After Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s eponymous Netflix docuseries was released last month, Buckingham Palace said it was not approached for comment about Harry & Meghan. But, according to the series’ director, Liz Garbus, that is not true.
In an interview with Vanity Fair (and per People), the Oscar-nominated director described the experience of creating the docuseries as a polarizing experience that gave her insight into the “alleged Palace mind games” that Harry and Meghan went through.
“For instance, Buckingham Palace said that we didn’t reach out for comment [on the docuseries] when we did,” Garbus said. “They did that to discredit us…and by discrediting us, they can discredit the content of the show.”
She added “We lived through some of those moments that were a little bit like Alice Through the Looking Glass.”
At the beginning of Harry & Meghan, a title card states “Members of the Royal Family declined to comment on the content within the series.” After the series premiered on December 8, a Palace source told People that neither members of the family nor Buckingham Palace or Prince William’s office at Kensington Palace were approached for comment on the content of the show.
“A Netflix source later told People that communications offices for King Charles and Prince William were contacted in advance and given the right to reply to claims within the series,” People reports. “A royal source added while speaking with People that Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace did receive an email claiming to be from a third-party production company through an unknown organization’s email address. When they contacted Archewell and Netflix to verify the source, they received no response. The royal source also says the substance of the email did not address the entire series.”
Garbus tells Vanity Fair (and per OK) that Harry and Meghan saw the docuseries as a way to tell “their love story from their point of view, as opposed to the love story as told by others”—and she added that she wanted to add another layer to the show.
“For me, what was really important was to connect the dots to these larger historical issues,” she says. “They were, to their credit, very open and willing to journey down some of the paths that they might not have originally considered. [The love story] is the spine but, for me, it was always necessary to…connect the dots to the personal story and the larger historical context.”
She continued “I don’t feel that [questioning] the monarchy is sacrilege, in the way that I don’t feel [questioning] the American government is sacrilege. It’s our role as storytellers and critical thinkers to raise these questions.”
Addressing the so-called “Sussex fatigue”—a moniker given to many people’s perception that, with the docuseries, Harry’s book, Spare, and other interviews as of late, that the couple are overexposed right now—Garbus says “people are very happy to read everything about Harry and Meghan when it’s somebody else writing about them. But when Harry and Meghan want to tell their story in their own words, it suddenly becomes an issue. There have been more documentaries and books written about Harry and Meghan than Harry and Meghan have produced themselves. So I think it’s an interesting kind of pearl-clutching that doesn’t quite add up with the public’s appetite for reading stuff about them from other people.”
Stay In The Know
Marie Claire email subscribers get intel on fashion and beauty trends, hot-off-the-press celebrity news, and more. Sign up here.
Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.
-
Princess Kate Will Be "Ready to Talk" About Her Absence When She Gets Back to Work, Source Claims
The Palace has released very few details about her illness and recovery.
By Iris Goldsztajn Published
-
Princess Kate Was Allegedly Spotted Looking "Happy, Relaxed and Healthy" at a Farm Shop This Weekend
Anonymous onlookers provided this description to 'The Sun.'
By Iris Goldsztajn Published
-
Kelly Clarkson Claims Her Ex-Husband Owes Her Even More Money After He Allegedly "Violated Labor Laws" as Her Manager
The "Stronger" star was already awarded $2.6 million in a previous lawsuit.
By Danielle Campoamor Published
-
If You Want to Buy Jellies and Jams, Napkin Rings, and Recipe Books from Meghan Markle, You're In Luck
Here’s what we know about Meghan’s new lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard—including the poignant reason why she likely chose to hard launch it yesterday.
By Rachel Burchfield Published
-
Despite Being 5,000 Miles Apart, Prince William and Prince Harry Still Couldn’t Bear to Attend an Event at the Same Time—Even One That Honored Their Mother Princess Diana
Their separate appearances at the Diana Awards were carefully timed so that William, onsite in London, had zero opportunity to interact with Harry, calling in from California.
By Rachel Burchfield Published
-
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Would Have Been "Annihilated" Over William and Kate Photo "Mistake," Source Says
She's a perfectionist.
By Iris Goldsztajn Published
-
‘Deal or No Deal’ Host Howie Mandel Admits, for the Life of Him, He Can’t Remember Meghan Markle or This Fellow A-Lister Being on the Show
For her part, Meghan will tell you it wasn't her favorite gig.
By Rachel Burchfield Published
-
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Have a "Golden Opportunity" to Reconcile With the Royals Amid Wales Drama, Publicist Says
They're sadly used to dealing with negative press.
By Iris Goldsztajn Published
-
If Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Were Still Working Royals, They’d Basically Be Leading the Show Right Now
“They desperately need him, and nobody could have foreseen the set of circumstances that would expose that so dramatically.”
By Rachel Burchfield Published
-
Prince Harry Made the Effort to See Older Brother Prince William While in the U.K. Last Month, But William Apparently Wasn’t Interested
“It isn’t normal. It’s terribly sad.”
By Rachel Burchfield Published
-
Princess Kate Wants "Nothing to Do" With Prince Harry Amid Surgery Recovery, Expert Claims
:(
By Iris Goldsztajn Published