It hasn’t even been released yet, but Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s upcoming Netflix series is already copping intense scrutiny.
The six-part Harry & Meghan documentary will release the first three episodes on December 8, with the streamer sharing a second trailer on Tuesday, December 6, further teasing the bombshell exposé.
But attention has swiftly turned to a series of “misleading” photos used in the trailer, as multiple moments are revealed to have been taken from entirely different events.
The latest to be called out is a photo that shows Harry being hounded by the British press:
The shot is actually a cropped 2007 photo of the Duke of Sussex with his ex-girlfriend of seven years, Chelsy Davy, despite the documentary being about his relationship with Meghan, 41.
In the original photo, the prince is seen with his arm around Davy as he protects her from a media scrum at Heathrow Airport.
Jesus Enrique Rosas, a body language expert, tweeted on Twitter, “You just can’t make this sh*t up.”
It comes after it was revealed on Monday that another photo in the trailer showing a paparazzi pack, presumably at the ready to photograph the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, was actually taken at the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part two premiere in 2011.
Royal expert Ingrid Seward told The Sun: “I don’t imagine Harry would have realized, but Netflix have been careless here as it weakens Harry’s comment about protecting his family. This fake picture weakens his point.”
According to the publication, the photo was the first search result under the keyword “paparazzi” on leading stock image website Alamy.
‘Intrusive’ photo was approved
A journalist has hit out at the Sussexes and Netflix after a photo of Meghan and Harry with a then-baby Archie was made to look “intrusive”.
The photo in question was taken during Meghan and Harry’s infamous royal tour of South Africa in late 2019, and appears to show the royal trio during a private moment at Archbishop Tutu’s residence in Cape Town, as a camera lens cuts a seemingly imposing figure in the left corner.
Evening Standard royal editor Robert Jobson took to Twitter to dub the use of the photo “a complete travesty”, saying the moment was from an accredited, pre-approved photography pool.
Press pack chasing other celebrities
In the trailer released on Tuesday, Harry, 38, is heard referencing his mother Princess Diana’s death, saying, “I was terrified … I didn’t want history to repeat itself,” as a photo shows paparazzi chasing who is thought to be the Sussexes.
But the photography Twitter account, Urban Pictures, has claimed the subject in that particular photo was British personality Katie Price, who was followed by the press after leaving court in December last year.
A separate photo in the trailer shows yet another frenzied press pack – which it turns out was taken in New York as Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen left his apartment in 2019.
The photo of the paparazzi was captured as Cohen was on his way to serve time in prison for financial crimes.
Photo taken in 1938
Elsewhere, a photo showing a group of children waving Union Jack flags behind a cordoned-off rope led viewers to believe the kids were excitedly waiting to see Meghan and Harry.
But it turns out the photo was taken in 1938 during a royal engagement for Queen Mary in Brixton, south London.
Prince Harry and his wife’s relationship has been the subject of relentless media interest, but the use of unrelated photos and vision in the trailer, paired with Harry saying damning statements like, “I had to do everything I could to protect my family,” has done little to bolster their credibility.