'You are a millionaire ... insanely privileged': 'Harry & Meghan' docuseries draws mixed reaction

Abhya Adlakha
·Editor, Yahoo News Canada
Updated ·7 min read

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan's, the Duchess of Sussex, highly-anticipated Netflix docuseries "Harry & Meghan" has been the recipient of an innumerable public backlash and has sparked discussion on social media and the press, becoming a trending topic on Twitter.

Thousands turned their heads to the television on Thursday to watch the first three episodes of the series that claimed to give unprecedented insight into U.K. royal life as well as the couple’s relationship, including footage captured on Meghan’s phone of Harry proposing to her in the gardens at Kensington Palace and photographs of the couple on their first-ever vacation.

Although no direct accusations were made against the Royal family, the couple did shed light on the relentless media attention they faced during and after their wedding and the "pain and suffering" many women face when marrying into the royal family.

The couple spoke at length about the “exploitation and bribery” of the British press.

There’s leaking but there’s also planting of stories,” he says. He talks about the "royal rota" through which different media companies are given slots to covers members of the family—like an indirect palace PR team.

The Duke also brought up the BBC infamous 1995 interview with his mother, Princess Diana. While he acknowledged that she had been “deceived,” he said that she had spoken “the truth.”

“My mother was harassed throughout her life with my dad but after they separated the harassment went to new levels," he said.

In November 1995, less than two years before her tragic death in a Paris car crash, Princess Diana shared her side of the story like never before in an interview with BBC.
In November 1995, less than two years before her tragic death in a Paris car crash, Princess Diana shared her side of the story like never before in an interview with BBC.

Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, spoke extensively for the first time about the challenges she faced as a parent and the fears she harboured regarding Meghan's entry into the royal family.

The Duchess also called out Toronto police for failing to, or not being interested in, protecting her from the paparazzi, which swarmed her to catch a glimpse of Prince Harry's then girlfriend.

"So it’s like, I’m just supposed to live like this? They said yeah and then I got a death threat, then things changed because I needed to have security."

The Liz Garbus-directed docuseries is the first project to come out of the couple’s deal with Netflix, which is rumoured to be worth millions of dollars.

Their interviews drew as much public backlash as much it did support, with some people calling Harry and Meghan "privileged" and others congratulating them on finally calling out the royal family for the alleged mistreatment of women and the scandals the family has been embroiled in for centuries.

Debate sparked online

Despite the fact that the interview didn't directly accuse any member of the parliament of any wrongdoing, their interview sparked a debate online.

One particular Member of Parliament, Bob Seely, Isle of Wight, even called for the Sussexes to be stripped off their titles.

"Harry Windsor should voluntarily relinquish his titles," he wrote on Twitter. "If he doesn't Parliament should act to remove them."

Public Backlash

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