Buckingham Palace has remained silent amid claims and counterclaims that no members of the royal family or royal household were approached for comment by the producers of Prince Harry and Meghan's new Netflix documentary.
The first three episodes of the six-part series were released around the world on Thursday evening AEDT, with the opening credits of the first episode declaring the royal family declined to comment or take part in the series.
"This is a first-hand account of Harry and Meghan's story, told with never before seen personal archive," an opening statement read.
"All interviews were completed by August 2022.
"Members of the royal family declined to comment on the content within this series."
After the release, royal sources briefed several journalists and news organisations that Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace were not approached for comment.
It was also made known that there would be no official response to any of the claims in the first three episodes.
But several hours later, those sources appeared to backtrack on who had or had not been contacted for comment.
A source said Kensington Palace — which handles media affairs for Prince William and Catherine, the Princess of Wales – did, in fact, receive a request for comment, but it was from a production company it did not recognise.
The source said Kensington Palace contacted Netflix and Archewell Productions – the production company belonging to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – but received no response.
A Netflix source also told Sky News that "communications offices for King Charles III and the Prince of Wales were contacted in advance and given the right to reply to claims within the series".
The King employed Britain's evergreen mantra of "keep calm and carry on" when quizzed about the documentary shortly after it was made available to watch.
While attending an Advent service in central London on Thursday, the monarch simply waved at the media when asked by a reporter if he had watched it.
'We need to get out of here'
While the first three episodes only featured a few glancing blows directed at the royal family from Prince Harry and his wife, Buckingham Palace will be bracing for the release of the potentially damaging second part of the series next week.
A 30-second teaser trailer for the final instalment promised to shed light on the couple's decision to "step back" from royal duties in January 2020, which ultimately led to them quitting the monarchy and moving to the United States.
"This is when a family, and a family business, are in direct conflict," the Duchess of Sussex says in the clip.
It ends with Prince Harry saying: "There was no other option at this point. I said, 'We need to get out of here.'"
The palace will be hoping it does not result in a similar fallout to that from the duke and duchess' explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey last year.
That interview featured the couple speaking openly about racism within the royal family and a lack of mental health support for Meghan.
Two days after the interview aired, Queen Elizabeth II issued a rare statement, saying that "recollections may vary" about the issues raised in the interview but the claims would be "taken very seriously".
Just last week the royal family was at the centre of another racism row, with a senior royal aide at Buckingham Palace apologising and stepping down from her role after asking a black British charity worker where she was "really from".
The aide was Lady Susan Hussey, Queen Elizabeth II's former lady in waiting and the godmother to Prince William.
