The Netflix show lands a ‘direct hit’ on Elizabeth II’s decades of work, describing the Commonwealth as ‘Empire 2.0’. Photo / Getty Images
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix documentary has been accused of attacking Queen Elizabeth II’s legacy after the Commonwealth was described as “Empire 2.0″ in the programme.
The series has landed a “direct hit” at the late monarch’s decades of work to lead the Commonwealth into a new era, royal sources believe, describing it as “deeply offensive” to her memory.
Contributors to the Sussexes’ series – part of their multimillion-pound Netflix deal – called the Commonwealth a “privileged club of formally colonised nations”.
They said it was an economic bloc that has kept countries “intergenerationally poor”, with millions of Britons described as having “incredibly painful” memories of the Empire.
The documentary also makes claims about the royal family’s financing of the historic slave trade. Writer Afua Hirsch told viewers: “It’s often said that Britain had a Deep South that was just as brutal, that actually enslaved more Africans than the United States of America did. But that Deep South was the Caribbean.”
On Thursday, sources condemned the description of the Commonwealth as “appalling and factually inaccurate”, with one palace insider adding it was a “good job” the late Queen “is not here to have to see this”.
Another royal source said: “Some of this is deeply offensive to all those in the Commonwealth and of course the late Queen’s legacy. The real risk is that people are learning about the Commonwealth for the first time through hearing this.”
The royal family itself has chosen to stay silent over the Netflix show, with senior members not intending to watch it. The first three episodes were released on Thursday morning, with the next three airing on the streaming service on December 15.
On Thursday, the King was joined by religious leaders including the Archbishop of Canterbury to visit London churches, where he wished worshippers a happy Christmas.
A source close to the palace said there was a feeling of “sadness” around the documentary, in which the duke and duchess criticise members of their family, including the “formality” of the Prince and Princess of Wales.
The feeling behind palace walls, the source said, was “that it’s quite sad that it’s come to this”.
“Today is a day when you’re reminded that they’re human beings,” they said of the royal family. “It’s sad to see it playing out in this way.”
In the documentary, called Harry & Meghan, the duke and duchess opened up their family photo and video albums to share intimate stories and images of their romance, young children and exit from royal life.
They broadcast a series of self-filmed video diaries detailing their struggles in Britain, with even their private engagement captured on camera for posterity.
In extensive interviews, both the duke and duchess appeared to criticise the royal family and palace, as well as the media.
In one scene, the duchess mocked her attempts at curtseying for the late Queen, comparing the lives of her in-laws to a medieval-era theatre show.
Saying she was not given any training in how to become a member of the royal family, she spoke of her shock at having to bow to the late Queen.
A palace insider said: “The truth is, this a real royal family – they’re not playing a role. How did they not know that?”
The programme also became the subject of a row between Netflix and the palace over whether members of the royal family were given a proper right of reply.
The first episode carries a disclaimer that reads: “Members of the royal family declined to comment on the content within this series.”
However, palace sources claimed that while an email had been received “purporting” to be from a third-party production company, they were unable to verify its authenticity and could not respond.
The first three episodes included sections claiming that the Brexit debate inflamed racial tensions and how Britain’s attitude towards the duchess was affected by racism.
The duke, who was appointed president of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust and a Commonwealth Youth Ambassador by his late grandmother, spoke of his own awakening to racism, admitting he had been “blissfully sleepwalking through life” despite his travels until he met his now wife.
He spoke of the royal family’s “huge level of unconscious bias”, which he described as “no one’s fault” but essential to “make right”.
“In this family, sometimes you are part of the problem rather than part of the solution,” he said.
The programme included footage of Queen Elizabeth II speaking of the “great pleasure and honour” of serving as the head of Commonwealth, followed by a newsreel of her famous 21st birthday speech in which she devoted her life to it.
She was seen in 2018 telling the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting of her belief that it offered “stability and continuity for future generations”.
The late Queen’s words were followed by authors and historians telling the millions of viewers predicted to tune into the series of the organisation’s shortcomings.
Hirsch called it “Empire 2.0″, in which Britain “extracted wealth” from countries that remain inter-generationally poor.
“When you study the transition from colonialism to independence in those countries, you see that Britain played a very strategic role,” she said.
“Britain calculated that it needed to grant these countries independence in a way that protected its commercial and capitalist interest. So it created this privileged club of formally colonised nations called the Commonwealth.”
Kehinde Andrews, author of The New Age of Empire, told the Netflix show: “It’s not changed a thing, they’ve just got better PR.”
Paul Bristow, the vice-chairman of the all-party group on the Commonwealth, described the organisation as “one of the great products of our history”, adding that its inclusion in the “Meghan and Harry soap opera” was deeply insulting.
“The Commonwealth was incredibly important for Queen Elizabeth, and I am sure this will remain the same for King Charles,” he said. “I think these comments are ill-informed and in no way reflect the modern Commonwealth.”
The documentary also risked deeply upsetting the Prince of Wales, who has called for his late mother’s now-disgraced Panorama interview never to be aired again.
The Sussexes’ documentary includes the 1995 footage, as the Duke said the fact she was deceived into it did not negate “the truth of her experience”.