Harry & Meghan Director Liz Garbus Says the Palace Tried to 'Discredit' the Netflix Series
Netflix Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in their
Harry & Meghan director Liz Garbus is speaking out against Buckingham Palace.
The Oscar-nominated director described creating the hit Netflix docuseries, which tells the story of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's romance and decision to leave their royal lives, as a polarizing experience that gave her insight into the "alleged palace mind games" that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex went through.
"For instance, Buckingham Palace said that we didn't reach out for comment [on the docuseries] when we did,' Garbus expressed in an interview with Vanity Fair. "They did that to discredit us…and by discrediting us, they can discredit the content of the show."
She added: "We lived through some of those moments that were a little bit like Alice Through the Looking Glass."
Courtesy of Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
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A representative for Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment regarding Garbus' claims.
While at the start of the series, which began streaming on Dec. 8., a title card states, "Members of the Royal Family declined to comment on the content within the series," shortly after volume one of the six-episode docuseries premiered, a palace source told PEOPLE that neither members of the family nor Buckingham Palace or Prince William's office at Kensington Palace were approached for comment on the content of the series.
A Netflix source later told PEOPLE that communications offices for King Charles and Prince William were contacted in advance and given the right to reply to claims within the series.
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A royal source added while speaking with PEOPLE that Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace did receive an email claiming to be from a third-party production company through an unknown organization's email address. When they contacted Archewell and Netflix to verify the source, they received no response. The royal source also says the substance of the email did not address the entire series.
Following its premiere, Harry & Meghan had Netflix's biggest documentary debut week in the history of the streaming service.
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Netflix said in a statement that the first three episodes of Harry & Meghan logged 81.55 million viewing hours after its debut with more than 28 million households watching at least part of the series.