Entertainment
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Netflix documentary beats The Crown as more than 2,000,000 viewers tune in on launch date-Sabrina Barr-Entertainment – Metro
Did you watch it?
The couple are set to release a second part of the headline-grabbing series (Picture: Netflix)
The viewing figures for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s bombshell Netflix series have been released, revealing it proved more popular than the Crown season 5 on the day of its release.
This week, the highly-anticipated documentary from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex launched on the streaming platform, providing viewers with a close look at their private lives, from the messages they exchanged when they first started dating to raising their two children, Archie and Lilibet.
The programme has sparked controversy over the claim that the Palace was offered an opportunity to provide comment, with other members of the royal family reportedly not contacted, despite a disclaimer that appeared on screen.
Following its premiere on Thursday December 8, independent ratings body Barb has revealed that 2.4million people watched Harry & Meghan on their TV sets on the day of its launch.
In comparison, the first episode of The Crown season five received 1.1m viewers on the day of its release, on Wednesday November 9 this year.
Netflix has only just started being monitored by Barb, a policy that began in October this year.
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It’s understood that the viewership of Harry and Meghan on day one has marked the largest one-day audience for the streaming giant since Barb started monitoring its programme ratings.
On the day that Harry & Meghan came out, the second episode was watched by 1.5m viewers on TV sets, while 800,000 watched episode three in the same way that day.
The ratings released by Barb only account for viewers tuning in on TV sets, so the total viewing figures of people also watching on devices such as smartphones or laptops have not been included, but would likely add tremendously to the total sum.
On Thursday evening’s Piers Morgan Uncensored, Meghan’s half-brother Thomas Markle Jr spoke out against a comment Harry made in the film saying that his wife ‘doesn’t have a father’.
In the documentary, the duke addressed the rift between Meghan and her estranged father Thomas Markle Sr, saying: ‘Of course, it’s incredibly sad what happened. She had a father before this, and now she doesn’t have a father.
‘And I shouldered that. If Meg wasn’t with me, then her dad would still be her dad.’
People have been waiting a long time to watch the series (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)
In response, Markle Jr said: ‘I think it’s horrible. The documentary is so far off on so many different levels. So many, it’s just, it’s really a little bit disturbing.
‘Saying that, you know, she doesn’t have a family and she doesn’t have a father and then Harry saying that, you know, she has no father now – that’s just ridiculous.’
Harry & Meghan is available to watch on Netflix.
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