#Following Queen Elizabeth II’s death in September this year, we at URBN predicted a bleak future for the royal family in the article “The Post-Elizabeth II World Order”:
Just such a process has been going on for the past two weeks. “Unpacking” comes from American mass entertainment company and influencer Netflix and their six-episode documentary series about Harry and Meghan. The estranged royal couple have waged open war on the memory of Elizabeth II and her living heirs. During several hours on screen, the prince and the actress, still officially the Dukes of Sussex, accused the whole of British society of racism, declared themselves victims and went on the offensive directed against William, Kate, King Charles III and others figures in and around the family.
The serious British publication “The Spectator” described the entire series as “a grotesquely condescending wallowing in self-pity and revanchism.” The tabloid Sun predicted William would not strike back against the attacks, further motivating his brother Harry to step up the rhetoric in the Netflix hit film. Meghan Markle’s husband has opened up about how he was “horrified” by William’s screams during the bitter confrontation in 2020. It’s clear Harry wanted to be “half in, half out” in terms of the official commitments required of all members of the family. Royal family. Then brother William started yelling at him and his father Charles said things that Harry claimed were lies. And her grandmother Elizabeth II remained silent as a witness. Thus, with one sentence on “Netflix”, he managed to accuse all his important relatives of various sins: anger, lies, complicity …
But this phrase is costly in every sense of the word. There are no official parameters of Harry and Meghan’s contract with Netflix, but various media outlets say they have signed a total deal for $100 million, others cite information for £250,000 a minute of screen time for each of them. And there’s already talk of a second season…
William or Charles are unlikely to respond to the allegations. He forgets the otherwise dreamed version of the American media machine, in which William and his wife Kate make their own documentary series, with a rival platform of Netflix, and take revenge on their attackers.
Many people wonder what effect such a series would have had if Queen Elizabeth II had been alive. Now the family seems much more vulnerable and the Netflix strike comes at a particularly critical time. It is now clear that Harry and Meghan filmed with the platform team almost to the last minute, involving cameramen and sound engineers at official events and lying about their role. They continued to work on the series even when it became clear that first Prince Philip and then his wife, Queen Elizabeth II, were in poor health and possibly nearing an end. As they say: a contract is a contract, deadlines are deadlines. Netflix’s stock has taken a major hit over the past year, the platform has started losing subscribers, and company executives have been in desperate need of programming sensations.
Since the beginning of their marriage, Harry and Meghan have spent hours filming each other to have “material” for such a series. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to assume that their entire relationship was some kind of set-up for a Netflix hit. And every television and streaming success needs intrigue, drama.
From villains and heroes, from victims and saviors.
Some analysts even speculate that the whole conflict was initiated by Meghan Markle precisely with the idea of cashing it in an explosive streaming sensation. The moment she realized she didn’t want to be a full-time “royalty” like Kate Middleton, she the actress decided to exit the contract with a bang and a TV hit. From Buckingham Palace straight to Netflix HQ.
It would be extremely ironic if the fall of the royal family and the monarchy in good old England began with an American company’s desire for a high rating. What other real global processes would a powerful streaming platform be asked to orchestrate in the future?
Photo: Getty Images
Marshall McLuhan-style speculation about the power of media product to bend and shape history is intriguing, but perhaps there is a serious overstatement of Meghan Markle and her mission to turn the royal family into vanquished villains from the first season of her career. stream.
There is also the possibility of the exact opposite. British society is even more united behind William and against Harry, who is increasingly seen as totally controlled by his insidiously calculating showbiz spouse.
And the Netflix series failed in the most important mission of revealing and destroying the enemy – there was no “smoking gun”. Six sets of complaints, but no real evidence and documentation of actual wrongdoing by the royal family. The marketing campaign created a sense of suspense, of the imminent release of a dark secret, a hidden sin, perhaps even a suspicion of a crime. There was no such thing. The cynical exercise caused a stir, but seemed to have died down under the expectation of defamatory revelations. They hardly save anything for a “deleted scene” episode.
Photo: Getty Images
In a few weeks it will be possible to assess more precisely what damage has been done to the royal family and to the monarchy of the island as a whole. The danger for Meghan and Harry is that their Netflix extravaganza will be forgotten as a one-day hit. Let’s just hope they don’t reach for the last straw to drown celebrities: homemade sex tapes.
