{ "id": "epc63y7ete", "slug": "harry-and-meghan", "title": "Harry & Meghan", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted", "label": "Unscripted, reality, and web-native series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual", "label": "Documentary, docudrama, and lifestyle series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.music_arts_biography_docuseries", "label": "Music, arts, and biographical docuseries", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.music_arts_biography_docuseries" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.music_arts_biography_docuseries", "label": "United States · 2021 and later: Music, arts, and biographical docuseries", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.music_arts_biography_docuseries", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021", "label": "United States · 2021 and later", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted", "label": "Unscripted, reality, and web-native series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual", "label": "Documentary, docudrama, and lifestyle series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.music_arts_biography_docuseries", "label": "Music, arts, and biographical docuseries", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.music_arts_biography_docuseries" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Harry & Meghan is a 2022 six-episode Netflix documentary series directed by Liz Garbus in which the Duke and Duchess of Sussex recount their courtship, press treatment, racism claims, and 2020 exit from royal duties; it set Netflix's documentary debut record with 81.55 million hours viewed in four days.", "snippet": "Harry & Meghan is a 2022 six-episode Netflix documentary series directed by Liz Garbus in which the Duke and Duchess of Sussex recount their courtship, press treatment, racism claims, and 2020 exit from royal duties; it set Netflix's documentary debut record with 81.55 million hours viewed in four days.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.music_arts_biography_docuseries", "markdown": "# Harry & Meghan\n\n**Harry & Meghan** is a six-episode Netflix documentary series in which [Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex](https://www.edgepedia.org/prince-harry-duke-of-sussex), and [Meghan, Duchess of Sussex](https://www.edgepedia.org/meghan-duchess-of-sussex), tell the story of their courtship, marriage, and 2020 withdrawal from their roles as working members of the [British royal family](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-royal-family).[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81439256) Directed by Liz Garbus, a two-time Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker, it was released in two volumes: the first three episodes on December 8, 2022, and the final three on December 15, 2022.[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81439256) • [2](https://time.com/6239745/harry-and-meghan-netflix-docuseries-explained/)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Format | Six-episode documentary series, Netflix, rated TV-MA, first three episodes released December 8, 2022[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/harry_and_meghan) |\n| Director | Liz Garbus; executive producers include Garbus, Dan Cogan, Jon Bardin, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/harry_and_meghan) |\n| Audience record | 81.55 million hours viewed in the first four days of release, the highest documentary debut for Netflix at the time[4](https://au.variety.com/2026/film/news/meghan-markle-harry-netflix-partnership-struggling-34374/) |\n| Critical scores | 45% Tomatometer and 19% Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes; Metascore 59 (\"mixed or average\") on Metacritic[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/harry_and_meghan) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/harry-meghan/critic-reviews/) |\n| Production timing | A title card states all interviews were completed by August 2022, before Queen Elizabeth II's death that September[2](https://time.com/6239745/harry-and-meghan-netflix-docuseries-explained/) |\n| Producer | Archewell Productions, the couple's media company, which began collaborating with Netflix in 2020[6](https://apnews.com/article/cf47d0370463d8564af83d4fd7725afd) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Content of the series\n\nThe series moves chronologically through the couple's relationship. The first three episodes cover their early courtship, which Harry says began when the two met on Instagram, up to the eve of their wedding; the later episodes address the wedding, Meghan's mental health struggles, her miscarriage in 2020, the role [Tyler Perry](https://www.edgepedia.org/tyler-perry) played in the couple's move to the United States, and the negotiations with Harry's father and brother over the couple's departure from England.[7](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/harry-and-meghan-netflix-documentary-review-b2241440.html) • [2](https://time.com/6239745/harry-and-meghan-netflix-docuseries-explained/)\n\nThe couple frame the series as a response to press coverage. Harry describes the project as being about \"duty and service,\" saying he felt it his duty to \"uncover this exploitation and bribery that happens within our media.\"[8](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/live/2022/dec/08/harry-meghan-netflix-documentary-royal-family-media-reaction-live-updates?page=with%3Ablock-6391c8648f08222b5ee8716f) The series presents the couple's account of press intrusion and racism, including racist commentary directed at Meghan, who is biracial, and what they describe as a double standard in how her behavior was judged compared with that of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.[9](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/meghan-and-harrys-netflix-fairy-tale) • [10](https://www.axios.com/2022/12/08/harry-meghan-netflix-series-royal-family-racism) Meghan also describes having had nobody to teach her royal protocol, saying she had to Google the British national anthem.[8](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/live/2022/dec/08/harry-meghan-netflix-documentary-royal-family-media-reaction-live-updates?page=with%3Ablock-6391c8648f08222b5ee8716f)\n\nInterviews with friends, family, and historians run through the series. Meghan's mother, [Doria Ragland](https://www.edgepedia.org/doria-ragland), gives her first sit-down interview, saying \"the last five years has been challenging\" and that she was ready to have her voice heard.[2](https://time.com/6239745/harry-and-meghan-netflix-docuseries-explained/) Historians including [David Olusoga](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-olusoga) and [Afua Hirsch](https://www.edgepedia.org/afua-hirsch) appear in segments placing the monarchy's history and the British Commonwealth in context.[11](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/dec/08/prince-harry-meghan-documentary-what-we-learned) In the final episode, Meghan reads aloud from her phone the speech she delivered at the couple's wedding reception.[9](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/meghan-and-harrys-netflix-fairy-tale)\n\nDirector Liz Garbus described the film as made in partnership with its subjects rather than as an investigative documentary, saying viewers \"came for the love story, or the hot gossip, but were able to stay for other provocative and important stuff,\" such as the history of colonialism.[12](https://up.nhuttruong.com/file/nhuttruongcom/tbooks/admin/The_Hollywood_Reporter.pdf)\n\n## Reception\n\nThe series set a viewership record for a Netflix documentary debut, with 81.55 million hours viewed in its first four days.[4](https://au.variety.com/2026/film/news/meghan-markle-harry-netflix-partnership-struggling-34374/) Critical reception was mixed. Rotten Tomatoes recorded a 45% Tomatometer from 31 reviews and a 19% Popcornmeter audience score from more than 5,000 ratings; its critics consensus called the series \"one of the most intimate glimpses yet into the famous couple\" but judged that it \"offers more overexposure than genuine illumination.\"[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/harry_and_meghan) Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 59, with 8 positive, 8 mixed, and 1 negative review among 17 counted.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/harry-meghan/critic-reviews/)\n\nReviewers divided along recognizable lines. Positive assessments praised the account of the couple's treatment by the press; *The Guardian* wrote that the series \"still lands a punch\" through its material on palace officials leaking stories, death threats, and social media frenzies.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/harry-meghan/critic-reviews/) Negative assessments focused on the one-sidedness of the account: the *Financial Times* reviewer wrote that \"this is the Sussexes' side of the story, their truth, and that seems incompatible with journalism,\" and *The Independent* found \"no major revelations here, nothing so incendiary that it will cancel King Charles's coronation.\"[13](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/harry_and_meghan/s01) • [7](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/harry-and-meghan-netflix-documentary-review-b2241440.html) Public reaction in Britain was likewise mixed, with some viewers praising the couple's candor and others criticizing them for releasing the documentary after leaving royal life over privacy complaints.[14](https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/lifestyle/netflix-harry-meghan-documentary-britons-b2242147.html)\n\n## Context within the couple's media projects\n\nThe documentary was the most prominent product of Archewell Productions, the company the couple founded after stepping back as senior working royals in 2020 and moving to California.[6](https://apnews.com/article/cf47d0370463d8564af83d4fd7725afd) It followed Harry and Meghan's March 2021 interview with [Oprah Winfrey](https://www.edgepedia.org/oprah-winfrey), in which they described what they called an \"invisible contract\" between the media and the monarchy, under which choreographed public exposure to royals is exchanged for privacy at other moments.[15](https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/id/eprint/167469/1/RC_Cultural_intermediaries_pre_publication.pdf) Harry's memoir *Spare* (2023) continued the same project of self-narration; a scholarly analysis of the series and the memoir describes both as an effort to \"reclaim and redeem the narrative\" in response to media reports about the couple.[16](https://doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2025.2495810)\n\nProduction of the series was difficult. According to a *Variety* account, Netflix chief [Ted Sarandos](https://www.edgepedia.org/ted-sarandos) personally appealed to Liz Garbus to shepherd the project after earlier production arrangements proved challenging.[4](https://au.variety.com/2026/film/news/meghan-markle-harry-netflix-partnership-struggling-34374/)\n\nIn August 2025 the couple announced a multiyear, first-look extension of their Netflix partnership. The collaboration had by then also produced the documentary series *[Polo](https://www.edgepedia.org/polo-tv-series)*, *Heart of Invictus*, and *Live to Lead*, along with Meghan's lifestyle series *With Love, Meghan* and her lifestyle brand [As Ever](https://www.edgepedia.org/as-ever).[6](https://apnews.com/article/cf47d0370463d8564af83d4fd7725afd)\n\n## Royal status after the series\n\nThe series coincided with, and fed into, an unresolved dispute over the couple's standing in the royal family. Harry has rejected the term \"non-working royal,\" maintaining that he was born into the family and still wants to dedicate his life to service; a friend of the couple told *The Times* that \"'working members of the Royal Family' is a really lazy phrase,\" arguing that engagements such as the couple's 2026 visit to [Nottingham](https://www.edgepedia.org/nottingham) are done not in the name of the institution but because \"Harry is the son of The King.\"​[17](https://www.marieclaire.com/celebrity/royals/meghan-markle-prince-harry-really-dislike-one-lazy-phrase-royal-family/)\n\nIn September 2026, after the couple confirmed they were moving back to the UK with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, King Charles III sent a letter through the [Lord Chamberlain](https://www.edgepedia.org/lord-chamberlain) to government and military officials reaffirming that there was \"no change to the current status of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex\": their styles as His and Her Royal Highness remain in abeyance, their charitable work is undertaken in a private capacity, and their position is \"akin to private citizens with commercial and charitable interests.\"[18](https://apnews.com/article/459d1117db5b2ce105cb315e7403fc4d) • [19](https://www.itv.com/news/2026-09-07/meghan-and-harry-not-working-royals-despite-uk-return-king-insists) The family rift remains visible: according to a 2026 report on Harry's interview with *GQ*, the brothers have not spoken in four years, even after Harry returned to the UK with Meghan and their children.[20](https://www.thedailybeast.com/harry-takes-pointed-swipe-at-william-over-vicious-feud)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Harry & Meghan, Netflix Media Center](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81439256)\n2. [Netflix's Harry and Meghan Docuseries: What We Learned, Time](https://time.com/6239745/harry-and-meghan-netflix-docuseries-explained/)\n3. [Harry & Meghan, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/harry_and_meghan)\n4. [Inside Meghan and Harry's Falling Out With Netflix, Variety](https://au.variety.com/2026/film/news/meghan-markle-harry-netflix-partnership-struggling-34374/)\n5. [Harry & Meghan critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/harry-meghan/critic-reviews/)\n6. [Prince Harry, Meghan and Netflix extend partnership for streaming programs, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/cf47d0370463d8564af83d4fd7725afd)\n7. [Harry and Meghan, review: Intimate, self-aggrandising, and wildly entertaining, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/harry-and-meghan-netflix-documentary-review-b2241440.html)\n8. [Harry & Meghan: Sussexes discuss press intrusion, racism and how they met, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/live/2022/dec/08/harry-meghan-netflix-documentary-royal-family-media-reaction-live-updates?page=with%3Ablock-6391c8648f08222b5ee8716f)\n9. [Meghan and Harry's Netflix Fairy Tale, The New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/meghan-and-harrys-netflix-fairy-tale)\n10. [Harry and Meghan speak out on royal family's \"unconscious bias\" in Netflix series, Axios](https://www.axios.com/2022/12/08/harry-meghan-netflix-series-royal-family-racism)\n11. [What we learned from the Harry & Meghan documentary, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/dec/08/prince-harry-meghan-documentary-what-we-learned)\n12. [The Hollywood Reporter cover story on Harry & Meghan](https://up.nhuttruong.com/file/nhuttruongcom/tbooks/admin/The_Hollywood_Reporter.pdf)\n13. [Harry & Meghan: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/harry_and_meghan/s01)\n14. [What do Britons think of Harry and Meghan's new Netflix documentary?, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/lifestyle/netflix-harry-meghan-documentary-britons-b2242147.html)\n15. [Royal correspondents as cultural intermediaries, Lancaster University eprints](https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/id/eprint/167469/1/RC_Cultural_intermediaries_pre_publication.pdf)\n16. [Reclaiming and redeeming the narrative in Harry & Meghan and Spare, Popular Communication](https://doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2025.2495810)\n17. [Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Dislike One \"Really Lazy Phrase\", Marie Claire](https://www.marieclaire.com/celebrity/royals/meghan-markle-prince-harry-really-dislike-one-lazy-phrase-royal-family/)\n18. [King Charles III clarifies status of Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, after their return to the UK, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/459d1117db5b2ce105cb315e7403fc4d)\n19. [King makes clear Harry and Meghan still not working royals despite UK return, ITV News](https://www.itv.com/news/2026-09-07/meghan-and-harry-not-working-royals-despite-uk-return-king-insists)\n20. [Prince Harry Wants to Reconcile With William but Suggests Brother Does Not Want to Repair Their Relationship, The Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/harry-takes-pointed-swipe-at-william-over-vicious-feud)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Documentary, docudrama, and lifestyle series › Music, arts, and biographical docuseries*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/harry-and-meghan", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/harry-and-meghan.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Harry & Meghan\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/harry-and-meghan. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Harry & Meghan](https://www.edgepedia.org/harry-and-meghan)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/harry-and-meghan](https://www.edgepedia.org/harry-and-meghan). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Harry & Meghan\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/harry-and-meghan. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Harry & Meghan is a 2022 six-episode Netflix documentary series directed by Liz Garbus in which the Duke and Duchess of Sussex recount their courtship, press treatment, racism claims, and 2020 exit from royal duties; it set Netflix's documentary debut record with 81.55 million hours viewed in four days." }