Prince Harry and Meghan Markle lost first Netflix douseries director over ‘artistic differences’, claims TV insider

(Image credit: DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS - WPA Pool/Getty Images/Future)

published 19 November 2022

The Oscar-nominated film-maker who was originally hired to film Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's new Netflix docuseries reportedly walked out after arguments over the direction of the show, claims TV insider.

A TV insider has revealed that there 'were a few sticky moments between' Meghan Markle, Prince Harry and the original director of their new Netflix docuseries, with the film maker ultimately leaving the project
The comments follow reports that both Netflix and the royal couple have tried to push the series release back to 2023
In other royal news, Meghan Markle draws comparison to Princess Diana as it’s revealed she quietly helped a family in need

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's new Netflix docuseries has been at the centre of royal conversations for months. There have been endless rumours, controversy and anticipation - nearly enough to make an entire docuseries just about the run up to the release of the series itself!

Now it has been revealed that the controversy began before anyone even realised, right at the start of filming. According to The Daily Mail, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle first hired the Oscar-nominated director, Garrett Bradley, to film their upcoming project before they had a falling out, clashed over the direction of the show, and she left.

A TV insider told the New York Post, "Garrett wanted Harry and Meghan to film at home and they were not comfortable doing that. There were a few sticky moments between them, and Garrett left the project. Harry and Meghan's own production company captured as much footage as they could before Liz Garbus was hired."

Liz Garbus is a Left-leaning documentarian and filmmaker who worked on the last season of The Handmaid's Tale, earning her an Emmy nomination in 2021. Garbus was also due to work on Meghan Markle's other Netflix project, a series called Pearl, before it was scrapped by Netflix.

While the royal couple's Netflix documentary is expected to air within weeks, the pair have reportedly tried to push back the release date to 2023. There appears to be much confusion among US news outlets, with Deadline insisting the show will be delayed until the new year due to backlash over Season 5 of The Crown, while TV insiders insist the tell-all series will come out next month.

Page Six reports that there will be no postponement, stating that a source close to the project told them 'the show will go on' in December. The insider said, "As far as I am aware, the docuseries is still going ahead later this year."

Whether we get to see all the juicy details of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's life in December or have to wait until the new year, Meghan Markle appears to be second guessing her decision to film anything at all.

Around a month after the death of The Queen, Meghan Markle suggested that the show's direction was in the hands of the filmmaker, Liz Garbus, and that their story would be told in her way, not necessarily in the way that they chose.

In an interview, she told Variety, "It's nice to be able to trust someone with our story - a seasoned director whose work I've long admired - even if it means it may not be the way we would have told it. But that's not why we're telling it. We're trusting our story to someone else, and that means it will go through their lens.

"It's interesting. My husband has never worked in this industry before. For me, having worked on Suits, it's so amazing to be around so much creative energy and to see how people work together and share their own points of view. That's been really fun."

Related articles:

Charlie Elizabeth Culverhouse is a news writer for Goodtoknow, specialising in family content. She began her freelance journalism career after graduating from Nottingham Trent University with an MA in Magazine Journalism, receiving an NCTJ diploma, and earning a First Class BA (Hons) in Journalism at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute. She has also worked with BBC Good Food and The Independent.