A photograph used in the trailer of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Netflix docuseries which shows them apparently hounded by paparazzi is actually a stock photo of photographers taken at the "Harry Potter" premiere five years before they actually met, according to reports.
The photo appears to show a crowd of photographers jostling for position to take shots of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. However, they were really along the red carpet for the central London premiere of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two", the final installment of JK Rowling's Harry Potter saga, which no royals were there for.
Uncanny Resemblance
In the "Harry and Meghan" teaser, a black-and-white image of rows of cameras shooting away is seen before Harry says, "I had to do everything I could to protect my family," perhaps hinting that he was shielding them from the paparazzi and British tabloids.
However, The Sun claims that the photo-hungry group was actually photographing the cast of the adored JK Rowling series at a London screening of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part Two" in 2011.
Interestingly, the event took place 11 years back and Meghan and Prince Harry didn't meet until 2016. Also, neither Harry nor Meghan attended the premiere.
The photo was taken by The Sun photographer Doug Seeburg, who shared that no members of the Royal Family attended the occasion, according to the New York Post.
According to The Sun, the image is from the stock photo website Alamy.
"In the Netflix trailer it's implied the photographers, including me, were trying to get a shot of the royal couple — but that's nonsense," Seeburg told The Sun. "For a picture from that premiere to turn up in this trailer about Harry and Meghan seems like lazy picture research."
Mixed Reactions
The "fake" photo, a royal expert told the publication, undermines Harry's argument for protecting his family. She claimed that Harry was unlikely to have known the error and blamed it on Netflix's "carelessness."
Interestingly, the photograph is also the first result listed under the search term "paparazzi" on the stock image website Alamy.
Harry and Markle are expected to condemn the Royal Family and feature fresh accusations of racism in the docuseries that will be released on Thursday. The six-part series' first trailer, which threatened to expose more details about the problems in the family, was released last week.
According to royal insiders, the program is scheduled to premiere on Thursday and they expect the show to be "Oprah with more crying."
The Royal Family, though, believes that the documentary won't "blow it off course."
Contrary to claims that there are ongoing "crisis talks" and plans to "strike back" at yet another round of charges and accusations, senior royals intend a very much "business as usual approach."
"We are not going to be blown off course by squalls from across the Atlantic," a royal source told the Daily Mail witheringly.
According to officials at Buckingham Palace, Harry and Meghan have been making a constant stream of complaints about how the Royal Family has treated them publicly and mercilessly. However, there is optimism among the family that by the time the series concludes and Harry's impending biography is released in January, the "Sussex squall" will blow itself out.
