The 'Harry & Meghan' Docuseries Is Coming to Netflix This Week
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Nearly three years after stepping back from royal duties, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are set to share an unprecedented look at their lives beyond the palace in an upcoming Netflix documentary series. It's just one of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's many projects, which include Prince Harry's upcoming memoir Spare and Meghan's Spotify podcast Archetypes.
The news of a Sussex doc hardly comes as a surprise considering the couple signed a massive, multi-year deal with Netflix in 2020. The agreement allowed them to produce documentaries, docu-series, feature films, scripted shows, and children’s titles for the streamer.
Details about Harry & Meghan, the six-episode series about the Duke and Duchess's love story, are starting to trickle out. Here's what we know so far.
When will Harry & Meghan be released?
Netflix confirmed that the six-episode series will be split into two parts: Volume I (episodes 1-3) arrives on Netflix on Thursday, Dec. 8 and Volume II (episodes 4-6) comes Dec. 15, a week after.
The announcement came after Page Six reported that the doc would begin streaming on Dec. 8 and Us Weekly seemed to confirm that it would arrive in December. The release date was reportedly pushed back out of respect for Queen Elizabeth II following her death in September, and following complaints about the portrayals of the royal family in The Crown, whose latest season began streaming on Netflix on Nov. 9.
Is there a trailer?
To hold you over until Harry & Meghan drops, Netflix shared a teaser and first-look photos that feature never-before-seen glimpses of the couple.
“No one sees what's happening behind closed doors,” Prince Harry says in a voiceover. “I had to do everything I could to protect my family,” he adds.
“When the stakes are this high, doesn't it make more sense to hear our story from us?” Meghan says in an interview.
What will it be about?
Netflix touts that Harry & Meghan is an “in-depth” series where the Sussexes will “share the other side of their high-profile love story.”
The streamer adds: “Across six episodes, the series explores the clandestine days of their early courtship and the challenges that led to them feeling forced to step back from their full-time roles in the institution. With commentary from friends and family, most of whom have never spoken publicly before about what they witnessed, and historians who discuss the state of the British Commonwealth today and the royal family’s relationship with the press, the series does more than illuminate one couple’s love story, it paints a picture of our world and how we treat each other. From the critically-acclaimed, two-time Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning director Liz Garbus, Harry & Meghan is a never-before-seen look at one of the most-discussed couples in history.”
While Page Six previously reported that this will be an “at-home with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex-style” docuseries, most details remain unconfirmed by the couple and Netflix itself. Meghan, however, has dropped vague hints in recent months.
Speaking to The Cut in August, she shut down rumors that the series would be a reality show. “The piece of my life I haven’t been able to share, that people haven’t been able to see, is our love story,” she said. But when asked to clarify whether she and Harry were filming a doc on their love story, she added, “What’s so funny is I’m not trying to be cagey. I don’t read any press. So I don’t know what’s confirmed. I will tell you Liz Garbus is incredible.” Now that he teaser and synopsis are public, we know the love story angle is true.
Oscar-nominated Garbus, who directed documentaries like What Happened, Miss Simone? and Love, Marilyn, stepped in after Garrett Bradley exited the project. Garbus was also working on Pearl, a feminist animated series produced by the Sussexes, which Netflix axed for budget reasons earlier this year.
While speaking to Variety for an October cover story, Meghan clarified that the docuseries was not made “the way we would have told it,” but she and Harry trusted Garbus with their narrative.
“It’s nice to be able to trust someone with our story — a seasoned director whose work I’ve long admired — even if it means it may not be the way we would have told it,” the duchess said. “But that’s not why we’re telling it. We’re trusting our story to someone else, and that means it will go through their lens.”
Meghan told The Cut that her and Harry's future projects will carry the theme, quoted from her wedding speech, of the “resounding knowing that, above all, love wins.” She explained, “I hope that is the sentiment that people feel when they see any of the content or the projects that we are working on.”
This story has been updated.
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