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King Charles III and Prince William's press teams were approached for comment about the Netflix show Harry & Meghan, Newsweek has been told.
British newspapers, including the Mail Online, ran a briefing attributed to a "Palace source" alleging that the royal family were denied a right to reply over the show, which was released around the world on December 8.
Episode one begins with a statement reading: "Members of the Royal Family declined to comment on the content within this series."
However, the Mail Online reported the account was untrue and represented a "devastating blow to the credibility" of the series.
A Netflix source doubled down and told Newsweek communications teams for both King Charles III and Prince William were contacted in advance and given a right to reply.
Newsweek understands there is a record of the approach being made.
The account represents a fightback by the streaming giant after a series of stories in the British media seeking to undermine the credibility of Harry & Meghan.
Trailers used stock images which had nothing to do with the royal couple, including pictures from an appearance by British celebrity Katie Price at Crawley Magistrates Court and a press pack on the red carpet for a 2010 Harry Potter premiere, six years before they met.
The first three episodes landed on Thursday, December 8, triggering a wave of fresh headlines covering everything from Prince Harry saying he was ashamed after being photographed in a Nazi uniform to Meghan discussing the disintegration of her relationship with her father, Thomas Markle.
The documentary offered an intimate portrait of Harry and Meghan's early royal lives from their first meeting and early run-ins with the paparazzi to Meghan's difficult relationship with her family.
The prince talked about Princess Diana's problems with the media during his childhood and how his early memories are dominated by clashes with photographers.
At one point, Harry backed his mother's comments during her controversial 1995 tell-all interview with the BBC, which Prince William had previously described as a false narrative.
Harry said: "She felt compelled to talk about it. Especially in that Panorama interview. I think we all now know that she was deceived into giving the interview but at the same time she spoke the truth of her experience."
Journalist Martin Bashir obtained the interview in competition with media from around the world after using falsified financial records to wrongly suggest staff working for Diana and her brother Charles Spencer were in the pay of the media and security services.
Much of what Diana said was similar to comments she had already made years earlier in recorded confessions for secret biographer Andrew Morton.
However, in May 2021, Prince William described the interview as a false narrative that should not be repeated.
He said: "It is my view that the deceitful way the interview was obtained substantially influenced what my mother said. The interview was a major contribution to making my parents' relationship worse and has since hurt countless others."
He added: "It is my firm view that this Panorama program holds no legitimacy and should never be aired again. It effectively established a false narrative which, for over a quarter of a century, has been commercialized by the BBC and others."
About the writer
Jack Royston is Newsweek's Chief Royal Correspondent based in London, U.K. He reports on the British royal family—including King Charles ... Read more