The Royal Family is an institution which stands firmly against what we know now as “candids”. Phone pictures of the family are basically unheard of, every royal engagement is professionally photographed and uploaded to newswires to be splashed across papers the next day, private lives are kept under wraps and behind closed doors, and The Queen actively disliked selfies.
Which is perhaps why those stolen glimpses we saw of Harry and Meghan yesterday in the trailer for their Netflix documentary series “Harry & Meghan”, which felt more camera roll than constructed family portrait, were so intriuging to us all. We’ve never been allowed to see members of the royal family that intimately.
In the trailer, we hear snippets of the Sussexes speaking to their interviewers. “No one sees what’s happening behind closed doors,” says a sombre Harry, while an image of Meghan in apparent distress lingers on-screen. “When the stakes are this high, doesn’t it make more sense to hear our story from us?” says Meghan, sat in front of the camera, looking calm and collected.
The pictures taken by Harry and Meghan (or, we can assume, their close friends) are framed in stark contrast to official photographs of the royals. Straight after the image of Meghan sat alone crying, there’s a professional shot of the Prince and Princess of Wales, the King, Queen Consort, Meghan and Harry, with all parties looking tight lipped and miserable, but nonetheless keeping up appearances.
But the trailer also shows us Harry and Meghan at their most happy, unabashedly in love on trips abroad, dancing at their wedding, laughing in a kitchen together, posing for selfies — a normal couple.
This, as well as Netflix’s promise of “unprecedented and in-depth” access, suggests just how much the documentary will pull back the curtain on their royal life. Typically, images inside the wedding receptions of royals are never seen by the public, to ensure the privacy of the newlywed couple and their guests. But in a one-minute trailer Harry and Meghan have made it crystal clear they’re happy to be rid of this protocol — and much more.
Other glimpses into the couple’s life behind the cameras give an insight into how they spend their free time together. In one picture, Harry and Meghan sit in the sun while Harry strums a guitar, and Meghan sits watching him with her hand reaching for his. In another, the two hug and kiss in a photobooth — a rite of passage for any couple.
And in the most fascinating shot, the two are pictured chatting in evening wear by a kitchen island, which may seem standard for royal imagery, but the devil’s in the details. Meghan is fixing her hair, while Harry leans back with his bowtie undone, gazing at his wife, showing us what must happen after all the photos are snapped and hands are shaken at a royal engagement.
The six part series, which Netflix is calling a “global event”, will explore the “clandestine days” of Harry and Meghan’s early courtship and “the challenges that led to them feeling forced to step back from their full-time roles in the institution.” And from what we’ve seen so far, it will be as close to candid as you can get.
