'Harry & Meghan' First Half Is "Netflix' Biggest Documentary Debut of All Time," Rep Says

Impressive!

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
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Whatever people's opinions of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (and people have many such opinions), you can't deny the success of their Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, so far.

Almost a week after the first half came out, it's still making headlines and heavily dividing public opinion. But in order for royal fans to have an opinion to be divided on in the first place, they have to actually watch the doc first—and they did, by the millions.

"The first half of Harry & Meghan has been @Netflix's biggest documentary debut of all time," tweeted royal author Omid Scobie. "A rep says it debuted with 81.55M hours viewed by over 28 million households (in four days), the highest of any doc in a premiere week. It's currently the #2 English TV series globally."

This isn't the first time the Sussexes have hit a royal blockbuster. When Meghan's Archetypes podcast first came out on Spotify in August, it soon climbed into the first spot on the streaming platform's podcast charts, beating Joe Rogan's very controversial series.

"Meghan's debut podcast, #Archetypes, has done what many have tried (and failed) to do—snatch the top spot from The Joe Rogan Experience on @Spotify's US Podcast Charts," Scobie tweeted at the time.

"The show is also #1 in Australia, Canada and UK."

Meanwhile, Harry and Meghan's 2021 Oprah interview garnered 17.1 million viewers when it aired on CBS, which was far less than Oprah's most watched interview with Michael Jackson, but did beat Diane Sawyer's 2014 interview with Caitlyn Jenner, according to the Los Angeles Times.

With the second half of Harry & Meghan dropping tomorrow, Thursday, Dec. 15, let's see if the doc can continue to break records on the charts. I have a feeling it just might.

Iris Goldsztajn
Iris Goldsztajn
Morning Editor

Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and SELF. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.