Artists put the finishing touches to wax figures of Britain’s Prince Harry (left) and Meghan on July 30, 2020 in England. Photo: AFP

Britain's royals are braced for Netflix's six-part docuseries on Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, after the first extracts reignited a simmering row with his brother William.

Thursday's fly-on-the-wall documentary follows Harry, 38, and Meghan, 41, as their strained relationship with his family unravelled.

It is billed as the couple lifting the lid on what happens "behind closed doors" but risks damaging both the royal family and the couple themselves.

A recent British poll suggested the couple are now the least popular senior royals apart from the disgraced Prince Andrew.

Harry and his brother William, 40, were once close and bonded through their shared grief over the death of their mother Princess Diana.

But they have been at loggerheads since Harry and Meghan, also known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, quit royal life and moved to California in 2020. The couple's complaints about the strictures of royal life, and even racism in the family, have made headlines around the world.

One trailer for the program entitled Harry & Meghan shows Meghan looking distressed as Harry throws his head back in apparent despair. "I had to do everything I could to protect my family," Harry is heard saying.

"No one sees what goes on behind closed doors," he adds.

In the second, a lawyer for Meghan claims that during her time in the UK "there was a war against Meghan to suit other people's agendas."

Diana died in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while trying to shake off paparazzi photographers. "I was terrified, I didn't want history to repeat itself," says Harry in the latest trailer, referring to the hounding of his mother.

"I realized they [Buckingham Palace] are never going to protect you," adds Meghan, speaking over a clip showing her looking over her shoulder as if fearing she is being followed.

British media has been critical of the timing of the first trailer. The Mail on Sunday newspaper last weekend reported that Charles and Queen Consort Camilla were "not worried but wearied" by the constant stream of criticism.

AFP