Jacinda Ardern distances herself from Harry and Meghan in surprise statement

Ouch. One day after Netflix dropped the trailer for Harry and Meghan’s new project, NZ PM Jacinda Ardern has released an update of her own.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has released a statement appearing to distance herself from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, days before her planned appearance in their next Netflix docuseries.

Netflix yesterday dropped the trailer for Harry and Meghan’s next streaming project, Live to Lead. Released on December 31, the seven-part Netflix series will feature interviews from prominent leaders including Ardern, the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, climate activist Greta Thunberg, lawyer Gloria Steinem and more.

As some on social media pointed out, Bader Ginsburg’s involvement suggests the project has been in the works for a while – she died more than two years ago.

Harry in the Live to Lead trailer.

Harry and Meghan apparently “introduce” the series.

And in a new statement released to media, Ardern’s office appeared to distance the NZ PM from the ex-royal couple, pointing out that her involvement in the project came back in March 2019 – almost a year before Harry and Meghan announced their intention to quit the royal family – and was facilitated by the Nelson Mandela foundation.

“In early March 2019 the prime minister was approached by the Mandela Foundation to participate in a project to develop accessible resources on key attributes of leadership targeted at aspiring young leaders around the world, based off a one-hour interview,” the statement began, saying that they were “advised the outputs would be printed and digital books, short films and audiobooks.

Jacinda Arden has had “no communications with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex regarding the project.” Picture: Dave Rowland/Getty

“In March 2021 the Nelson Mandela Foundation advised the prime minister’s office they had secured an agreement with Netflix to broadcast the series of interviews, including the 2019 interview with the prime minister,” it continued.

“In May this year the prime minister’s office was notified that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would introduce the series; noting this was nearly two and a half years after the interview had been recorded and permission for its use by the Mandela Foundation had already been provided.

“All communication throughout has been with the foundation (there has been no communications with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex regarding the project).”

The new show comes hot on the heels of Harry and Meghan’s explosive six-part Netflix docuseries. Picture: Netflix

Ardern’s statement comes as Harry and Meghan’s six-part Netflix docuseries strains their relations with the royal family even further. Bombshells in the docuementary series include Harry’s allegation that his brother Prince William had helped orchestrate a damaging leak about Meghan during her 2021 court case against Associated Newspapers.

As the NZ Herald reports, given she is the serving Prime Minister of a commonwealth country, Ardern “would have been likely to turn down any involvement in a Meghan and Harry project, so as not to be seen to be taking a side in the increasingly ugly fight between the pair and the royal family.”

Originally published as Jacinda Ardern distances herself from Harry and Meghan in surprise statement