A new perspective. Meghan Markle opened up about the process of creating her upcoming Netflix documentary with husband Prince Harry, hinting that it wasn’t exactly what the pair expected.
The Duchess of Sussex, 41, spoke with Variety about collaborating with director Liz Garbus — who’s known for award-winning documentaries such as The Farm: Angola, USA and What Happened, Miss Simone? — in her cover story published on Wednesday, October 19. “It’s nice to be able to trust someone with our story — a seasoned director whose work I’ve long admired — even if it means it may not be the way we would have told it,” Meghan explained. “But that’s not why we’re telling it.”
The Deal or No Deal alum continued: “We’re trusting our story to someone else, and that means it will go through their lens.”
Meghan noted that it was “interesting” to team up with Harry, 38, on the project from their company, Archewell Productions. “My husband has never worked in this industry before,” she told the outlet. “For me, having worked on Suits, it’s so amazing to be around so much creative energy and to see how people work together and share their own points of view. That’s been really fun.”
The couple, who tied the knot in May 2018, signed a multiyear deal with Netflix in September 2020 to create original content — from children’s shows to docuseries — for the streaming giant. At the time, a source exclusively told Us Weekly that the Sussexes were offered nearly $100 million for the deal.
“Our lives, both independent of each other, and as a couple have allowed us to understand the power of the human spirit: of courage, resilience and the need for connection,” Harry and Meghan noted in a statement announcing the venture. “Through our work with diverse communities and their environments, to shining a light on people and causes around the world, our focus will be on creating content that informs but also gives hope.”
Stepping down as senior royals allowed the pair to pursue different passions. “Harry’s always had a creative streak [and] Meghan’s inspired him to take it to the next level,” a source exclusively revealed in August 2020. “Working in the entertainment industry isn’t something he particularly thought about doing as a royal, but since separating from the royals he now has the opportunity to explore new, exciting opportunities and can’t wait to get his upcoming projects off the ground.”
An official release date for the documentary has not yet been announced. In the wake of Queen Elizabeth II‘s death in September, the duke and duchess went back to the drawing board with some aspects of their series — particularly where King Charles III is concerned.
“They’ve both agreed to reach a neutral ground by softening the parts on Charles and adding intimate details about [Elizabeth’s] legacy,” an insider exclusively revealed this month, adding that Harry and Meghan want their show to be “interesting without crossing a line” with the royal family.
Since their departure from the palace was made permanent in February 2021, the couple haven’t held back while discussing their royal experiences. The California native and the former military pilot, who share son Archie, 3, and daughter Lilibet, 16 months, made a series of bombshell revelations about The Firm during their CBS tell-all, which aired in March 2021. Harry continued to speak out about his relationship with Charles, 73, in subsequent interviews and will further explore his ups and downs in his highly anticipated memoir.
“He’s so grateful to Meghan for her input and they make all of these big decisions together, so of course there’s that balancing act of weighing up pros and cons to consider,” the source told Us this month. “And it goes the other way, too — he’s equally involved in her big picture, they’re very much at one that way and maintain they always will be.”
