David and Victoria Beckham can now call themselves Emmy winners after their four-part Netflix show, self-titled Beckham, won the award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series at the 76th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Saturday, an industry nod that has so far evaded Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
The program secured five nominations in all, with the multi-episode series earning critical acclaim as well a number of viral moments and praise from fans online.
Beckham was produced in partnership with the soccer star's own production company, Studio 99, which has a number of sports-themed documentaries on its slate.
The show has been closely compared to the six-part docuseries of Harry and Meghan—also eponymously named, Harry & Meghan—which was developed by their Archewell Productions company in collaboration with Netflix and was released in 2022.
Unlike Beckham, Harry & Meghan generated a polarized response from the couple's international fans and critics, coming under close scrutiny by the media for claims made about their lives in the royal spotlight.
Despite some of the negativity that came after its release, the show became an enormous success for Netflix in terms of viewing figures. It broke the record for biggest documentary release on the platform, garnering weeks of international media coverage to boot.
In spite of unfounded speculation that Harry and Meghan's relationship with Netflix may soon be dissolved, the streaming platform's co-CEO Ted Sarandos spoke out in support of the couple in March 2024.
"The documentary we did on them is still one of our most-watched documentaries of all time on Netflix and huge, particularly in the U.K., where people just devour everything about them," he said
"They're controversial, but that's usually a good thing. You may love them or hate them, but you're watching."
Since Harry & Meghan, the couple have released two more docuseries to lesser success with three upcoming projects also announced.
Unlike, Beckham, though, the royal couple are lacking a key gesture of recognition from the Hollywood elite to cement their post-working royal legacies as entertainment industry professionals and success stories—an award.
Where Beckham secured David and Victoria five Emmy nominations, the Harry & Meghan series was snubbed, receiving zero. The show also failed to earn the royal couple recognition from the Golden Globes and other industry bodies.
For the 2024 awards season, the couple's docuseries Heart of Invictus was in contention for a nomination in the Emmys Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series category alongside Beckham, but failed to secure a place on the shortlist.
The show was released in August 2023 and followed veterans competing in Harry's Invictus Games tournament.
Though Harry and Meghan's docuseries content has not so far won recognition from their peers, the couple have a number of key projects on the horizon which could change this, including their first non-scripted development, an adaptation of the hit novel Meet Me at the Lake.
In a November 2023 red carpet appearance, Meghan said she was excited for the future.
"We have so many exciting things on the slate," she said. "I can't wait until we can announce them, but I'm just really proud of what we're creating and my husband is loving it too."
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
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