Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are constantly criticized in the press, and paparazzi very often follow them around—that much is clear.
However, in the trailer for their upcoming Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, a photo that showed photographers presumably "hounding" the royal couple appears to have actually been taken at the 2011 premiere for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two in London, according to a report in The Sun.
The image used in the trailer, which appears in black and white, can be found on stock photo site Alamy, where it is indeed listed as having been taken on July 7, 2011, the day of the final Harry Potter premiere.
Of course, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had nothing to do with the picture research or video editing involved in making the trailer, but because they are its subjects, this move unfortunately has the potential to reflect badly on them.
"I don’t imagine Harry would have realized, but Netflix have been careless here as it weakens Harry’s comment about protecting his family," royal expert Ingrid Seward told The Sun. "This fake picture weakens his point."
In the short teaser for the series, Prince Harry says, "I had to do everything I could to protect my family."
The Sun photographer Doug Seeburg was at the Harry Potter premiere in 2011, and denounces the use of this particular photo in the trailer.
"I remember going to the premiere. It was a huge event. Crowds and crowds of fans had turned out in the rain and camped overnight to see the actors. There were no members of the Royal Family there," Seeburg said.
"In the Netflix trailer it’s implied the photographers, including me, were trying to get a shot of the royal couple—but that’s nonsense.
"For a picture from that premiere to turn up in this trailer about Harry and Meghan seems like lazy picture research."
Still, it's undeniable that the Sussexes have struggled with the paparazzi over the years.
Prince Harry got into fights with them before he met his wife; the couple lied about Archie's birth to ward off the paparazzi; and they once even brought a legal claim against a pap agency. It's just that the use of that 2011 photo makes it look almost like those problems don't exist, which again, they very much do.
