The Royal Family have been warned to brace themselves for their worst nightmare as Harry and Meghan’s bombshell Netflix documentary series airs this week.
It came as William and Kate headed back to Britain from their US Earthshot visit – with the Prince of Wales set for crisis palace talks with King Charles over the show which is expected to go out worldwide on Thursday.
One source in contact with a Netflix production insider said: “I genuinely think it’s going to be worse than the royals can imagine.
“I’m told that it’s going to be utterly explosive and will be very damaging.”
The fuse was lit this week with a minute-long trailer on YouTube as the Prince and Princess of Wales were on a three-day visit to Boston ahead of Friday’s Earthshot Prize ceremony.
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But as the couple were championing new efforts to tackle global warming, Harry and Meghan were turning up the heat on them and the Palace with a peek at what they say is the inside story of why they stepped down.
The teaser went online on the second day of the Wales’ high profile US trip.
In black and white clips, intimate moments between Harry, 38, and Meghan, 41, are shared – from the pair kissing on the kitchen counter and joking around in California, to new footage of their wedding day.
Cameras show a tearful Meghan on the phone and an image of the Princess of Wales looking stern, strongly suggesting Kate will not be painted in a positive light.
“No one sees what’s happening behind closed doors,” says Prince Harry, who then brings children Archie, three, and Lilibet, one, into the mix with: “I had to do everything I could to protect my family.”
And Meghan adds at the end: “When the stakes were this high, doesn’t it make more sense to hear our story from us?”
Within hours the timing of the trailer’s release had been described as a “declaration of war” by royal commentators.
The insider told our source the series could even spark a groundswell of support for Harry who moved to Hollywood with his wife in 2020.
Our source added: “A lot of people are either pro-Sussex or pro-William and Kate, but there’s a belief that this documentary will bring people onside with Harry and Meghan. The big question is that, whatever the revelations are, who will people side with after seeing the show. It has that feeling like the public will have to choose.
“Whatever comes out, some people will think that Harry is betraying his family and that it’s unforgiveable. But if what finally airs is as seismic as we’re led to believe then it may be good for the Sussexes.
“There’s been some talk the documentary has been toned down but at the moment that’s wrong.”
Meanwhile William and Kate, both 40, were heading home yesterday after celebrating the success of the second annual Earthshot Prize awards and handing out five prizes of £1million each to entrepreneurs and innovators ‘spearheading groundbreaking solutions to repair and regenerate the planet’.
The couple are understood to have left on a British Airways flight which took off shortly after 9pm local time in Boston on Friday night.
Royal insiders say William is ready to discuss the coming series with his father King Charles, with the two men expected to put on a “united front” in launching any potential response to Harry and Meghan’s TV show.
Senior palace officials working for the King and Prince of Wales will watch the first three episodes going out on Thursday to ensure swift action can be taken if needed.
Meanwhile a video dropped yesterday of Harry dressed in a Spiderman outfit for a British charity.
Recording a message for Scotty’s Little Soldiers – which supports children of troops who died serving in the Forces – Afghanistan war veteran Harry reassured them they should still have fun.
The Prince, who lost mother Diana 25 years ago when he was 12, said: “Christmas is a time when we miss our loved ones really, really badly and that’s OK. But at the same time, it can be possible to feel guilty for having fun without our parents.
“But I’m here to assure you that our parents always want us to have fun.
“Go out there, have the best time and Merry Christmas.”
Although a release date for Harry and Meghan’s Netflix series hasn’t been announced officially , t h e streaming service is said to be all systems go for a Thursday launch.
Filming was directed by Liz Garbus, an Oscar nominated documentary maker.
The broadcast is expected to come little more than a week after the Palace was engulfed in a race row.
Prince William’s godmother Lady Susan Hussey stood down from her royal honorary duties on Wednesday, after Ngozi Fulani, founder of charity Sistah Space, told how she had repeatedly asked her where she “really” came from at a Buckingham Palace reception.
A spokesman for Prince William responded to the row by saying “racism has no place in our society”.
As if the Netflix doc isn’t enough for the royals to bear, there’s the prospect of further revelations with the release of Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare, due to be published in January.
Buckingham Palace and the Sussexes were approached for comment.
A royal source said: “The actual working royals are as ever focused on carrying out their duties and raising the profile of people doing amazing things in our communities as the public expects them to do, not doing things got their own personal gain.
“What we’ve seen in Boston and projects like the Earthshot Prize these past few days is exactly this in action.”
