was a hundred times more famous, pursued, and beloved, than Markle’s ever been or ever will be,” Morgan wrote.
“And given all his bleating about privacy and the media trading off Diana and the royals, it’s hard to imagine a worse kind of grotesquely hypocritical exploitation than Harry now brazenly using his dead mother to flog a reality kiss-and-tell TV series because he needs to justify the Netflix gazillions.”
Morgan took to Twitter to denounce the pair for featuring his voice in the new trailer for their “ghastly” series.
In the clip, Morgan can he heard saying of Markle in a voiceover: “She is becoming a royal rock star”.
“Princess Pinocchio & Prince Hypocrite use my voice to flog their ghastly new series,” Morgan tweeted. “I’m traumatised by this exploitation.”
Morgan then accused the couple of using misleading footage.
“They already tell yet another lie in the first trailer with the Harry Potter paparazzi shot,” Morgan tweeted.
“These two wouldn’t know the truth if it slapped them round their latte-encrusted tiaras.”
Morgan responded to claims from Prince Harry that there is a “war against Meghan”: “Says the guy waging a relentless vicious public war against his own family. Harry’s such a deluded spoiled manipulated brat,” Morgan said.
WILLIAM, KATE SHARE BOSTON IMAGES
As controversy plagues the Sussexes, the Prince and Princess of Wales shared heartwarming images on Instagram of their visit to Boston, where they attended the 2022 Earthshot Awards.
In one image, Catherine patted an adorable labrador during a visit to Harvard University.
The pair also shared a stunning picture of Prince William lovingly touching his wife’s back during the Earthshot Awards at Fenway Park.
Other images showed royal fans greeting the par as well as a shot of the couple’s surprise appearance at a Boston Celtics basketball game at the TD Garden.
The couple posted the simple caption “Thank you Boston!” along side the images.
More Coverage
Originally published as Prince Harry, Meghan Markle slammed for ‘misleading’ footage in new Netflix trailer
Charles to ‘stay out’ of Republic debate
The King has issued a surprising response to a question about Australia’s future ahead of his five-day tour to the country later this week.
Charles won’t stop Australia axing monarchy
As King Charles gets set to fly to Australia, a royal spokesman has claimed he won’t stand in the way of Australia dropping the monarchy despite his “deep love and affection” for the country.