Keeping Up With the Sussexes! Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's upcoming Netflix docuseries might be widely discussed, but in reality, very little is known about the project. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex signed a multimillion-dollar production deal with the streaming service in September 2020, and with that came reports of a docuseries following their life together with children Archie, 3, and Lilibet, 1, in Montecito, California.
With new reports surfacing that the unnamed and unannounced series will be released on Dec. 8, ET has rounded up everything we know about the couple's project.
Here's what we know:
Storyline Details
The upcoming project was referred to as a "docuseries" by Meghan's Variety interviewer in an interview that took place over the summer and the duchess did not correct the comment.
When asked about the unnamed project during an August interview with The Cut, Meghan replied, "The piece of my life I haven’t been able to share, that people haven’t been able to see, is our love story."
She went on to quote the end of a speech she gave at her 2018 wedding to Harry, saying she took comfort in the "resounding knowing that, above all, love wins," adding, "I hope that is the sentiment that people feel when they see any of the content or the projects that we are working on."
Page Six also reported that the project was originally titled Chapters, but added that is no longer the title.
Release Date
Page Sixis reporting that the docuseries will be released on Dec. 8, despite reports that the Sussexes had wanted to push back the release date to 2023 in the wake of Queen Elizabeth II's death in September and the backlash surrounding the season 5 release of Netflix's royal drama, The Crown.
Director
The original director rumored to be tied to the project was Garrett Bradley, who was at the helm of the Netflix three-part docuseries Naomi Osaka, about the famed tennis champion. Page Six later reported that the Sussexes and Bradley couldn't see eye-to-eye on the direction of the project.
“Garrett wanted Harry and Meghan to film at home and they were not comfortable doing that," one industry insider told the outlet. “There were a few sticky moments between them, and Garrett left the project. Harry and Meghan’s own production company captured as much footage as they could before Liz Garbus was hired.”
Garbus, who worked with Meghan on the previously axed animated Netflix series Pearl, has now been confirmed as the director on the project by the duchess herself. Garbus is a two-time Oscar-nominated director, who has directed episodes of The Handmaid's Tale and the 2015 documentary What Happened, Miss Simone? about the life of singer Nina Simone.
Everything Meghan Markle Has Said About It
When asked about Garbus' docuseries during a Variety cover story released in October, Meghan replied, "It’s nice to be able to trust someone with our story — a seasoned director whose work I’ve long admired — even if it means it may not be the way we would have told it. But that’s not why we’re telling it. We’re trusting our story to someone else, and that means it will go through their lens."
She also expressed excitement for returning to the entertainment industry after stepping away when she joined the royal family.
"My husband has never worked in this industry before. For me, having worked on Suits, it’s so amazing to be around so much creative energy and to see how people work together and share their own points of view," she added. "That’s been really fun."
Meghan also briefly touched on the project during her August cover story in The Cut, saying, "When the media has shaped the story around you, it’s really nice to be able to tell your own story."
She avoided speaking about the project but did call director Garbus "incredible," but wouldn't answer more, saying, "I don't know what's confirmed."
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