Harry and Meghan utterly irrelevant, says minister Guy Opperman

A minister called the Duke and Duchess of Sussex "utterly irrelevant to this country" as he said people should boycott Netflix over their documentary.

Guy Opperman said Prince Harry and Meghan were "clearly a very troubled couple" but had faced "unacceptable" press intrusion.

The first three episodes of the six-part series were released on Thursday.

The couple's experience of media scrutiny and racism are among the issues covered in the series so far.

Downing Street would not comment on the documentary, saying it was not a matter for them.

Asked on BBC One's Question Time whether the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were damaging the reputation of the Royal Family, Employment Minister Mr Opperman said they were "utterly irrelevant to this country and the progress of this country and the Royal Family that I believe we support".

"I don't think it has a fundamental impact on the Royal Family. I certainly won't be watching it. I'd urge everyone to boycott Netflix and make sure we focus on the things that matter," he added.

Labour's shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell said the documentary was a "sad story" of "people in public life who've been unable to cope with that because of the intrusion" and "of a family break-up that's happening in public view".

However, she told the programme she did not think the series was particularly damaging for the Royal Family.

"I think there's very, very strong support for the Royal Family in this country. I think they on the whole do a really good job for this country in projecting Britain around the world, in getting investment into this country," she said.

"What's saddest about it is that Harry and Meghan as a couple could have been a really big part of that Royal Family of the future."

The first episodes from the series released on Thursday - which include sit-down interviews with the couple and their friends, as well as a video diary - cover a range of topics, including the couple's difficult relationship with the tabloid press, and the Royal Family's response to racist news articles written about Meghan.

In the series, Prince Harry claims some royals questioned why Meghan should be protected from press harassment as they felt negative treatment in the media was "a rite of passage".

But he said "the difference here is the race element".

Buckingham Palace has not yet responded to the claims.

The couple stepped back as senior royals in March 2020 and now live in California with their two young children, Archie and Lilibet.

They have blamed racist coverage in the tabloid press as one reason for their decision.