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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle shared a number of ultra-personal unseen images in the first trailer for their new Netflix documentary today.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex can be seen dancing at their wedding, while in another Meghan can be seen cradling her baby bump in the trailer for Harry & Meghan, which was shared today.
The couple had been reported to have tried to push it back to 2023 despite the streaming giant paying them a rumoured $100million (£88million) for the fly-on-the-wall series. It is now set to be released on Thursday next week.
There have been mixed reports, with the royals reportedly ‘at odds’ with the production staff on their Netflix docuseries because the ‘panicked’ couple want to make ‘such extensive edits’ that the team believe the project could be ‘shelved indefinitely’.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle shared a number of ultra-personal unseen images in the first trailer for their new Netflix documentary today
Other previously unseen images shared by the couple appear to show them in the early stages of their relationship while on holiday, jumping into the air with joy.
Another incredibly intimate snap shows the Duke and Duchess lounging around at home following an event as part of their royal farewell tour in 2020.
The advert opens with a producer asking ‘why do you want to make this documentary?’ before a reel of black and white photos are played, including the duchess cradling her baby bump and dancing with Harry dance at their wedding.
Harry’s voice is heard saying, ‘no one sees what goes on behind closed doors’, before viewers are shown an intensely personal image of Meghan on the phone with her head in her hands – apparently crying.
‘I had to do everything I could to protect my family’, the duke later says.
START OF THE RELATIONSHIP
A number of the images from the documentary appear to show the couple as we’ve never seen them before. The Duke and Duchess have spoken a number of times about the start of their relationship, when Harry invited Meghan to Botswana in 2016. In these images, which appear to have been taken during the trip, the couple can be seen jumping for joy
Another image of the couple which appeared to have been taken during the early days of their relationship, showed them sitting atop a jeep. While it is unknown if it was taken during the trip in which they fell in love, they have been vocal about how important this holiday was to their relationship. Botswana is an incredibly special place to both Meghan and Harry, who actually visited the country together for the first time just a few weeks after they first met on a blind date
Other previously unseen images appeared to show the couple during the early days of the relationship, while Meghan was still working as an actress on Suits. She can be seen gazing at Prince Harry, while the Duke, who is not wearing a wedding ring, plays guitar
While it is not clear when a number of the selfies were taken, they appear to show the start of the Duke and Duchess’ blossoming romance. In one, Meghan beams into the camera while Prince Harry eats a snack (left), while in another, the two snuggle up together (right)
Another series of images show the-then actress Meghan enjoying a natural pool with her two dogs, Labrador-Shepherd cross Bogart and Guy. The image appears to have been taken while the couple were dating. She left Bogart behind in Canada when she moved to London in 2017. The former actress, who lived in Canada while filming Suits, made the heartbreaking decision to leave Bogart after moving to the UK to start her new life, because the pet was too old to fly overseas
In one photograph, Prince Harry can be seen with his hand around Meghan’s dog Guy, while a guitar is resting alongside them. It is believed the photograph was taken during the period in which Harry and Meghan first started dating, while she was continuing to film Suits. The image is likely to have been taken in Canada, where she was living while filming the show
Another series of images taken before the couple were married shows them snuggling up with one another in a photobooth (pictured). While it is unknown where or when the images were taken, one of Meghan’s favourite hang-outs, Soho House, has a famous photobooth in which patrons can snap pictures.
THE WEDDING
In one previously unseen photograph from their wedding, the Duke and Duchess can be seen dancing together. It is the first image the public have seen of the reception, which took place at Frogmore House. The wedding reception was a star-studded occasion of Hollywood glamour that was hosted by Prince Charles, featured a house music DJ and concluded with a fireworks display outside an historic 17th century venue. There have even been claims that there was a DJ slot from wedding guest Idris Elba. Mike and Zara Tindall can be seen among the guests at the back of the photograph
FAREWELL TOUR
Further clips shown in the documentary show the couple intimately lounging at their British home of Frogmore Cottage. The short video, which features Meghan and Harry sharing a kiss in the kitchen, was filmed on the evening of the Mountbatten Festival of Music in March 2020. It came at a particularly poignant time for the couple – they had just announced their plans to step back from royal duty, and the engagement was considered a part of their Farewell Tour
Prince Harry, who attended the event at the South Kensington venue in his role as Captain General of the Royal Marines, wore a mess dress uniform complete with medals awarded from two tours of Afghanistan. It was also the final time that the Duke was able to go on an engagement in his official Royal Marines capacity, having inherited the rank of Captain General from Prince Philip in 2017. Meanwhile Meghan wore a red full-length £1,295 Safiyaa dress to the event. Here, she can be seen having removed the cape part of the outfit
Another previously unseen photograph shows the couple walking away from the camera
MEGXIT
In an undated image of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Meghan appeared to brush away a tear while being driven away from Prince Harry
In another clip from the documentary, Meghan is seen with her head in her hands apparently weeping
Just six months after the couple set up home in California in March 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced a shiny new deal with Netflix, saying they wanted to provide ‘hope and inspiration’ by teaming up with the streaming goliath.
The Duke and Duchess said their company, unnamed at the time but now known as Archewell Productions, would make documentaries, feature films, scripted shows and children’s programming.
In a statement, the Sussexes said: ‘Our focus will be on creating content that informs but also gives hope. As new parents, making inspirational family programming is also important to us.’
They added that Netflix’s ‘unprecedented reach will help us share impactful content that unlocks action.’
Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s chief content officer and co-chief exec, said at the time: ‘We’re incredibly proud they have chosen Netflix as their creative home and are excited about telling stories with them that can help build resilience and increase understanding for audiences everywhere.’
After putting ink to paper on the deal, the Sussexes were said to have welcomed cameras into their luxury Montecito mansion for a reality-type documentary, Page Six reported.
In one snap from the documentary, the couple appear to be brushing tears away from their eyes (pictured)
The promotional poster for the documentary Harry & Meghan features an image of the couple on their Australia tour
While it’s unclear on exactly how much of their home life the couple were prepared to share, they certainly did let Netflix cameras trail them on public appearances in 2021 and 2022.
When Harry and Meghan jetted to the Global Citizen Live event in New York in late September 2021, a camera crew accompanied them.
And just over six months later in the Hague, in April this year, the Duke and Duchess were filmed at the Invictus Games, hugging Team United Kingdom competitor Lisa Johnston and meeting competitors and chatting to the crowds.
One of the organisers at the event said the Netflix team arrived in six people carriers with caseloads of equipment.
The film crew were given maroon bibs to help them stand out from the dozens of photographers covering the games and given exclusive access to the couple with behind close door meeting with the athletes.
However, when it came to the Queen’s Jubilee in June – just a few months before the late Monarch died on September 8th, the couple were firmly told they wouldn’t be able to film while attending the celebrations.
Indeed, Meghan and Harry took a low key role in the national event, missing out on key moments on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, which only senior roles were allowed to attend.
Even before it’s release, the show has made waves on both sides of the Atlantic and it is expected to cause fresh turmoil for the Royal Family. Harry also has his memoirs, named ‘Spare’, on the way.
Royal experts have claimed in recent weeks that these two bombshell projects will further set back any prospect of a meaningful reconciliation between the couple, who live in a $14.65million Montecito mansion with their two children, Archie, three, and Lilibet, one, with King Charles and Prince William.
This summer, Meghan hinted that the documentary could focus on their ‘love story’.
Speaking in an interview with The Cut, the Duchess said her five-year-long romance with Prince Harry is one of the ‘pieces of her life’ that she has not yet been able to share with the public.
The Duchess continued: ‘The piece of my life I haven’t been able to share, that people haven’t been able to see, is our love story.’
But after the Queen’s death the Sussexes were said to have wanted to ‘downplay much of what they have said about Charles III, Queen Consort Camilla, and the Prince and Princess of Wales’ in their documentary series, according to a previous report.
It was then reported how the Duke and Duchess were ‘at odds’ with the production staff on their Netflix docuseries because the ‘panicked’ couple wanted to make ‘such extensive edits’ that the team believe the project could be ‘shelved indefinitely’.
One Hollywood industry source said the couple were facing doubts about the series following the Queen’s death.
They said: ‘A lot of conversations are happening.
‘I hear that Harry and Meghan want the series to be held until next year, they want to stall.
‘I wonder if the show could even be dead in the water at this point, do Harry and Meghan just want to shelve this thing?,’ they added.
A Netflix insider also claimed: ‘Netflix has been keen to have the show ready to stream for December. There’s a lot of pressure on (Netflix CEO) Ted Sarandos, who has the relationship with Harry and Meghan, to get this show finished.’
However the source added that the streaming platform was ‘standing by the filmmakers’ who want to keep the content in the project, and that it will still be ‘going forward.’
Insiders reportedly told US website Page Six earlier this year that the couple were ‘having second thoughts’ on the project.
‘Harry and Meghan are panicked about trying to tone down even the most basic language.
‘But it’s their story, from their own mouths,’ one Netflix source told the website last month.
Another said: ‘They’ve made significant requests to walk back content they themselves have provided’.
And Prince Harry faced claims that he was trying to get Netflix to postpone his controversial fly-on-the-wall documentary until after Christmas so it was released at around the same time as his bombshell memoir.
Hollywood news website Deadline previously said that ‘rattled’ Netflix bosses ‘blinked first’ and decided to push back the original December release date after the US company came under heavy criticism over its bombshell fifth series of royal drama The Crown.
Meghan even appeared to distance herself and Harry from their upcoming and controversial Netflix documentary around a month after Her Majesty’s death.
The Duchess of Sussex suggested that its direction is now in the hands of Left-leaning filmmaker Liz Garbus ‘even if it means it may not be the way we would have told it’.
She said in a magazine interview: ‘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. 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.
‘It’s interesting. My husband has never worked in this industry before.
‘For me, having worked on Suits, it’s so amazing to be around so much creative energy and to see how people work together and share their own points of view. That’s been really fun.’
Garbus, who was also due to work on the Duchess’ series Pearl before it was scrapped by Netflix, is a documentarian and filmmaker and also helmed the last season of The Handmaid’s Tale, which earned her an Emmy nomination in 2021.
The TV drama is an adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s novel, which became an instant feminist classic following the story of a woman named Offred, who is forced to live as ‘handmaid’ producing children against her will in a totalitarian North America.
Harry and Meghan had been working on the series as part of their rumoured $100 million (£88million) deal with the beleaguered streaming giant. But there has been toing and froing over when it will be released
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were reported to have tried to push it back to 2023 despite the streaming giant paying them a rumoured $100million (£88million) for the fly-on-the-wall series
Garbus has been involved in a host of other TV and film projects about oppressed women, notably including Girlhood, which follows two female inmates – victims of horrific violence and tragedy – who are serving time in a juvenile detention centre.
She has also had control over a documentary about the life and legend of singer, pianist and civil rights activist Nina Simone as well as a film called Shouting Fire: Stories from the Edge of Free Speech.
Meanwhile the director’s Instagram page is openly political, with recent posts urging for women’s abortion rights and comments about ‘brilliant’ Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.
Biographer Tom Bower previously said the Sussexes’ Netflix series would be helpful publicity for Harry’s book.
‘Viewers and readers can expect scathing comments about their treatment by Harry’s family.
‘Wallowing in self-pity, the Sussexes will portray themselves as victims of uncaring charlatans,’ he said.
In a previous statement announcing the deal, Penguin said the book it would cover Harry’s ‘lifetime in the public eye from childhood to the present day, including his dedication to service, the military duty that twice took him to the frontlines of Afghanistan, and the joy he has found in being a husband and father’.
The contents of Harry’s book are likely to be kept top secret and palace aides have revealed that no members of the Royal Family have been offered the chance to see any of it before it becomes public. When the publishing deal was announced in July 2021, only the Queen was given advance warning.
It comes after The Mail on Sunday reported that Harry launched a last-minute bid to tone down his bombshell autobiography amid fears his final draft ‘might not go down too well’ in the wake of the Queen’s death.
The memoirs had been signed off ready for an expected autumn release, but the Duke – who is writing the book as part of a near £40million three-title deal – has asked to make some significant alterations.
His request may be seen as a sign that he is ready to take a more conciliatory approach to the rest of the Royal Family, but could cause problems for his publishers.
‘Harry has thrown a spanner in the works,’ a source said. ‘He is keen for refinements in the light of the Queen’s death, her funeral and his father Charles taking the throne.
‘There may be things in the book which might not look so good if they come out so soon after these events. He wants sections changed now. It’s not a total rewrite by any means. He desperately wants to make changes. But it might be too late.’
Publishing sources suggested that the Duke might have limited ‘wriggle room’ given he was handed a seven-figure advance.
Publishers Penguin Random House had already demanded a rewrite after the first draft was deemed ‘too touchy-feely’ and placed too much focus on mental health issues, The Mail on Sunday understands.
MailOnline has contacted a representative for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for comment.
Filmmaker Liz Garbus, who directed the last season of The Handmaid’s Tale, was hired following Garrett’s exit from the project. In October, Megan told Variety Magazine, she admired Garbus’ work
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex had turned to Garrett Bradley (left), director of the critically acclaimed Netflix series about tennis prodigy Naomi Osaka – but they reportedly clashed over the direction of the show, leaving Liz Garbus, who was also due to work on the Duchess’ series Pearl before it was scrapped by Netflix, to take over
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