Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are now being accused of taking photos in Buckingham Palace using a private photographer without permission from the late Queen Elizabeth II.
The allegations started after Netflix released the trailer for their upcoming docuseries, “Harry and Meghan,” to be presented on the streaming platform on December 8. The trailer features a series of intimate, never before seen photos in black and white, including some taken during their wedding reception at the Frogmore Cottage in 2018.
The picture that has brought the allegations was taken inside Buckingham Palace and showed the couple walking hand in hand out of the garden entrance.
Royal protocol dictates that anyone interested in filming or photographing inside the monarch’s home needs to seek permission, no matter their position in the royal family.
When the photographer took the photo, some palace aides did not like Harry and Meghan’s decision to bring a photographer into the palace without permission. They wrote a complaint about it.
However, the Sussexes were unaware of the warning, and no one asked the photographer to leave the palace grounds.
Under normal circumstances, regulations set by the Royal Collections Trust strictly forbid any photography or filming in the palace’s staterooms. If anyone wants to film in the palace, a memo is sent to the monarch to seek approval, as the palace has strict protocols for taking photographs and filming there.
The photographer took the picture in March 2020, during the couple’s farewell tour. The farewell tour included numerous public engagements for Harry and Meghan before returning to the US. By then, the couple had decided to resign from their royal duties.
Even worse, the regulations stipulate that filming or photography done for commercial purposes in the palace, meaning that the content is produced for a market to make money, needs permission.
The couple did not ask for the late Queen’s permission to photograph themselves walking towards a door in her home, even though they signed a deal with streaming giant Netflix for over $100 million, and Netflix is showing the images.
The picture shows Harry and Meghan walking towards Buckingham Palace’s Garden exit as two footmen hold the doors for them. It is believed that the documentary will reveal more images as the couple had events in various parts of the palace, including the Belgian suite and the 1844 room.
The documentary, “Harry and Meghan,” is a six-part docuseries that follows their relationship from the beginning until they decided to leave their royal duties.
The documentary will reportedly include interviews with some of the couple’s family members and friends, who have never spoken about the couple publicly. It will also include journalists and historians discussing the media’s influence on Harry and Meghan’s relationships with the royal family.
The filming for their documentary has made headlines several times, as several news outlets reported that a Netflix crew had been banned from filming the couple during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June.
The trailer, released on Thursday, showed Meghan crying with her head in her hand during a call, while another shows the couple dancing at their wedding reception.
There is a lot of anticipation about what royal secrets the couple will spill when the documentary finally comes out this week.
