Netflix’s Troubled Harry and Meghan Documentary Gets Delayed Until Next Year: Report

Sorry, Harry and Meghan, it looks like The Crown comes first. Following last weekend’s backlash over how the show is going to treat the tragic death of Princess Di,  Netflix has reportedly opted to push back a documentary from the ousted royals until 2023.

Regarding the untitled documentary, which was unofficially slated to appear on the streaming giant in December, a source told Deadline, “They’re rattled at Netflix and they blinked first and decided to postpone the documentary.” According to the outlet, the documentary never had a set release date; however, officials from the streamer had previously stated that they wanted to drop both the new season of The Crown and the Archewell Productions project within a few weeks of one another.

Another scene from The Crown that has everyone up in arms involves King Charles (then Prince Charles), played by Dominic West, plotting to get his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, to abdicate the throne. According to Deadline, it shows Charles agreeing with an actual poll from the Sunday Times that read “an aging monarch, too long on the throne whose remoteness from the modern world has led people to grow tired not just of her but of the monarchy itself.”

While another scene shows Charles discussing this with Sir John Major, the former prime minister told The Daily Mail that the conversation never happened and called it a “barrel load of malicious nonsense.” Further, a statement from his office read, “Sir John has not co-operated in any way with The Crown. Nor has he ever been approached by them to fact-check any script material in this or any other series.”

They continued, “As you will know, discussions between the monarch and prime minister are entirely private and — for Sir John — will always remain so. But not one of the scenes you depict are accurate in any way whatsoever. They are fiction, pure and simple.”

Meanwhile, a Netflix spokesperson told the outlet that the show “has always been presented as a drama based on historical events” and that like previous seasons, the fifth installment “is a fictional dramatisation, imagining what could have happened behind closed doors during a significant decade for the royal family.” Despite this, the backlash seemed to be enough to allow some leeway between the new season and Harry and Meghan’s documentary, especially with the Queen’s passing early last month.

In a statement made to Deadline regarding the Duke and Duchess’ delayed documentary, Netflix said, “There’s never been any documentary from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex confirmed.”

The Crown Season 5 begins streaming on Nov. 9 on Netflix.