Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Netflix documentary branded ‘boring’ and ‘elitist’

Polo – a documentary series produced by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – explores the elite world of the sport that Harry has played for many years, but it has been slammed as “boring” by one royal expert.

Prince Harry and Meghan’s latest Netflix documentary, Polo, has been released, but not all Royal experts are impressed by the couple’s production.

The documentary series, produced by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, delves into the elite world of polo, a sport that Harry has played for many years. After their surprising Royal exit in 2020, Harry and Meghan signed a multimillion-pound deal with Netflix, and Polo is their fourth project. Despite only making a brief appearance in Polo, an insider revealed that the couple was motivated to help “grow the audience of polo” – a sport often inaccessible due to its high costs. However, the success of this endeavor remains uncertain.

One Royal expert found the sport “boring” for spectators and questioned whether the glamorous series would attract new players.

“Polo is a very niche sport. It’s very much a sport for very wealthy people. The average person can’t afford a polo mallet or stick let alone a horse or a horse box. I don’t think it’s going to attract many new players,” Royal expert Phil Dampier told The Sun. The minimal appearance of the couple in the show also led the Royal expert to doubt whether it would generate the interest they hoped for in the challenging sport.

“The main problem for Netflix is that Harry and Meghan are hardly in this program… I think for the amount of money they’re paying them reputed to be upwards of 80 to 100 million dollars. I don’t think they’re getting a great deal of Harry and Meghan… not getting much bang for their buck. I’m not quite sure why Netflix have done this,” he added. The five-episode series follows some of the players taking part in the Polo US Open and explores the gargantuan costs associated with the sport – both financial and the personal sacrifices made by players to perform at the highest level.

The impacts of these sacrifices on the players’ family relationships and personal lives are also explored in the series, in which Harry and Meghan only appear briefly in the final episode. Previously, Harry and Meghan have released three titles as part of their Netflix deal: Live to Lead, Heart of Invictus, and their self-titled documentary series that explored their love story and Royal exit – whilst breaking viewership records for the streaming giant’s documentary offerings.

Meghan is set to star in a cooking show for Netflix, although no release date for this project has been announced yet – it is reported to be tied into the lifestyle brand America Riviera Orchard that the Duchess launched earlier in the year. All episodes of Polo are available to watch now on Netflix.