The first half of the Netflix docu-series, Harry and Meghan, was released by the entertainment giant with whom Meghan and Harry signed a deal in 2020, on December 8. The audience reviews are staggeringly negative, with an average 2.3 approval rating in Google. The overwhelmingly frequent score being given on IMDB is an almost unprecedented 1 across the board. The critical response “put the show on a par with shows such as Kourtney & Kim take Miami”.
The User comments are blistering with the recurrent themes being those of Harry and Meghan’s narcissism, whining, tone deafness and claims to victimhood.
“While the rest of the country struggle to pay for bills, buy food and keep the house warm with the energy crisis at hand. Maybe pause for a second and think about the real victims that are truly suffering in our society….multi millionaires Harry and Meghan! That’s right we the people know nothing about suffering in comparison to these two. It’s time we paid more attention to them and gave them the praise they clearly so desperately want and deserve.”
Another stated: “I honestly felt my stomach turning over. The pair literally have no regard for anyone but themselves, egotistical, narcissistic, they are a pair well suited…absolutely sickening.”
The hypocrisy of claiming privacy as the primary reason for the Megxit debacle comes up over and over and their $100M deal with Netflix branded as “a bit of shameless self promotion by two middle aged narcissistic adults.” One reviewer writes: “And it’s a bit rich to scurry to the US for privacy and then create a miniseries about their lives – come on, they’re having a laugh and love a glitzy pity party.”
Rarely have reviews for any major project been this uniformly negative. The low point for many viewers was Markle mocking the curtsy that she was obliged to perform when in the presence of Queen Elizabeth.
The absence of an opposing point of view was noticed by many responders and it undermined the docu-series’ objectivity, a key feature for what Netflix promotes as a documentary.
The project was all from Harry and Meghan’s perspective–a lush spectacle of self-indulgence and overwrought, unbridled, emotions.
But the first three episodes are only the first “volume”, there are three more to come and according to sources, the Palace is worried that Harry and Meghan’s reckless abandon in making accusations could go even further.
According to the Daily Express, if this were to happen King Charles might have no choice but to “trigger the nuclear option”: cut Harry out of the coronation ceremonies and strip him of his title.
Commentator Richard Fitzwilliams noted the most damaging moments featured in the trailers released by Netflix ahead of the show’s debut were not included in the first three episodes of the docu-series. “The second trailer for the Netflix series Harry and Meghan, contained a clip of Harry talking about ‘a dirty game’ and their lawyer saying ‘there was a war against Meghan to suit other people’s agendas’”, he added.
“The Palace cannot respond point by point. A statement even in extremis would mean little….Not inviting them to the Coronation and cutting off all contact is a nuclear option but the only real one if the coming episodes and Harry’s memoir go beyond the pale!”
Earlier this week, Mr Fitzwilliams had argued the King was facing a “stark” choice when it came to how to deal with his second son and his wife’s documentary and the resulting fallout. Now it seems that they are bracing for the other shoe to fall. Meanwhile, with such low ratings and damning comments from viewers, the whole question of how the second volume will be received might be moot. It seems the public has already found the solution: “The King needs to grant their wish….remove all titles and they can live as Mr and Mrs Markle quietly in the US.”
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