Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's New Netflix Series Hits Major Snag

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's new Netflix documentary series has reportedly been pushed into next year, a delay that was unexpected. The streamer reportedly planned to have the series up in December following the release of The Crown Season 5 on Nov. 9. However, recent criticism of The Crown has reportedly left Netflix "rattled" and the show will not premiere until 2023, Deadline reports.

A source told the outlet the decision was linked to the recent front-page story in the U.K. last weekend about The Crown. The Mail on Sunday reported that a scene in the Season 5 premiere set in 1991 shows Prince Charles having a conversation with U.K. Prime Minister Sir John Majors about Queen Elizabeth II abdicating so Charles could become monarch. Majors' office denied such a meeting ever took place. "They're rattled at Netflix and they blinked first and decided to postpone the documentary," a source told Deadline.

Although Deadline links the delay to the negative story about The Crown, Page Six reported last week that there are parts of Harry and Markle's documentary that contradict what Harry wrote in his upcoming memoir. "A lot in the show contradicted what Harry has written, so that was an issue," a source told Page Six on Oct. 13. "Then Harry and Meghan made significant requests [to filmmakers] to walk back content they themselves have provided, for their own project."

Earlier this month, sources told Page Six that Harry and Markle wanted to delete parts of the series and were having second thoughts about what they originally planned to include. "Harry and Meghan are having second thoughts on their own story, on their own project," one Netflix source said on Oct. 4. Another source said Harry and Markle were "panicked about trying to tone down even the most basic language" in the series. A Sept. 28 Page Six report described them as "desperate" to edit the series after Queen Elizabeth died in early September. The reporting suggested Netflix was refusing to back down on releasing the series.

"They've made significant requests to walk back content they themselves have provided – to the extent that some Netflix staff believe, if granted, it will effectively shelve the project indefinitely," a Netflix source told Page Six on Oct. 4. "Netflix is standing by the filmmakers."

Another Netflix source told Page Six on Oct. 13 that the streamer needed the series finished as soon as possible because it had to be edited and translated for other languages. "Netflix needs a couple of months to do all of the formatting and dubbing, subtitling and audio – all of that stuff that enables it to launch on the platform," the source said.

Markle and Harry's untitled series was produced by Netflix with their own production company, Archewell Productions. Netflix has never announced a release date, but Netflix officials reportedly wanted it to be published soon after The Crown Season 5 was released. Meanwhile, Prince Harry's book, which was set to be published this fall, has been delayed to an unspecified date in 2023.