Not since Yoko Ono and John Lennon has there been a British imported couple as obnoxious as that of Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
There are any number of words you could use to describe Harry and Meghan’s upcoming Netflix series, “Harry and Meghan” — attention-craving, brazen, ungrateful, and being self-enamored with a victim’s mentality all sound like apt ways to describe the show.
The show also seems like a vehicle for Harry and Meghan to air their private grievances publicly, making outlandish claims of racism and denigrating their family.
Well, now the show can also accurately be described as duplicitous after a couple of new trailers for it have been exposed as being rife with misleading imagery.
Where to even begin?
Perhaps with this report from The Sun, which pointed out that an image of all those aggressive paparazzi hounding Harry and Meghan… was actually photographers attending a Harry Potter premiere taken in 2011, a full five years before the two even met.
The Sun’s report was actually about the teaser trailer, which you can view below (the specific photo appears at the 30-second mark):
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A quick search found that that image in question is actually the first image that pops up on the stock photo database Alamy. That specific image confirms that it was taken in 2011.
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“I don’t imagine Harry would have realised, but Netflix have been careless here as it weakens Harry’s comment about protecting his family. This fake picture weakens his point,” royal expert Ingrid Seward told The Sun.
And look, if it was just this one stock image that paints a misleading picture, maybe you let it pass.
But, of course, it’s not just that one image.
A second trailer, posted directly to Netflix, is even more misleading than the teaser trailer with the Harry Potter photos.
Here is editor Robert Jobson, who specifically focuses on the royal family, calling out one scene from the trailer:
This photograph used by @Netflix and Harry and Meghan to suggest intrusion by the press is a complete travesty. It was taken from a accredited pool at Archbishop Tutu’s residence in Cape Town. Only 3 people were in the accredited position. H & M agreed the position. I was there. pic.twitter.com/nvjznlloLF
— Robert Jobson (@theroyaleditor) December 5, 2022
That photo can be seen with about 40 seconds left in the trailer and is accompanied with the line, “You know, there’s leaking, but there’s also planting of stories.”
According to Jobson, the only planting of anyone in that particular photo was when Harry and Meghan agreed to put the photographer there.
In another instance of duplicitous imagery, with about 15 seconds left in the trailer, you see Harry and Meghan apparently fleeing some more paparazzi.
As one Twitter sleuth pointed out, those paparazzi were there for English media personality Katie Price:
#SecondTrailerFAIL those paparazzis right after the Harry and Meghan DISTRESSED shot (“I was terrified… I didn’t want history to repeat itself…”)
…are from a KATIE PRICE photoshoot LMAO 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/FnP7xcH0Nx
— Jesús Enrique Rosas – The Body Language Guy (@Knesix) December 5, 2022
You can find the actual clip on Getty Images.
But perhaps the funniest clip the documentary chose to rip off came from an unlikely source — disgraced former Donald Trump lawyer, Michael Cohen.
With about 19 seconds left in the clip, you can see photographers swarming a car. One would assume that was Harry and Meghan’s car, but it was not.
This Twitter user astutely noticed the misleading imagery:
Pic one Netflix trailer. Pic two the clip on Gettys. It’s the same event. I think the clip may be a different camera. But still the same thing. You can see the same people, clothes, background. pic.twitter.com/9tpFkhbe0L
— Gert’s Royals (@Gertsroyals) December 5, 2022
You can find the original Getty video here.
Ironically enough, Harry claims in the trailer that royal life is “a dirty game.”
Being so desperate to paint yourself as “oppressed” that you have to use wildly misleading imagery to make your point?
That actually does sound like a dirty game.