The “Harry and Meghan” Video Series: Attacks on the Media and the Prince’s First Year at the Palace, and Other Institutions in the midst of a Deep Divide
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, have taken aim at “unconscious bias” inside the royal family and defended their decision to quit the institution, as their highly anticipated Netflix documentary series threatens to deepen the split between the couple and Buckingham Palace.
The couple’s docuseries, “Harry andMeghan”, made headlines last month. In it, the couple shared stories of both their courtship and their views on how they have been treated by the media and their respective families.
Harry said Meghan’s popularity in particular caused problems at the palace, recalling similarities with his mother Diana, who married into the royal family and was beloved by the public.
Buckingham and Kensington Palaces will likely be braced for the fallout from the series, after sustained tensions between Harry and his father, King Charles, and brother, Prince William.
It’s hard to look back on it now, what happened? Like how did we end up here?,” Harry said in a video diary shown in the first episode, recorded shortly after the pair finished their final royal duties in March 2020.
He said he became “genuinely concerned for the safety of my family,” attacking the intrusion of the media, which he has frequently lamented in recent years.
Harry took aim at the media within the first few minutes of the show. “No one knows that full truth. The institutions and the media know the full truth because they have been involved in it. He said he considers it his “duty” to “uncover this exploitation and bribery that happens within our media.”
The series comes over a year and a half after the couple’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, which contained a flurry of criticisms of members of the royal family and caused turmoil at the palace.
The series is important for the monarchy because King Charles III is trying to show that the monarchy still plays a role afterQueen Elizabeth II’s death, which resulted in less criticism of the crown. According to Charles, the early days of his rule at the House of Windsor can help unite a changing nation by meeting with various ethnic groups and faiths.
Buckingham Palace reiterated it will not comment on the documentary on Thursday. Royal engagements are ongoing, with the King Charles and the Queen consort going to visit a community kitchen and attend a Christmas service with members of the family.
While members of the Royal family have constraints placed on them, that frustration re-appears in the documentary as the couple speak about it.
Meghan described her engagement announcement in 2017 as an “orchestrated reality show.” And speaking of the media’s initial fascination with the prince’s then-girlfriend, Harry recalled how other members of the royal family struggled to share his concern.
A lot of the family were worried about what was happening to her, they had been put through as well. Harry said it was almost like a rite of passage. “My wife had to go through that, so why should your girlfriend be treated any differently? Why should you get special treatment? Why should she be protected?,” he said, paraphrasing their arguments.
The royal family’s attempt to move into the 21st century has been boosted by the marriage of Harry to the biracial American girl, who was an actress. But the fairy tale, which began with a star-studded ceremony at Windsor Castle, soon soured amid stories that Meghan was self-centered and bullied her staff.
“These are the skeletons in the closet that frequently make an unwelcome appearance in daily life in this family – sometimes, you know, you’re part of the problem rather than part of the solution and there is a huge level of unconscious bias,” Harry said.
“The thing with unconscious bias – it is actually no one’s fault. But once it has been pointed out, or identified within yourself, you then need to make it right,” he said.
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Elsewhere in the first batch of episodes, Harry commented on some previous marriages among his relatives and ancestors. He said there was a temptation to marry someone who would fit into the mold of what the family wanted the man to be.
“They were surprised … the fact that I was dating an American actress was probably what clouded their judgement more than anything else at the beginning,” he added. The actress issue was the most serious of them all.
Harry compared his mother to the woman he is dating, saying she died in a car crash while being pursued by the photographers. Much of what I know about my mum and how she is is reminiscent of that of the woman I know today. She has the same confidence, she has this warmth about her,” he said in the first episode.
“I remember thinking, how can I ever find someone who is willing and capable to be able to withstand all the baggage that comes with being with me?” He said that he did.
It tracked the breakdown of her father’s relationship with her in the midst of a controversy over whether he staged a series of photos for his wedding to her.
It is incredibly sad that she is not related to the man she had before this. And I shouldered that because if Meg wasn’t with me then her dad would still be her dad,” Harry said.
CNN Royal News 1st Episode: The Prince and Meghan of the High-Dimensional Queen Elizabeth II. Does the Queen Really Want a Family?
The first three episodes were released on Thursday, with three more scheduled for next week. The interviews were done in August, the month before the Queen died.
CNN Royal News is a weekly dispatch that brings you the inside story on the royal family, what they do in public, and what’s happening behind palace walls.
LONDON — Britain’s monarchy is bracing for more bombshells to be lobbed over the palace gates Thursday as Netflix releases the first three episodes of a series that promises to tell the “full truth” about Prince Harry and Meghan’s estrangement from the royal family.
The heir to the throne, Prince William, told reporters that the royals are not a racist family.
The scurried press coverage and barely-disguised slights that a member of the royal family has been subjected to may have been caused by racism.
The program will be watched carefully in the U.K., where they are criticized for offering misleading images to back up the emotive narration accusing the media of sexism and racism.
In one section of the footage, clips of paparazzi are spliced together with old footage of Princess Diana being followed by the media as Harry says in a voiceover: “The pain and suffering of women marrying into this institution, this feeding frenzy. … I was terrified, I didn’t want history to repeat itself.”
However, one of the clips used to illustrate his words appears to show reporters and photographers waiting for TV star Katie Price arriving outside Crawley Magistrates Court, Sky News reported.
Prince Harry is also expected to go into greater detail about his life in and out of the Royal Family in an upcoming television interview with British network ITV, in which he has said, “I want a family, not an institution.”
That is followed by a picture of a photographer perched on another balcony as Harry and Meghan walk with their young son Archie down below. While the scene suggests the photographer was covertly snapping pictures of a private moment, the photo actually shows an accredited press photographer who was covering the couple’s meeting with Desmond Tutu in 2019.
Whatever the series reveals, palace officials hope to deflect the storm by portraying William and Kate as forward-looking young royals who are tackling difficult issues such as climate change and early childhood education, in contrast to Harry and Meghan, who are described by critics as merely celebrities selling their story to the media.
The BBC and the Daily Telegraph, one of Britain’s most influential newspapers, picked up on this theme in their coverage of William and Kate’s three-day trip to Boston, where they handed out environmental prizes, met with anti-violence campaigners and went to a basketball game.
A Conversation with Drexler: The Changing Face of Families in the Sundance Film Festival. A Realist’s Perspective on King Coal
There are two books about gender and family written by Dr. Drexler that are to be published by Simon & Schuster in the year 2000. Her latest film, King Coal, will be shown at the Sundance Film Festival. The opinions expressed in this commentary are hers. CNN has more opinion on it.
People have gotten a glimpse of who they are. What makes their version — a heavily produced, edited and controlled version — more honest than any version of their lives that’s come before? It’s striking how much the filtered version of events functions in the series as their version of real life. She remembers that when she first got to know Harry she wanted to check his social media accounts to see if she could befriend him, and social media postings comprise a significant portion of his archive that guides their narrative together.
Just as disappointing is the series’ content, which is a lot of the same we’ve already seen or heard. There are some new aspects — friends who’ve never commented, photos we’ve never seen — but otherwise there’s little payoff and little to change people’s minds about them. It is self-aggrandizing, a little boring, and is self-promotional. They do not come off as more likeable and, in fact, perhaps a lot less so. It is perhaps the first time that most of the dislike is directed toward Harry.
Although once he was viewed by the public as a victim of a cunning attention-seeker or suffering from a form of repetition compulsion in which he was repeating in his adult life, now viewers will surely now view him as the same person they grew up with. With “Harry & Meghan,” it’s clear that he’s willfully chosen to see what he wants to see.
It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me, and my father say things that just aren’t true, and my Grandmother quietly sit there and take it all in,” he said.
Meghan and the Queen: A Crunch Family Meeting and the Role of Celebrity and Thermonuclear Insights into the Times of Harry and Meghan
Harry said he initially asked for a “half in, half out” arrangement, where Harry and Meghan would have their own jobs but still work in support of the Queen, during a crunch family meeting. “But it became very clear very quickly that that goal was not up for discussion or debate,” Harry said.
You have to understand that from her perspective and the family perspective there are ways of doing things. And her ultimate mission and goal, responsibility, is the institution … she’s going to go on the advice that she’s given,” Harry said.
A montage of previously unseen blissful moments – Harry cutting their wedding cake with a sword, emotional toasts and Elton John serenading guests – soon took a more serious turn. The rest of the family became envious of their rising popularity before they were accused of planting damaging stories about them to distract attention from negative coverage of other royal members.
“That upsets people. It upsets the balance. Because you have been led to believe that the only way that your charities can succeed and your mission can grow is if you are on the front pages of those newspapers.”
Meghan recounted how she suffered a miscarriage in July 2020 after moving to Santa Barbara, California, recalling how she was stressed about how UK newspaper the Mail on Sunday had published a private letter to her father, Thomas Markle.
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She described experiencing suicidal ideation, telling the filmmakers she believed “all of this will stop if I’m not here. And that was the scariest thing about it, it was such clear thinking.”
The duchess said she did everything she could to make the royal family “proud,” but at one point “the bubble burst” and there was a flood of negative media coverage.
“She knew that we were finding things hard. I’d spoken to her many times about it,” Harry said. The aide told them they were not allowed to see the monarch as the meeting was approaching.
The couple were complimentary of the late monarch, who died aged 96 in September, after filming had ended for the series.
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health matters, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 to connect with a trained counselor or visit the NSPL site. The International Association for Suicide Prevention and Befrienders Worldwide also provide contact information for crisis centers around the world.
These latest installments see Harry detail rifts with his relatives, the toll the last few years has taken on the couple and their new life in California.
The lack of action from the palace to stop the press attacks, the suspicion that the royal household was actually feeding the media, and the subsequent press attacks pushed the couple to a dark place.
Doria Ragland said that her daughter had thought about taking her life after being picked on by the media.
The duchess later discussed her struggles in an official royal documentary, thanking a journalist who asked her how she’d been feeling. She said that not a lot of people asked if she was ok.
A narrative developed that the couple were being selfish for not doing a traditional photo call shortly after the birth of a royal baby, which Harry recalled seeing on social media where the caption read: “Royal baby leaves hospital.”
The seriousness of what happened to her and what happened to us need to be acknowledged.
It is more than just a tabloid. It’s not just some story. You are making me scared…. That’s real. Are my babies safe? And you have made it for something? I do not think people fully understand that it is because you are bored or that it sells your papers.
In a preview clip of the interview released Monday, the Duke of Sussex said, “They’ve shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile,” presumably referring to the Royal Family.
Harry claims that he wasn’t aware of the statement. He denied that anyone had asked him for permission to put his name in the statement.
The Birth of a Baby and When Harry and Meghan Were Born: A Viewpoint on the History of the Royal Family and its Miscarriage
Would we know that the cause of the baby’s birth was caused by that? We don’t. But bearing in mind the stress that that caused, the lack of sleep, and the timing of the pregnancy, how many weeks in she was, I can say, from what I saw, that miscarriage was created by what they were trying to do to her,” he added.
Harry said that it took reporters six weeks to discover the location of their new home, after they moved into the home of Tyler and his wife.
The construction of large poles is meant to prevent photographers from taking pictures too far away, said Harry. As ridiculous and as absurd as this is, you have to laugh at it.
When Archie moved to the US with his family, he only lived in the UK for five months.
“This is home to him, this is home to Lili, and this is our home,” said Harry, who added that life is very different for the family in the US. I get to do things with our kids that I can’t do in the UK.
The episodes got started again as Prince Harry and his wife,Meghan, were wed. The pair recalled fond memories, such as when then-Prince Charles – whom Meghan described as “very charming” – stepped in to escort her down the aisle after helping with musical arrangements ahead of the big day.
One unpleasant truth that the series makes plain will be hard for some to stomach. The current state of the British royal family makes it hard to survive. Its survival is in doubt because – as we saw confirmed in this documentary – it is dusty, creaky and out-of-step with the times. It can also be cruel, unkind, and hopelessly unwilling to embrace the new views of human connection and diversity as that is the source of vitality in many countries around the world.
If I am not here, all of this will stop. She said it was the scariest thing about it, explaining how she first talked to Oprah about suicidal thoughts. Harry went further and blamed the constant media intrusion as a critical stressor that ultimately led to his wife’s miscarriage in 2020.
This week’s episodes featured Harry andMeghan targeting specific members of the family, with Harry recalling how his brother lost his temper during a crucial summit at Sandringham as they discussed the future of the couple.
The Sussexes and Harry: Is the royal family happy with the Docuseries? And what will they have to do next?
He added: “Part of that I get – that’s his inheritance and to some extent it’s already ingrained in him that part of his responsibility is the survivability and the continuation of the institution.”
As Harry himself says, “I’ve always felt this was a fight worth fighting for” even if it’s come at the cost of his relationship with his father and brother.
He had to make peace with the fact that he probably would never get genuine accountability or a genuine apology. “My wife and I are moving on, we’re focused on what’s coming next.”
The couple blamed the media for the challenges they faced as royals. But we now understand their whole position: They also feel that the palace could have stopped the level of vitriol they experienced, challenged the media and prioritized family members before the institution.
The family decided not to show the docuseries. That might be their best hope of ending this very public row in the short term. But with the Sussexes’ version of events left unchallenged, it will become part of the national memory.
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Editor’s Note: Sophia A. Nelson is a journalist and author of the new book “Be the One You Need: 21 Life Lessons I Learned Taking Care of Everyone but Me.” The views expressed in this commentary are her own. There is more opinion on CNN.
One of the organizations that governs media in the UK acknowledged that there was a lot of work to be done in covering issues related to race. The statement was issued amid a backlash from journalists of color over the unflattering coverage Prince Harry and his wife had in the wake of their interview with Oprah Winfrey. The current firestorm over their new Netflix docuseries suggests to me that the media’s work in confronting this bias remains unfinished.
The main point of the project is that the couple bare their souls in the six-part series, and the reception that the Duchess received wasn’t really the main point.
I “get” Harry and Meghan. I’ve experienced some of the very same lessons in my own sometimes tumultuous, dysfunctional family, which is why I wrote my latest book, “Be the One You Need: 21 Life Lessons I Learned Taking Care of Everyone but Me.” What I find fascinating is how clueless many people seem to be about family estrangement and break-ups, rife as they are in these modern times.
It is a lesson in how to look after yourself when the people around you don’t care if you survive or if you don’t thrive. It gives an in-depth window into surviving family conflict, navigating outsize personality and cavernous gulfs dividing close relatives. It can be difficult to maintain your sense of autonomy and integrity while being trapped in a system that doesn’t give you much.
I have lived part of their story, which makes that the most relevant plot line for me. In fact, my guess is that many of the millions of people who have watched the series can relate. We’ve had to learn over the years that no matter how much you may want to heal broken relationships, you have to know ultimately when to walk away and how to take care of yourself.
The Sussexes both experienced unhappiness in childhood because of divorce. A lonely childhood shuttling between her mother’s home in California and her dad’s home in Arizona was written about byMeghan.
Harry’s story is not just sad, but tragic: The second son born to Diana, who died in a car crash in 1997, he marched solemnly behind her coffin, showing Britain that even as a 12-year old, he was already a perfect, stoic member of the royal family. That is a great ask of a child.
When it came to their dirty laundry, the couple did not hold back because they were members of a generation famous for sharing and oversharing.
The generation that wants to be free from tradition doesn’t want to be saddled with strictures of tradition, even if it is adorned with a tiara in a golden carriage. They spill the tea in videos and on social media.
The comments gave us insight into how it felt to be a new duchess. They were also eerily reminiscent of remarks made by a young Princess Diana, who in a now infamous BBC interview described how she too had been hung out to dry in a family that does not always warmly welcome outsiders who marry into their ranks.
The British monarchy is an aging institution defined by tradition, delusion, even hubris. However popular royal gossip may be, the monarchy’s power, influence, and relevance are waning. When Harry met Meghan, the royal family had a unique opportunity to evolve and modernize a deeply problematic institution. They could have made it relevant in a diverse and complicated world. While the Commonwealth comprises 56 countries, King Charles reigns as monarch over the United Kingdom and 14 Commonwealth realms, lingering vestiges of British imperialism. The documentary states that most of the people of the Commonwealth are people of color. This is where the royals had a woman join their ranks. Black Britons feel that the power of the monarchy could be extended to them, as evidenced by the fact that she was a beacon.
The Black and brown inhabitants of Britain’s Commonwealth nations might have been helped by the addition of a new member to their family, who could have helped build a bridge. It is an opportunity that has been missed.
The series showed the footage and the images don’t lie. Kate and William received a chilly reception in Jamaica this year, as the island contemplates leaving the Commonwealth. The father of William, King Charles III, sat stony-faced in Barbados as that Caribbean island ended its membership in the body.
Insensitivity of the Sussex’s “Demonstration” to the Queen’s Phrase: Jeremy Hull’s Memories
But the problem with wielding that kind of control is that it can work against your own interests. In one of the early episodes, Meghan discusses being biracial and says, “People don’t talk about what it’s like to be mixed race.” I was so perplexed by the statement that I turned on the captions and went back to be sure I heard her correctly. There is an ongoing discussion about biracial or multiracial people. Is she not aware of that? How could anyone make sure that she did not get hurt by the wildly inaccurate statement?
Considering that there aren’t many major revelations in Harry & Megan, it seems as if the Sussexes needed the money to make this project happen. A prince is accustomed to a certain lifestyle. Security details are costly. It’s necessary for the mortgage to be paid. Exiled from the royal family, the Sussexes know that their story is, for now, their most valuable asset. You want people to know the truth as you experience it because you have been misunderstood and maligned. You wrongly assume that people understand your pain because you want to be understood and seen. Alas.
Jeremy Hull, the British host of a show called “Top Chef”, wrote a column for The Sun that was so filled with rage and incoherent, it was hard to understand. He said he wished she would be made to walk naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowd booed and threw feces at her. It’s worth noting that Clarkson joined the Queen Consort and others for a Christmas lunch days before he penned his vile thoughts. And thus far, the royal family has said nothing about Clarkson’s words. They still refuse to protect her.
According to CBS, he sat down with Anderson Cooper to talk about his upcoming memoir, his childhood, and his time as the Duke of Sussex.
He said there have been briefings and planting of stories against him and his wife whenever he tried to do it privately. The family motto is never complain, never explain. It’s just a motto.”
“I would like to get my father back. I would like to have my brother back,” he told journalist Tom Bradby in the clip of the interview, which is due to air on ITV1 on Sunday, January 8.