Keeping up with the Sussexes: Harry and Meghan ‘invite Netflix cameras into their home’
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have invited Netflix cameras into their California home for a fly-on-the wall documentary series, it has been claimed.
The couple have reportedly given permission for the streaming giant to make an “at home with the Duke and Duchess-style” series and have been filmed behind the scenes for several months.
A well-placed Hollywood insider told New York website Page Six: “I think it’s fair to say that Netflix is getting its pound of flesh.”
The Sussexes signed a lucrative, multi-million contract with Netflix in 2020, just months after leaving the UK, but have yet to produce any content.
The only project in the pipeline that has so far been announced is the Duke’s behind-the-scenes documentary about the Invictus Games called Heart of Invictus.
A crew has been following the Sussexes for months. The team was seen filming throughout a visit to New York last September and their vehicle was spotted in Windsor in April, when the couple popped in on the Queen ahead of her 96th birthday.
In November the Duke and Duchess returned to New York with a crew in tow to mark Veterans Day, with cameras and equipment bundled out of their hotel under coats in an apparent attempt at secrecy.
Revelations about the latest project will likely prompt more weary sighs at Buckingham Palace, which has become accustomed to dealing with the steady stream of bitter allegations and accusations proffered by the Sussexes in various interviews since they left the royal fold.
The Royal Family is already braced for yet further recriminations when the Duke’s memoir is published towards the end of the year.
Timing of broadcast ‘up in the air’
Netflix is said to want to release the docu-series in the autumn to coincide with the book release but the Sussexes reportedly want to hold it until next year.
A producer told Page Six: “The timing is still being discussed, things are up in the air.”
When the couple announced the Netflix deal, they said they wanted to create content that “informs but also gives hope”.
In their statement they added: “As new parents, making inspirational family programming is also important to us, as is powerful storytelling through a truthful and relatable lens.”
It was reported shortly afterwards that the couple had agreed to take part in a fly-on-the-wall documentary, allowing cameras to follow them for three months while focusing on their charity work.
At the time, their spokesman denied the reports, stating that the Sussexes “are not taking part in any reality shows”.
Meghan’s first solo project for the streaming platform, an animated series called Pearl, was dropped last month.
The animation, co-produced by Sir Elton John’s husband David Furnish, was about a 12-year-old girl inspired by key women in history and was said to be particularly close to the Duchess’s heart.
It was abandoned as part of a series of cutbacks prompted by the announcement that Netflix had added fewer than four million new users in the latest quarter.
A spokesman for the Sussexes declined to comment on the latest claim, although one source noted that the couple had “several projects in various stages of development at Netflix”.
The Duke and Duchess will return to the UK with their children next month to join the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
