New Zealand's leader has confirmed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had nothing to do with her involvement in an upcoming Netflix film.
Jacinda Ardern put out a statement explaining how her interview in the upcoming Live to Lead series was conducted in 2019 - two and a half years before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex got involved.
Yesterday, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle teased their latest Netflix series, which will be released at the end of the month.
They will present - and are the executive producers of - a show called Live to Lead - a documentary series that was inspired by the legacy of Nelson Mandela.
According to Netflix, the series, which will drop on December 31, will see leaders and activists "reflect on their legacies and share messages of courage, compassion, humility [and] hope".
The show has been produced in a collaboration between the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Blackwell & Ruth as well as Harry and Meghan's Archewell Productions.
Interviews in the series include Ms Ardern, the late US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the feminist activist Gloria Steinem, the climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, and US basketball star Stephen Curry.
Following the announcement of Harry and Meghan's role in the series, Ms Ardern's office issued a statement clarifying they joined production at a later stage.
It also clarified that they have not had any direct communication with Harry and Meghan on this project.
The statement said: “In early March 2019 the prime minister was approached by the Mandela Foundation to participate in a project to develop accessible resources on key attributes of leadership targeted at aspiring young leaders around the world, based off a one-hour interview.
“Originally we were advised the outputs would be printed and digital books, short films and audiobooks.
“The interview was conducted on November 8, 2019. In March 2020 a short book entitled Jacinda Ardern (I Know This to be True) was published based on the interview. Other participants who also had their contributions published based on their interviews included the late US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the feminist activist Gloria Steinem, the climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and the American basketball player Stephen Curry.
“In March 2021 the Nelson Mandela Foundation advised the prime minister’s office they had secured an agreement with Netflix to broadcast the series of interviews, including the 2019 interview with the prime minister.
“In May this year, the prime minister’s office was notified that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would introduce the series; noting this was nearly two and a half years after the interview had been recorded and permission for its use by the Mandela Foundation had already been provided.
“All communication throughout has been with the foundation (there has been no communications with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex regarding the project).”
