EXCLUSIVEMeghan and Harry’s Netflix show takes a dive as rivals Victoria and David Beckham’s very candid docuseries hits No. 1

Meghan and Harry’s Netflix show has slumped to 211 on the streaming platform’s global chart while ‘Beckham’ is No. 1 with 3.5 times the viewing figures
The royal couple’s one-time close friendship with Victoria and David Beckham has similarly soured

Engagement figures for 2023, released last week, reveal that the Beckhams’ eponymous documentary hit the top spot for global viewing with a whopping 43.9million views between July and December last year.

In that same period Harry & Meghan’s Limited Series Volumes I and II, limped in with just 1.9million views and 12.6million total views across the year.

When it first aired in December 2022 the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s docuseries was an instant hit, giving Netflix its biggest debut with 81.6million hours viewed in the first four days. But, after an initial frenzy, figures began a steady slide as millions of viewers lost interest and the series lost traction well before the sixth episode aired see

The show has now slumped to 211 on the streaming platform’s global chart while ‘Beckham’ is No. 1 with 3.5 times the viewing figures and 208.5million hours viewed in the first two months alone.

The disparity is perhaps due in part to the fact that fans who had tuned into Harry and Meghan’s docuseries hoping for insight and intimacy were instead left tired by their relentlessly, ‘woe is me’ tone. Viewers complained about the couple’s self-absorption and the fact that for all their enviable privilege they seemed to do nothing but bemoan their lot.

In stark contrast ‘Beckham’ was a show that left viewers uplifted by the Beckham’s family life, relationship and work ethic. Fans raved at the couple’s ‘resilience,’ and marveled at Beckham’s self-effacing grit and ambition.

This was a couple viewers could get behind, where Harry and Meghan were a couple viewers could leave behind.