After leaving behind their duties in one of the most controversial scandals in royal history, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle packed their bags for Hollywood and caused a stir when they then signed a huge production deal with Netflix.
Though they insisted their content would help educate people, the move allegedly "raised a few eyebrows" with the family, as they're reportedly not too pleased with all their personal dramas being relayed to the world through the hit show.
As viewers of the drama series would know, the real-life royals aren't always portrayed in the best light. Prince Harry's parents, Prince Charles and Princess Diana, are particularly depicted somewhat negatively in the latest season, leaving many to question his choice to partner with the streaming service during a time when his relationship with his family was already strained.
But reports suggest that the partnership was a calculated move to ensure that the show ceased production before its timeline reached Meghan Markle's induction into the royal family.
According to The Mirror, the couple leveraged their deal to demand that it not touch on the couple's own drama—including their exit.
However, royal biographer Angela Levin, who wrote the 2018 biography Harry: Conversations with the Prince, thinks this strategy was a mistake that could backfire on the couple.
Levin who believes the show The Crown is "ridiculing his father, his mother and his grandmother," described their decision as a "terrible error." According to Levin, Harry also told her two years ago that his family were "all absolutely watching everything" on the show, but was already declaring that he was "going to insist it stops before it reaches me."
But as she told The Mirror, Levin believes that couple have approached this deal with naivety. "I think the way that he has left the royal family, the way he did it, and he’s changed. He’s almost unrecognisable from Prince Harry I spent a lot of time with," she said.
"But I think, you know, Meghan is desperate to earn lots of money and Netflix offered them something. I think they’re being naive, as they have been about lots of things in that they don’t realise that a big company like Netflix is going to want its pint of blood. They’re going to delve in and get a lot of information that will absolutely decry the royal family."
Other reports noted that Prince William feels his family have been "exploited" by the show, and that Prince Harry has some explaining to do.
