A trailer for Prince Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary has been released, offering a first glimpse at what the couple say is the inside story of why they stepped down from royal duties.
“No one sees what’s happening behind closed doors,” said Prince Harry.
“When the stakes were this high, doesn’t it make more sense to hear our story from us?” Meghan adds.
This comes against a backdrop of a royal race row about comments to a black guest at Buckingham Palace.
“I had to do everything I could to protect my family,” Prince Harry also said in the teaser script for this 15-rated six-part series, called Harry and Meghan.
The trailer sets the scene with a fast-forward set of some previously unseen black and white images – from a young couple messing around to later tense and tearful images of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex.
Harry & Meghan. A Netflix Global Event. Coming soon, only on Netflix. pic.twitter.com/ysxaCcESP4
— Netflix (@netflix) December 1, 2022
This is intercut with a picture of the Princess of Wales looking rather ferociously ahead.
The minute-long trailer for the series, directed by Liz Garbus, is set against increasingly ominous music – and the approach of the series will cause some royal anxiety.
It’s not clear yet how hard-hitting the series might be and it will be followed by the prospect of further revelations in Prince Harry’s memoir, due to be published in January.
There are likely to be worries within the Royal Family about the trailer cutting across Prince William and Catherine’s high-profile visit to Boston in the US this week.
Their trip has already been threatened with being overshadowed by the race row at Buckingham Palace.
Prince William’s godmother Lady Susan Hussey stood down from her honorary duties for the Royal Family on Wednesday, after Ngozi Fulani, founder of the charity Sistah Space, described how she had been repeatedly asked where she “really” came from at a Buckingham Palace reception.
A spokesman for Prince William had responded to the row by saying that “racism has no place in our society”.
But the BBC’s Daniela Relph, who is in Boston, says not to expect the Prince and Princess of Wales to comment on the Netflix series during their US trip. Royal sources say they want to concentrate on meeting communities and local people.
Prince William and Catherine’s visit to the US will end with a ceremony on Friday for their Earthshot Prize – which is awarded for innovative ideas for the environment. Harry and Meghan are not expected to attend the event.
The Harry and Meghan Netflix series promises to show the “clandestine days of their early courtship” and will have commentary from friends and family who have not spoken before “about what they’d witnessed”.
The behind the scenes story says it will reveal a “picture of the world and how we treat each other”, including Prince Harry and Meghan’s relationship with the media.
Netflix has not confirmed the release date, although it is expected to begin next week.
