Prince William and the Princess of Wales have been enjoying some downtime by watching Netflix together.
The Prince of Wales, 42, brought festive cheer and handed out Christmas presents to children and families at a party for 1st Battalion Mercian Regiment in Wiltshire on Tuesday.
On arrival, His Royal Highness was greeted by a regimental ram called Derby, before meeting with soldiers and their families, to hear more about their experiences and roles within the Mercian Regiment.
There, he revealed he and Kate, 42, have been sitting down to watch Netflix’s Black Doves, which stars Kiera Knightley and has flown to the top of the charts.
Dylan Potter, 14, made William laugh after revealing he was wearing two Christmas jumpers.
He said afterwards: ‘I asked what does a prince do for fun?
‘He said he likes watching movies and hanging out with his children but because he is over 40 finds fun hard to come by.’
The move will perhaps be seen as a surprising one, given that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle released the latest installment of their £80million Netflix deal, Polo, also on Tuesday.
Prince William revealed that he and Kate have been watching Black Doves on Netflix
It comes as Harry and Meghan released Polo – the latest installment of their £80million Netflix series
But the revelation will come as comforting news to royal fans, as the Princess of Wales is clearly taking some time out to watch some TV, after completing her chemotherapy treatment for cancer and returning to royal duties.
The eight-part series has already received rave reviews and scored a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes just one day after is release.
The new thriller, follows Keira Knightley’s character Helen Webb as an agent passing on secrets of her politician husband [Andrew Buchan].
Following the reveal, the official Netflix account tweeted: ‘Black Doves gets the royal seal of approval’ – and royal fans added that they would be tuning into the show.
They said: ‘If the Royals (real royals) are watching that show, I’ll look it up too.’
Another added: ‘Is Netflix trying to repair its relationship with the Royal Family?’
Camilla previously said she enjoys watching Bridgerton and the royal ‘definitely’ watches The Crown, according to the King’s former communications director, who also admitted the series does not ‘tickle’ His Majesty’s interest.
Her choice in streaming service and shows will be surprising to some, considering Netflix’s support of Prince Harry and The Crown portraying the tampongate scandal.
Netflix tweeted that the show, which stars Keira Knightley, had received a ‘royal seal of approval’
The Princess of Wales has been making a return to public duties after completing her chemotherapy treatment. Pictured at her Together At Christmas carol service last week
Netflix fans have been ‘glued to the screens’ after blockbuster thriller Black Doves finally dropped
Prince William spread festive cheer on Tuesday as he gave out presents to children of soldiers at Picton Barracks
The Prince of Wales, 42, who acts as Colonel-in-Chief, 1st Battalion Mercian Regiment visited the Regiment for a Christmas event
But it appears The Crown’s depiction of Charles and Camilla’s relationship hasn’t deterred the Queen from watching the programme, according to Kristina Kyriacou, who advised the monarch when he was the Prince of Wales between 2009 and 2016.
Speaking on This Morning in November 2022, she said the explicit phone conversation between Charles and Camilla being used would have been painful for the family.
She told the ITV programme: ‘I think the Queen Consort will have definitely been watching it… [she] keeps in touch with her family, her friends, it’s an enormous series.’
Camilla isn’t the only royal to watch The Crown, with Prince Harry previously revealing he watches and reportedly even fact-checks the show.
The Duke of Sussex, 39, who has been estranged from his father and brother Prince William since leaving royal life, made the admission during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2023.
‘Yes I have actually watched The Crown,’ Harry – who has a production deal with Netflix that is reported to be worth $100 million – told Colbert after the late night host asked if he had seen the series. ‘The older stuff and the more recent stuff.’
Harry then burst into fits of laughter and mimed taking notes as Colbert questioned whether he ‘fact checks’ the show – before admitting: ‘Yes, I do actually.’
Netflix not only features Black Doves, The Crown and Bridgerton but also the Sussexes bombshell 2022 Netflix documentary ‘Harry & Meghan.’
UK brand and culture expert Nick Ede revealed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Polo (pictured) may be the ‘nail in the coffin’ for their Netflix deal
Nacho Figueras and Delfina Blaquier with Meghan and Harry at the Royal Salute Polo Challenge benefitting Sentebale in April
Harry has played polo for years, but the sport is far from accessible for a person earning an average salary
The series contains a string of revelations and allegations about Harry’s mother Princess Diana, how the couple met, their first dates, ‘unconscious bias’ in the Royal Family and why the Sussexes ‘had to quit’ royal duties in March 2020, plunging the House of Windsor into crisis.
Meanwhile, Harry and Meghan’s latest endeavour, Polo, was released earlier this week.
Receiving two stars or less out of five across the board, the five-part show has been labelled ‘a tedious inside-look at posh polo’ and a ‘mostly boring look at a sport that very few people outside of elite circles have any particular interest in’.
For The Guardian’s Stuart Heritage, who awarded the series just two stars, ‘Polo looks destined to fall through the submenus into obscurity at the speed of light’.
The Telegraph’s Ed Power, meanwhile, noted how there was ‘not enough of the Sussexes to make this anything other than a dull indulgence about a rich person’s pursuit’.
After the Duke of Sussex caused a storm with his bombshell Netflix documentary released in December 2022 that took aim at his own family, he cuts a surprisingly low-key figure in the show, which was released on Monday.
The Prince, 40, only appears a handful of times throughout the five episodes, with his wife Meghan, 43, appearing even less – despite both being executive producers of the series.
Harry appears in the opening credits of the show, but doesn’t appear again until episode four, when he is only part of a conversation with the other players.
Her love of Strictly Come Dancing is well known – but it appears Queen Camilla (pictured in May at the Chelsea Flower Show) has a varied taste in TV programmes after she revealed she’s seen the first season of Netflix bonkbuster Bridgerton
Instead, the series mainly focuses on Adolfo and Poroto Cambiaso, Louis Devaleix, Timmy Dutta, Nacho Figueras, Keko Magrini – who all overshadow Harry – and preparations for the US open.
UK brand and culture expert Nick Ede revealed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex‘s Polo may be the ‘nail in the coffin’ for their £80million Netflix deal.
Prince Harry, 40, who served as an executive producer alongside Meghan, 43, promised the series, released globally this week, would showcase the ‘true depth and spirit of the sport’ as well as the ‘intensity of its high-stakes moments’.
However, the five-part docuseries, which centres around the build-up to the polo World Cup in Florida and mainly focuses on players such as Adolfo and Poroto Cambiaso, Timmy Dutta, and Nacho Figueras, struggled to impress critics.
It’s a reality that Ede considers threatening for the Sussex’s Netflix deal, he told MailOnline: ‘The new polo documentary hasn’t received good reviews, and this is another foray into producing from Meghan and Harry.
In their first Netflix documentary, Harry and Meghan were able to say what they wanted and the prince took full advantage by delivering a slew of devastating and damaging ‘truth bombs’
‘All eyes will be on whether the show rates and makes the very important top ten. It could, like the Invictus documentary, start well due to the public’s fascination with the pair and with polo potentially.
‘But it’s more than likely to fare badly when up against blockbusters like Black Dove and safe Lindsay Lohan Christmas films.
‘This could potentially be a nail in the coffin for their deal with the streaming giant who now use algorithms to make sure their programming is perfect for their subscribers.’
The series hardly features Harry and Meghan and has been nicknamed ‘the Nacho show’ behind the scenes because it focuses primarily on the Argentinian player – another drawback for Ede.
He said: ‘With very little airtime, we don’t get to see the pair much and also hardly any PR around the series, this looks like it’s Oh No! Rather than Polo!’
