Prince Harry and Meghan's Netflix docuseries to be screened on December 8

Duke of Sussex speaks of 'dirty game' involving leaking and planting of stories by royal family in second trailer

The Duchess of Sussex in the documentary. Netflix

Harry & Meghan, the Sussexes’ behind-the-scenes docuseries, will make its debut on Netflix this Thursday, the streaming company has announced.

The second trailer for the “Netflix Global Event” was screened on Monday, with Prince Harry speaking of a “dirty game” involving the leaking and planting of stories by the royal family.

He also referenced “the pain and suffering of women marrying into this institution,” and a “feeding frenzy”.

The six-episode docuseries will also “share the other side of their high-profile love story”, said Netflix.

The couple is shown receiving rapturous applause while conducting royal duties, announcing their engagement and their wedding in 2018, as a news clip voice-over by Piers Morgan says: “She's becoming a royal rock star."

It cuts to Meghan saying “and then” before snapping her fingers, with Harry adding: “Everything changed”.

Volume one of the series will launch on December 8 — exactly three months after the death of Harry's grandmother Queen Elizabeth II — with the second volume to be released on December 15.

The new one-minute teaser video opens with a voice-over by Harry saying: “It's really hard to look back on it now and go 'What on earth happened?'”

He continues the narration throughout, saying: “There's a hierarchy of the family, you know, there's leaking, but there's also planting of stories. It's a dirty game."

Clips of paparazzi photographing the couple are then shown alongside old footage of Harry's mother, Princess Diana, being followed by the media as he adds: “The pain and suffering of women marrying into this institution, this feeding frenzy. I was terrified, I didn't want history to repeat itself.

“No one knows the full truth. We know the full truth.”

The first teaser for the £88 million ($108 million) series was released on Thursday, while Prince William and his wife Kate were in Boston for the Earthshot prize ceremony, and in the aftermath of a new racism row involving Prince William's godmother.

In one frame Meghan is shown holding her head in her hands as Prince Harry says: “No one sees what's happening behind closed doors,” before the image flips to a shot of Catherine, Princess of Wales, glaring during a 2019 service for Commonwealth Day at Westminster Abbey.

Prince Harry and Meghan have delivered stinging criticism of the British monarchy since stepping down from royal duties two years ago. That has included allegations of racism, which led to a rift with the rest of the family, most notably with Prince Harry's father, King Charles III, and his elder brother, Prince William.

The last time Prince Harry and Meghan opened up about their relationship with other members of the royal family, in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, it plunged the institution into its biggest crisis of recent times.

Meghan, among other revelations, has previously spoken about how she thought about committing suicide and experienced racism from an unnamed member of the royal family.

Prince Harry and Meghan Duchess of Sussex through the years — in pictures

Doria Ragland, Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, attend the Ms Foundation Women of Vision Awards in New York City. Getty

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan attend a basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Memphis Grizzlies in Los Angeles in April. Getty

The royal couple speak onstage at the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Gala in New York in December 2022. Getty

Prince Harry and Meghan watch as the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II is placed into the hearse following the state funeral service at Westminster Abbey in central London in September 2022. AP

Prince Harry and Meghan pay their respects at the Palace of Westminster. Getty

Prince Harry, Meghan and Kate, Princess of Wales, attend a service for the reception of Queen Elizabeth's coffin at Westminster Hall. AFP

The Princess of Wales, Prince William, Prince Harry and Meghan meet members of the public outside Windsor Castle. Getty

Prince Harry and Meghan leave after a service of thanksgiving for the queen. Getty

Prince Harry and Meghan at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York in September 2021. AP

Prince Harry and Meghan on the cover of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world edition, in September 2021. Reuters

Prince Harry and Meghan are interviewed by Oprah Winfrey in March 2021. Reuters

Prince Harry and Meghan shared this image on social media in February 2021 to announce they were expecting their second child. AFP

Prince Harry and Meghan visit Canada House, London, in January 2020. Getty

Prince Harry and Meghan visit Auwal Mosque on Heritage Day during their royal tour of South Africa in September 2019. Getty

Prince Harry, Meghan and their son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor in South Africa in September 2019. Getty

Prince Harry and Meghan meet Beyonce Knowles-Carter and Jay-Z at the European Premiere of Disney's The Lion King at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square, London, in July 2019. Getty

Prince Harry and Meghan pose for a photo with the New York Yankees before their baseball game against the Boston Red Sox at London Stadium in June 2019. Getty

Prince Harry and Meghan pose with their newborn son Archie in St George's Hall at Windsor Castle in May 2019. Getty

Meghan, joined by her mother Ms Ragland, shows her new son to Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at Windsor Castle in May 2019. AP

Prince Harry and Meghan officially open Number 7, a Feeding Birkenhead citizen’s supermarket and community cafe in Merseyside in January 2019. Getty

Prince William, the Princess of Wales, Meghan and Prince Harry attend a Christmas Day church service at the Church of St Mary Magdalene on the Sandringham estate in December 2018. Getty

Prince William, Prince Harry, Meghan and the Duchess of Cambridge attend a service marking the centenary of the First World War armistice at Westminster Abbey in November 2018. Getty

Prince Harry and Meghan visit Redwoods Tree Walk in October 2018 in Rotorua, New Zealand. Getty

Prince Harry and Meghan visit an exhibition of Tongan handicrafts at the Fa'onelua Convention Centre in October 2018 in Nuku'alofa, Tonga. Getty

Prince Harry and Meghan visit the University of the South Pacific in October 2018 in Suva, Fiji. Getty

Prince Harry and Meghan address the public during a Community Event at Victoria Park in October 2018 in Dubbo, Australia. Getty

Prince Harry and Meghan meet a koala during a visit to Taronga Zoo in October 2018 in Sydney, Australia. Getty

Prince Harry and Meghan arrive at the University of Chichester's Engineering and Digital Technology Park during an official visit to West Sussex in October 2018. Getty

The queen, Meghan, Prince Harry, Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge watch the RAF 100th anniversary fly-past from the balcony of Buckingham Palace in July 2018. Getty

Prince Harry and Meghan on their wedding day in May 2018. Getty

Prince Harry places a wedding ring on his new wife's finger. Getty

Meghan and Prince Harry head to their evening wedding reception at Frogmore House. Getty

Prince Harry and Meghan walk through the corridors of the Palace of Holyroodhouse on their way to a reception for young people at the Palace in February 2018 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Getty

Prince Harry and his then-fiancee Meghan visit Nottingham for their first official public engagement together in December 2017. Getty

There were several “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he was born”, Meghan had said, referring to when she was pregnant with her son Archie.

Royal commentators say the docuseries is likely to widen the rift between Prince Harry and Prince William.

The release of the first trailer came a day after Lady Susan Hussey resigned from her honorary role last week after repeatedly asking a prominent black advocate for survivors of domestic abuse where she “really came from” during a reception at Buckingham Palace.

US-based royal watcher Kristen Meinzer told The National that Lady Susan's comments were proof “racism and colonialism are not just issues of the past, or of a few outliers”.

“They are systemic issues that the monarchy and modern society were built on,” she said. “And yes, environmentalism and racism are closely linked — with centuries of pillaging done in predominately brown nations for the benefit of predominately white, wealthy ones.”