(Credits: Mark Jones)

King Charles was reportedly so unhappy with his son Prince Harry when the incendiary documentary Harry & Meghan was released on Netflix in December 2022 that he gave him a brutal new nickname.

The six-part documentary made waves upon its release, as it featured Harry and Meghan Markle’s take on their tumultuous time as members of the Royal Family and their acrimonious departure from it. It was produced as part of a £79.3 million deal with the streaming giant, which has thus far produced three docuseries: Harry & Meghan, Heart of Invictus, and Live to Lead.

According to royal writer Omid Scobie’s book Endgame, though, King Charles’ reaction to Harry & Meghan was caustic. Scobie claimed, “At the Palace, heads were in hands, and migraines were brewing,” and added that the documentary “took the wind out of everyone’s sails.”

In fact, Charles was allegedly so upset that he “went from not wanting anyone to talk about his son to openly criticising ‘that fool.'”

Scobie says his book is an investigation into the current state of the British Monarchy, which he characterises as featuring “an unpopular king, a power-hungry heir to the throne, a queen willing to go to dangerous lengths to preserve her image, and a prince forced to start a new life after being betrayed by his own family.” However, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex reportedly distanced themselves from the book, and it received vitriolic reviews upon release in November 2023.

How is Prince Harry and Meghan’s Netflix deal going?

In February 2024, Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria was bullish when asked about the upcoming projects the streaming giant is developing as part of its deal with Harry and Meghan. At an event announcing Netflix’s upcoming slate, she said, “They have a couple of unscripted things they’re working on with Brandon [Reigg]. And they actually have like a bunch of development, they have a movie in development, a [scripted] series that they’re working on. So, all very early development, with a movie, a TV show, and a couple of unscripted shows. But yeah, the movie’s great.”

However, rumours have swirled since August 2024 that everything might not be as rosy as it appears between the royals and Netflix. In his newsletter What I’m Hearing, former Hollywood Reporter editor Matthew Belloni of Puck News claimed, “the streamer is not expected to renew its five-year, $100million (£76million) deal signed in 2020.” He contends that Netflix hasn’t been happy with its return on its investment in terms of high-quality, highly-watched content.