Last week, Volume I of the much-anticipated Harry & Meghan docu-series dropped on Netflix. But, amid some of the bombshell claims made in the first three episodes, the drama off-screen was equally as gripping.
Viewers of the documentary will recall a disclaimer at the start of episode one which said the Royal Family had declined to comment on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's series, but just hours on from the show's release, some news outlets reported that the Palace was not contacted in regards to the show's contents.
Now, an insider source has claimed that Buckingham Palace reacted with caution when contacted by an unknown media company claiming to be involved in the series. According to The Mirror, an email was sent from the Sussexes to the Palace, requesting a response ahead of Harry & Meghan's release date.
However, officials reportedly could not find an outright sign that the correspondence was actually sent from the royal couple for Harry & Meghan, and so they treated it with care. The Royal Family 's media team sought to confirm the authenticity of the message, and contacted both Netflix and Archewell, but apparently received no reply.
"In the absence of this verification, we were unable to provide any response," a source told The Mirror. "The substance of the email we received also did not address the entire series."
As for why the Palace reacted with such discretion, an insider told the Mail on Sunday, "There is a lot of caution, of course, and there are two words to explain that: Greta Thunberg."
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The Greta Thunberg blunder happened back in 2020, when Prince Harry believed he was engaged in a phone call with the climate activist and her father. Whilst on the call, the royal gave out his personal email and phone number, and openly criticised former US President, Donald Trump.
In reality, Harry was speaking with two notorious Russian pranksters, Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov. They had contacted him by email and went on to broadcast the conversation on social media.
After the call, Stolyarov told The Sun: "His staff must have forwarded him the email. Probably the emails were transferred through many people before he got it. We were shocked when he emailed us. No one ever checked us out to see who we really were."
In light of the blunder, Palace operators have been on high alert ever since.
Volume I of Harry & Meghan is available to stream on Netflix now, with Volume II dropping on 15 December.
