Meghan and Harry’s Netflix series breaks documentary record

While there’s been a wave of criticism about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s documentary, Netflix is no doubt cheering with the ratings reveal.

The royal hype surrounding Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s docuseries does not appear to be slowing down any time soon.

In fact, Harry & Meghan has already broken the Netflix record as the platform’s biggest documentary debut less than one week after its premiere.

Directed by Oscar-nominated director Liz Garbus, the show, which dropped its first three episodes on December 8, follows the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s love story, as told by them, Decider reports.

It also sheds more light on their controversial decision to take a step back from their duties as working royals.

Stay up to date with the latest news on the British Royals with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer available for a limited time only >

Meghan and Harry’s wedding photos shown in the trailer for part two of their Netflix series. Picture: Netflix

Now Netflix has revealed that the first three episodes of the docuseries has had 81.55 million hours viewed in its first week, giving it the record for the most hours viewed across any other documentary on the platform in its premiere week.

After only four days, 28 million households had tuned in. The show has also appeared in the top 10 category on the streamer in 85 countries, including the top slot in the UK. (No surprise there.)

So far, fans have witnessed Meghan explaining her first meeting with the late Queen Elizabeth II (which she compared to “Medieval Times”), Harry taking down royal correspondents and also seen clips from Princess Diana’s infamous Panorama interview.

The couple also revealed new footage of their two children.

Now, in a teaser released for the final three episodes, which will drop on Thursday, December 15, Harry is heard saying: “They were happy to lie to protect my brother. They were never willing to tell the truth to protect us.”

Harry and Meghan are set to drop more bombshells.

Assuming the remainder of bombshell statements from the couple match what we’ve already seen, it’s entirely likely that this series will only continue to rake in more viewers.

Aside from Harry & Meghan, other titles doing high numbers on the streaming service including Wednesday, which just passed one billion viewing hours, making it only the third series to do so within its first 28 days.

The Jenna Ortega-led show even passed Ryan Murphy’s Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Storyas Netflix’s number two most popular English-language series.

Both shows are currently up for awards at the 2023 Golden Globes.

This story originally appeared on Decider and was reproduced here with permission