Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are trying to be a ‘rebel king and queen’ but will only further polarise opinion into two camps, according to a branding psychologist.
Jonathan Gabay assessed the fallout from the first three episodes of their Netflix documentary, which was released this morning, as leaving the couple with an unclear path ahead.
The first volume of the much-anticipated docuseries depicts how the Duke and Duchess of Sussex fell in love and how the paparazzi followed Harry in a ‘feeding frenzy’ when he was a child.
The six-part feature is likely to further drive a wedge between the couple, who have relocated to California, and the British royals.
Mr Gabay said: ‘Harry and Meghan have set themselves up as the rebel king and queen but the question is where this gets them in the long term?
‘Yes, they are making global headlines, but at the same time they are creating the very media interest that they are complaining about being victims of. They are potentially only damaging themselves.
‘They are also sending the message to their children that they are rebels outside of the royal fold, but the problem is you can’t be a rebel brand all your life. Even Johnny Rotten had to stop.
‘Rebel brands, such as Virgin and Apple when they started, try to change the world but this has been happening with King Charles for a number of reasons unconnected to Harry and Meghan.’
The Prince, 38, and Meghan, 41, reveal intimate messages they shared before going on a first date in the opening episode.
The first instalments, which follow a reported multi-million pound deal between the couple and Netflix, also include Harry saying there is ‘unconscious bias’ in the Royal Family over race issues.
But the episodes stop short of the kind of claims and accusations that featured in their bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview.
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However trailers released by Netflix suggest the couple’s post-wedding rifts with the British royal household will follow in later episodes.
‘They are trying to show they are human by releasing the messages and showing how they first met,’ Mr Gabay said.
‘But the Royal Family has also been doing this more than ever. You can go back to the 80s and 70s when the Royal Family did BBC documentaries about their lives and were shown having picnics and playing with the kids.
‘The Netflix documentary may secure a certain number of people who think they have been maligned but it will also create another group who want them to shut up.
‘All it does is drive this divide, which psychologists call “groupthink”, which plays out on social media.
‘The end result is two opposed sets of people and it’s a case of “so what?”
‘In terms of psychology, they will end up passing a legacy of pain down to their children, one which says “look how we were maligned”.
‘It’s similar to the legacy Harry inherited from Diana.
‘The only immediate winner in this is a company called Netflix, because they don’t care whether you like Team A or Team B, all they care about is whether you are logging in.
‘Harry and Meghan stand to find out that being a rebel king and queen is a short-lived reign.’
Professor Pauline Maclaran, an author on royal culture at Royal Holloway, University of London, believes Buckingham Palace will be largely untroubled by the first volume on the streaming service.
Professor Maclaran said: ‘What we seem to have so far is quite touching insights into both Harry and Meghan’s background and their love story.
‘The main criticisms are saved for the tabloid press.
‘As far as any royal criticisms, there are a few innuendoes — like how the treatment of Meghan by the press was viewed as a rite of passage and there was little support — but nothing that we don’t know already.
‘Certainly, I don’t think there is much so far that will give the royals more cause for concern than they already have and they may even be a little relieved. I think the series will fill in quite a lot about the personalities and backgrounds of Harry and Meghan – as such it will certainly appeal to a younger audience as they give their own personalised accounts of their lives and finding each other.
‘The referrals to the unconscious bias in the royal household is probably the most controversial aspect so far but Harry explains it well and without malice – also referring to his own mistakes.
‘Overall I think the potentially damaging side of this documentary has so far been blown up out of proportion to its contents.
‘However, the next three episodes may be different.’
The couple’s latest window into their lives follows their exit from the UK royal fold and their relocation to Montecito, where they live with their children Archie, three, and one-year-old Lilibet.
The next three episodes in the Netflix series, entitled Harry and Meghan, are due to be released on December 15.
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