If you’re wondering why Meghan Markle and Prince Harry would step away from one spotlight (the royal family) just to put themselves in another (a Netflix series), well, not all spotlights are created equal. And the pair, actually, never said they wanted a completely private life.
Now that the first three episodes of the docu-series about the pair are out, the couple’s press secretary is addressing the apparent paradox of leaving the global stage to make a show about yourself: “Their statement announcing their decision to step back mentions nothing of privacy and reiterates their desire to continue their roles and public duties,” Ashley Hansen said in a statement to the New York Times. “Any suggestion otherwise speaks to a key point of this series. They are choosing to share their story, on their terms, and yet the tabloid media has created an entirely untrue narrative that permeates press coverage and public opinion. The facts are right in front of them.”
Courtesy of Prince Harry and Meghan
The receipts back this up. In the original statement announcing their step back from being “senior” royals, the pair don’t mention privacy once. It’s more about becoming financially independent, moving to the U.S. and giving the family “space to focus on the next chapter” (read the full remarks on Us).
There’s also the lingering question of whether the project is Prince Harry and Meghan Markle telling their story, revealing themselves via actual documentation, or some PR version of both. Liz Garbus, who directed the series, addressed speculation that the Sussexes had “final control” on the series by saying to the Times, “It was a collaboration. You can keep asking me, but that’s what I’ll say.” Perhaps tellingly, the article also notes that the first director attached to the project left because her “vérité style did not mesh with the couple’s interests.”
Still gotta be more accurate than The Crown though, right?
