Inside the Palace’s Plan For ‘Harry & Meghan’ Netflix Docuseries

If there was any doubt about the direction of the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan it’s now clear: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are willing to go to war, not just against the palace and the press, but also their family. 

A second teaser for the forthcoming six-part show dropped Monday and features Prince Harry speaking about “leaking” and the “planting of stories against them.” And while the couple plan to attack the actions of the press, they will also expose the pressures of royal life, the challenges Meghan claims she faced marrying into the most famous family in the world and why they had no choice but to leave. 

Harry has previously spoken about an unwritten contract between the palace and the press and the Sussexes have alleged that palace aides have been briefed against them while defending other members of the royal family (a claim the palace denies). The couple are expected to go into greater detail about what Harry describes as “a dirty game.” 

Palace aides are said to be bracing themselves for further damaging headlines and revelations, but despite reports senior courtiers have been locked in crisis talks, well-placed sources tell Vanity Fair that the strategy is to ride out the storm without drawing too much attention to the TV series.

“It’s likely going to be tricky but the intention is to keep heads down and keep going,” a royal source says. “It’s a tried and tested strategy and has served them well in the past. William is letting his work speak for itself as we saw in Boston and the King has a busy program of events. The message from the palace will be duty.” 

The teaser, however, suggests the program, which comes just weeks after the latest season of The Crown, could be more than a distraction and has the potential to damage the royal family and its reputation internationally.

In the trailer, a friend of the couple describes their experience as being “about hatred, about race” suggesting that the couple will make more allegations about institutionalized racism within the royal family. Later this week, Harry and Meghan will be in New York to accept an award for taking a stance against racism within the royal family. 

While King Charles’s communications team are understood to be reluctant to be drawn into publicly commenting, Kensington Palace, the Prince and Princess of Wales’ household, could take a different approach. Prince William has made it clear that he will not tolerate accusations of racism and has previously defended the royal family after Harry and Meghan claimed that a family member voiced concern over the color of their unborn son’s skin. When asked if the royals were racist, William responded, “We are very much not a racist family.”