Prince Harry and Meghan Markle did not expect the reaction they received from the public for the upcoming release.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who executive produced the Netflix documentary Polo, was criticised for being “cringey” and “cheesy” after the trailer came out last month.

While Harry and Meghan are “putting up a brave face” and not taking it personally, they are taking issue with people calling them “TV sellouts”, according to an insider.

“Meghan knows it doesn’t really matter how she and Harry feel about it, perception is everything and now online forums are burning up with people ridiculing them,” the source told Closer Magazine.

“Truth is, it was pretty much out of their control,” they continued. “The bosses wanted the series to appeal to the masses and pushed this reality TV slant so it’s not entirely their fault.”

However, source insists that it is starting to feel like a “big mistake” as they are forced to comply with what the Netflix bosses, with whom they have a $100 million deal, are telling them to do.

“It’s pretty ironic because they’ve always acted so above this sort of thing and now, here they are producing the exact type of content they’ve always looked down on.”

The show is the latest addition in the multi-million deal after Harry & Meghan, Heart Of Invictus and Live To Lead.