When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (opens in new tab) signed a major production deal with Netflix (opens in new tab), it raised some questions ("What will Harry and Meghan (opens in new tab) do with their time after leaving the royal family?", "How will the Sussexes how they will achieve the financial independence from the other royals they have announced they want," etc.), but it raised much more than that.

Many immediately thought of Netflix's hit drama "The Crown" (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab), which focuses on the drama and scandal that have colored the lives of the modern British royal family. Most of Harry's immediate relatives are. Since "The Crown" (opens in new tab) does not always portray all members of the royal family in a positive light (for example, it alludes to Prince Philip's ongoing affair (opens in new tab)), the Sussex couple's decision to sign (opens in new tab) with the streaming giant could add further stress to the Windsors' already strained relationships with other members of the family, some thought. [According to the Mirror (opens in new tab), some new reports suggest that Harry and Meghan (opens in new tab) used the deal as a way to make very specific demands about the future of The Crown. At least one royal expert, royal biographer Angela Levine (opens in new tab), who wrote the 2018 biography Harry: (opens in new tab)Conversations with the Prince (opens in new tab), said the strategy a mistake that could have backfired on the couple, she believes.

According to the Mirror (opens in new tab), Levin said that the Sussexes' signing with Netflix (opens in new tab) was a "terrible mistake" because "The Crown" is "ridiculing father, mother, and grandmother." According to Levin, Harry told her two years ago that the royal family "absolutely watches everything" on The Crown, but had already declared that he was "going to insist on stopping before it gets to me."

Even though Harry has had his sights set on distancing himself from "The Crown" (open in new tab) for years now, Levin believes that his and Meghan's Netflix deal could actually make things worse, not better, in that department. According to the Mirror, Levin explained:

We will have to wait for the sixth and final season of "The Crown" to see how this plays out.