Reports of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s documentary-oriented project have swirled since around the time that the Duchess of Sussex visited a Uvalde memorial for schoolchildren slain through gun violence. It should be noted that Netflix reportedly postponed the six-part docuseries’ release after some particularly potent The Crown criticism (following Queen Elizabeth’s death and Charles’ ascendance to the throne). This hasn’t quelled the accusations from royal fanboy Piers Morgan, who accused the couple of timing the Harry & Meghan trailer specifically to overshadow a recent U.S. tour from Prince Wiliam and Duchess Kate.
In the trailer, Meghan made her objectives clear: “When the stakes are this high, doesn’t it make more sense to hear our story from us?”
Harry & Meghan. A Netflix Global Event. Coming soon, only on Netflix. pic.twitter.com/ysxaCcESP4
— Netflix (@netflix) December 1, 2022
However, the docuseries is landing sooner than projected on December 8. Further, there’s been a fair amount of negative chatter over what appear to be clumsy creative decisions at some level. As Deadline notes, a few of the trailer’s key paparazzi shots — meant to communicate the media’s intrusion upon the couple’s privacy — were not presented in an accurate way. Deadline does point out, “Alternative images and clips are undoubtedly used in multiple trailers but it is the combination of the doctoring and the subject matter that is causing such a stir.”
In other words, royal fans (and Sussex detractors) are pouncing all over those inconsistencies, which include an image from the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 premiere. Deadline points towards those photos, which won’t quell the detractors from social media posts that drag the docuseries’ claims to provide “the challenges that led to [Harry and Meghan] feeling forced to step back from their full-time roles in the institution.” Liz Garbus (of HBO’s I’ll Be Gone In The Dark) directs, and the series arrives a few years after the couple’s infamous Oprah interview, in which Meghan alleged racism and poor treatment from inside the Royal family.
Harry & Meghan will arrive in two parts: Part One (Eps 1-3) on December 8, and Part Two (Eps 4-6) on December 15.