Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's Netflix Connection Causes New Headache for The Royal Family
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will attend Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee celebrations next month, but the royal family is reportedly worried about the couple's relationship with Netflix. Sources told The Sun this weekend that the family is worried about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex bringing a Netflix crew with them. Markle and Harry's Archewell Productions has a deal with Netflix, although there has been no announcement of a documentary Harry's family should be worried about.
"While the family [is] delighted Harry and Meghan are coming, there is a real fear of tension, especially over any Netflix crew," an insider told The Sun. "There are concerns tension could explode if the Netflix team comes to the U.K. and tries to exploit their opportunities." The insider added that the royals worry a Netflix team will "push it" and try to get into private Jubilee parties to film Harry and Markle.
"Even if they accept that their Netflix crew can't go into Buckingham Palace to film, they could cause problems – and at the very least cause a major distraction," the source said. "Senior courtiers believe that Netflix will see it as one big opportunity to exploit their mega-millions agreement with the couple. So a team of Palace aides will be on standby to keep a very close eye on the crew, and act as minders if needs be."
Although Harry and Markle have several Archewell projects in the works at Netflix, they only publicly announced two shows. Heart of Invictus is a documentary series focusing on stories of Invictus Games competitors. They also announced plans for Pearl, an animated series that was scrapped on May 1 while Netflix was making budget cuts. All references to Pearl were scrubbed from the Archewell website.
Last week, a spokesperson for Markle and Harry confirmed they will attend the Platinum Jubilee celebrations with their children, Archie Harrison and Lilibet Diana. This will be Lilibet's first trip to the U.K., where she will meet the rest of Harry's family, including her great-grandmother.
Unfortunately, Harry and Markle will not be invited to the Buckingham Palace balcony for the Trooping the Colour event. The queen announced earlier last week that only working members of the royal family will attend, which leaves Harry and Meaghan out. Prince Andrew, who stepped back from royal duties because of his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, will also not be on the balcony.
The Trooping the Colour will kick off celebrations to mark Queen Elizabeth's 70 years on the throne. Harry and Markle will likely appear at the Service of Thanksgiving on June 3, which usually includes extended members of the royal family. Harry and Markle last visited the queen in April, when they stopped in London on their way to the Invictus Games in the Netherlands. "It was really nice to catch up with her," Harry told Today about the private meeting with his grandmother. "She's always got a great sense of humor with me."