Escalation in six parts: Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary kicks off

The story is actually well known: the prince and his great love want to escape the coercion of the royal house, break the family ties and start a new, freer life on the other side of the world. all’s well that ends well? Not even close. Almost three years after Harry and Meghan’s voluntary withdrawal from the British royal family, the saga is far from its final chapter. Now the drama has become the stuff of streaming giant Netflix.

In six episodes (three from December 8, the other three from December 15), Harry and Meghan want to tell in the documentary series “Harry & Meghan” what made them leave and how they experienced it themselves.

Duchess Meghan (41) asks the camera in a trailer, as Prince Harry (38) mysteriously hints:

In a sensational interview with American talk show host Oprah Winfrey last year, the couple sharply divided, accusing the palace of racism and lack of support. The clips released by Netflix so far make it clear: both will reappear. Monarchy expert Craig Prescott of the Welsh University of Bangor says in an interview with the German news agency: “The mere existence of this documentation is difficult to regard as anything other than an escalation of the rift.”

Even if the allegations from the Oprah interview were merely repeated or expanded upon, Prescott notes that the couple maintains them more than a year and a half after they aired, blaming the Palace for little or no progress. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that a few days ago the royal family fought another racism scandal over a previous lady-in-waiting making inappropriate comments.

The most exciting question of this time is probably whether the palace will respond to the Netflix documentary. “This is the king’s first major challenge as head of the institution,” a royal insider source told the Telegraph newspaper, referring to Harry’s father Charles III. “His response will reveal a lot about how his reign will play out. Will he be modern and responsive or will he stick to the mantra ‘Don’t complain, don’t explain?’ This will also have an impact on Harry and Meghan and their future relationship with the family.

The British tabloids, which are also hit hard by the couple, have already expressed their verdict. “Harry, do you really hate your family that much?”, headlined the “Daily Express” after the documentary’s first trailer was released. The influential newspapers “Daily Mail” and “Sun” even rated this as a “declaration of war”.

Just a few months ago, the couple, along with Harry’s older brother Prince William and his wife Princess Kate, graced the covers as the four of them looked at flowers and funeral letters in Windsor after the Queen’s death. Commentators view the joint action as a sign of tentative rapprochement. But that’s over for now. Expert Prescott also expects the couple, now living in California, not to mince words – and critically notes: “The unanswered question is: what do you want to achieve with it?”

For now, marketing their lot remains a good thing: Harry and Meghan signed multi-million dollar deals with Netflix and Spotify in late 2020. The Netflix production, which will premiere on Thursday morning (9:01 am CET), will be followed in January by Harry’s autobiography. The title “Reserve” (original: “Spare”) already indicates the thrust.

(yam/sda/dpa)