Following the Sussexes’ viral Baby Momma dance video, a PR expert explains why the rumours of a royal reality show could be bad news for their extended royal family
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex could be set to film their own fly-on-the-wall documentary series which, given their history of spilling the beans, could spell trouble for the royal family. After Meghan released her now-viral twerking video, experts say there’s more signs than ever that the couple are “breaking the mould” of royal life and are ready to take steps into the lucrative world of reality television.
“It looks very much like they would love to do a reality show,” says PR guru Dermot McNamara. “She’s sharing far more of her personal, fun life with Harry and the children, and focusing on the fun and light-hearted side of themselves. Meghan is as popular as she is polarising and that makes TV gold because everyone has an opinion on her. In this throwaway, digital society we want big pop culture moments – and Meghan and Harry deliver those, so the channels will be very keen to sign them up.”
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While Meghan is set to release the second season of her very polished With Love, Meghan series later this year, a reality show would be the first of its kind for the California-based couple. But given their history of dropping bombshells when the cameras start rolling, a source tells us that a Kardashian-esque programme could spell bad news for the UK royals.
“We can see that Meghan and Harry don’t feel they have to stay silent any more, it’s clear in the interviews they’ve done, and the other shows,” our source claims. “So if they go on to film more, and especially if they discuss their relationship with William and Kate, for example, it would probably be a nightmare for the rest of the family.”
Meghan’s twerking video, which lasts just under 90 seconds, shows a heavily pregnant Meghan, 43, and Prince Harry, 40, dancing to the Starrkeisha song The Baby Momma in an attempt to kick off her labour with Lilibet, now four.
At the time of going to press the twerking reel had amassed over 46 million views, making it Meghan’s most-watched video on her account by a long way. Only her launch video for As Ever, which was posted back in February, comes anywhere close with 27.8m views so far.
The clip inevitably created a storm online, with some followers calling it “cringe”. One person accused the couple of “ruining the reputation and respect of the royal family, one Instagram post at a time”.
Following the backlash, a national newspaper quoted a source saying that Meghan “doesn’t care about the haters in Britain” and that the clip had gone down a storm and was seen as “relatable” in the US.
The BBC’s former royal correspondent Jennie Bond, however, told the Mirror it was “utterly bizarre” of Meghan to release the clip, and that King Charles would have been “horrified” if he’d watched it.
Dermot agrees that as working royals, Kate and William have certain standards to uphold and an “image to portray and maintain”, which would likely be at odds with a reality-style show.
“Reality shows and Netflix documentaries are embarrassing for the royals because they can’t and haven’t ever done them. Yes we see them being more outgoing, talking about mental health and things, but Meghan’s labour video, with her twerking and Harry ‘dad dancing’, goes beyond that.”
The fact that TV producers would no doubt welcome the couple discussing their fall-outs on camera complicates things further, he says, adding, “It often happens that one side is seen to be fighting more than the other, and no one really comes out of it looking great.”
When they stepped back as working royals and moved to the US in 2020, it was widely presumed that this was driven by the couple’s desire for privacy.
However, when their first joint Netflix series was released two years later and they were accused of hypocrisy, they hit back via an official statement from their global press secretary. This read, “The Duke and Duchess have never cited privacy as the reason for stepping back. This distorted narrative was intended to trap the couple into silence.”
According to Dermot, With Love, Meghan made it clear that there’s an appetite for the couple sharing their personal life – and that appetite is growing.
“Meghan is very happy with parts of her public life being out there and she knows there’s great interest in her life. She’s learned that this is what people are interested in, this is what she can commercialise.”
