Harry & Meghan crowned Netflix UK’s most-watched show of the year

(Image credit: Courtesy of Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex/Future)

published 31 December 2022

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, has been crowned the UK’s most-watched subscription TV series of the year.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, shot to the top of Netflix charts soon after its release and has now become the UK’s most-watched subscription TV series of the year.
The show's first episode was watched by 4.5 million people in the first week of its release.
The royal news follows reports that the house in Netflix’s Harry & Meghan is not actually Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s home.

After 2021's explosive Oprah interview, many royal watchers were wondering how Prince Harry and Meghan Markle could possibly expose any more royal secrets. Then came the couple's bombshell Netflix docuseries, Harry and Meghan.

After much speculation, the series finally premiered on December 8th 2022, marking the first Netflix collaboration of many with the couple's production company, Archewell Productions.

The show sparked many conversations, with supporters on both sides of the argument jumping in to have their say. Quickly, the show shot up to the top of the Netflix charts and has now become the UK’s most-watched subscription TV series of the year.

The Times reports that Harry & Meghan's debut episode, which came as part of the first of two three-episode instalments, was viewed by 4.5 million people in the week following its release. To put that in context, viewing figures for episode one Netflix's The Crown Season 5 sat at 2.8 million, around half of that garnered by Harry & Meghan.

Harry & Meghan also far outperformed top-rated episodes of other Netflix hits; Ricky Gervais' After Life hit 4.1 million, Stranger Things reached 3.9 million, and the streaming platforms smash hit Bridgerton sits at 3.4 million.

While the Netflix figures are staggering, when they are compared to non-subscription channels, so TV channels, the figures seem much smaller. Comparing Harry & Meghan’s numbers to shows like the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing and ITV’s I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here, the royal docuseries reached less than half the audience who tuned into watch live TV.

A testament to Netflix's drop in subscribers, another planned Archewell Productions series, Pearl, an animated show created by Meghan, was cancelled.

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Charlie Elizabeth Culverhouse is royal news and entertainment writer for Goodto.com. She began her freelance journalism career after graduating from Nottingham Trent University with an MA in Magazine Journalism, receiving an NCTJ diploma, and earning a First Class BA (Hons) in Journalism at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute. She has also worked with BBC Good Food and The Independent.