The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s six-part Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan did not get any Emmy nominations.
By contrast, Beckham has been nominated for Best Documentary or Nonfiction Series, Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program, Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program, Outstanding Picture Editing, and Outstanding Music Composition.
David Beckham told Hello!: “Making this series was such a personal journey, a love letter to football and my family. It has been overwhelming for me and Victoria that we have had such a warm and positive response to the series.”
The show was famous for one particular scene in which Victoria described having a working-class upbringing only for David to put his head around the door and tell her to “be honest” about the fact she was driven to school in a luxury Rolls-Royce.
That viral moment was typical of a more general warts-and-all approach to the project. Beckham was directed by actor and filmmaker Fisher Stevens, who plays Waystar Royco comms chief Hugo Baker in Succession.
By contrast, the Sussexes’ docuseries flew to the top of the Netflix chart in Britain and America and was top 10 in 85 countries but never got equivalent recognition among either press or reviewers. Harry & Meghan received no Emmy nominations in the 2023 awards when the outstanding documentary award went to revisionist history film The 1619 Project.
The fact that the Beckhams have cleaned up—at least as far as nominations—shows it is possible for a celebrity biopic to win recognition, including one that has a strong U.K. focus.