The statement explained that other participants also had their contributions published, including the late US Supreme Court justice Ruth Ginsburg, feminist campaigner Gloria Steinem, climate activist Greta Thunberg and Stephen Curry, an American basketball player.

Ardern’s office said in March 2021 the Nelson Mandela Foundation advised they had secured an agreement with Netflix to broadcast the series, including the 2019 interview with the prime minister.

“In May this year the prime minister’s office was notified that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would introduce the series; noting this was nearly two and a half years after the interview had been recorded and permission for its use by the Mandela Foundation had already been provided,” the statement said.

“All communication throughout has been with the foundation [there has been no communications with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex regarding the project].”

Amid the ongoing fallout of their six-part Harry & Meghan docuseries, which has reopened wounds between Harry and his father, the King, and brother William, the Prince of Wales, Harry is expected to embark on a mega media blitz to promote his tell-all memoir ahead of its release in the new year. He has also confirmed a handful of TV interviews, including with CNN anchor Anderson Cooper to air on January 8, just two days before the book, Spare, hits the shelves.

Loading

The couple appeared in an almost two-minute-long preview for Live to Lead, clad in black against a white background for the seven-part series, which features Arden.

“This was inspired by Nelson Mandela, who once said ‘What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived’,” Harry says in the trailer. And Meghan adds: “It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead”.

While the royals have long fought for environmental causes, under Harry’s grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, they were cautious to align themselves with or endorse partisan political figures.

Likewise, Ardern would be wary not to be seen to pick a side in the ongoing royal feud.

Ardern met the Sussexes during their tour of Australia and New Zealand in 2018, when the Duchess was pregnant, and later said she had been impressed by Meghan’s stamina.

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.