Yahoo Movies Harry and Meghan Netflix series latest LIVE: ‘Huge level of unconscious bias’ in royal family, says Harry
The Duke of Sussex has said there is a “huge level of unconscious bias” in the royal family as he and wife Meghan launched their bombshell Netflix documentary series on Thursday morning.
Harry & Meghan – a six-part docuseries – dropped on the streaming giant at 8am on Thursday in the UK, with the Windsors steeling themselves for bombshells in the first three episodes.
Neither Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace nor any member of the family were approached for comment on the content of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix series, it is understood.
In the third episode the documentary referenced when Princess Michael of Kent wore a Blackamoor-style brooch to an event the Duchess of Sussex attended in 2017.
Harry said: “In this family, sometimes you are part of the problem rather than part of the solution. There is a huge level of unconscious bias.
“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.
“It is education. It is awareness. It is a constant work in progress for everybody, including me.”
Harry then spoke about when he wore a Nazi uniform to a private party in 2005.
He said: “It was probably one of the biggest mistakes of my life. I felt so ashamed afterwards. All I wanted to do was make it right.”
Opinion split on documentary
18:11 , Will Mata
Love them, hate them or just don't rate them, Prince Harry and Meghan's Netflix documentary split public opinion after its launch on Thursday.
Nick Bullen, editor in chief of True Royalty TV, said it was the most "self-serving piece of television" he had seen in quite a while, describing it as more like a reality show than a documentary, after the first three episodes aired.
Lester Holloway, editor of The Voice, said he was moved by the documentary, describing it as a "love story" which talked about the struggles and challenges they have faced as a couple and their battles with the media.
In the documentary, Harry said the British royal family had dismissed race-related hounding of Meghan by the media as a rite of passage and the couple delivered a fierce attack on the tabloid press.
Duchess enjoyed Christmas with Duke of Edinburgh
18:10 , Will Mata
The Duchess of Sussex has recalled sitting next to the Duke of Edinburgh for dinner as she enjoyed an "amazing" Christmas at Sandringham.
Meghan joined the royal family for the church service on Christmas Day in 2017 - a first for a royal fiancee.
Harry and Meghan's Netflix documentary features footage and images of the couple that morning along with family members including the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Speaking in the third episode of the series, Meghan says: "I remember so vividly the first Christmas at Sandringham, calling my mom, and she's like 'How's it going?' and I said 'Oh my gosh it's amazing'.
‘We’re being managed'
17:05 , Will Mata
The Duchess of Sussex has claimed Palace aides told her she should not invite her own niece, who she described as like a "little sister", to her royal wedding.
Meghan said she was given guidance that Ashleigh Hale - the daughter of Meghan's half-sister Samantha Markle - ought not to be a guest at the high-profile celebrations in 2018
Lawyer Ms Hale, speaking on the Sussexes' Netflix docuseries, said that in the run up to the wedding, she felt Meghan's relationships were being "managed on some level" by the royal household.
The duchess recounted how she and the Duke of Sussex rang Ms Hale from her car on speakerphone to break the news that she could no longer come to the Windsor wedding, describing the experience as "painful".
Ms Hale's biological mother Samantha had been hugely critical of Meghan in the press in the run up to the nuptials
Royals were contacted for comment, says Netflix
15:48 , Bill Mcloughlin
Earlier, it was reported that the Royal Family had not been approached for comment ahead of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s series.
However, a Netflix source insisted the communications offices for the King and the Prince of Wales were contacted in advance and given the chance to react to Harry and Meghan's claims.
In the opening credits of the series, a statement reads: “Members of the royal family declined to comment on the content within this series.”
Director of Sussex’s Netflix series hopes viewers are open to couple’s story
15:02 , Bill Mcloughlin
The director of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix docuseries has said she hopes viewers will be “open” to the couple’s story no matter their prior preconceptions.
Liz Garbus, who is known for her critically acclaimed exposes and documenting the stories of “survivors”, described it as a “privilege” to work with the couple who she feels “bravely allowed themselves to be vulnerable”.
Volume one of the six-part Harry and Meghan series launched on Netflix on Thursday, attracting close attention from the public and global press.
In a Netflix article released alongside the documentary, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Garbus said: “It has been a privilege to be able to work with Harry and Meghan, who bravely allowed themselves to be vulnerable by sharing their personal stories and archive.
“I hope that when Netflix viewers press play, whatever preconceptions people have, they will be open to the discovery of what we’ve shared in this documentary series.
“It’s an incredible love story set against the context of huge stakes and their journey is a historical event that will be examined for a long time to come.”
Meghan’s Suits colleagues left ‘terrified’ after paparazzi broke onto set: ‘It felt dangerous’
14:35 , Bill Mcloughlin
A Suits producer has revealed how the show had to beef up measures on set due to paparazzi trying to get pictures of Meghan Markle.
The 41-year-old, who played Rachel Zane on the legal drama, was still filming the series in Toronto when news broke in October 2016 that she was dating Prince Harry.
Reflecting on that period of their romance, friend and Suits producer Silver Tree revealed how production had to introduce strict measures in a bid to prevent photographers from gaining access.
Speaking in the Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan, Tree shared: “The paparazzi started to come out to try and get eyes on her and there were people trying to buy call sheets from production assistants on our show so they could find out when she was shooting.
“They’d get these really long lenses and go high on hills so they could get a view of her.
“There were people breaking into the area where the trailers are and trying to get pictures of her going in and out of her trailer. It started to feel a bit dangerous for her.”
Read our story here.
‘More bombshells to come’ from series, says Viscountess
14:12 , Bill Mcloughlin
More “bombshells” may still emerge from the Sussex’s series, Julie Montagu, Viscountess Hichimbrooke has said.
She told Sky News: “It's about telling a story. It's about drawing the audience in and creating empathy for Harry and Meghan and perhaps prepare all of us for what comes next.
"So these episodes were very about getting this inside peek into how they met, the time that they've had together."
With the final three episodes set to be released next week, she added that “more bombshells could still come” as the public gets an insight into the pair’s private life.
BBC journalist shares memory of Harry and Meghan’s engagement interview
13:58 , Bill Mcloughlin
BBC journalist, Mishal Husain has shared her recollections of the royal couple’s engagement interview in 2017.
During episode three of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix series, Meghan described the interview as “rehearsed”.
Commenting on the interview, Ms Hussain said Harry and Meghan came across as “very much in tune with each other” as they announced their marriage to the world.
She said: “ We went to Kensington Palace, the whole thing was recorded in a very discreet and small-scale way and on the editorial side, there were only two of us.
“We had a discussion with Harry and Meghan and two of their team beforehand and we talked about what we would with cover, what they were comfortable sharing.
“This was an interview that was introducing themselves to the world and they were very much in love, very much in tune with each other.”
Harry likens Meghan to Diana, saying ‘I didn’t want history to repeat itself’
13:34 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks
The Duke of Sussex has said he does not have many early memories of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, believing he has internally “blocked them out”.
Diana died in a car crash when Harry was just 12, but the duke told his new Netflix documentary he still remembers her “cheeky laugh” and how she would tell him “You can get in trouble – just don’t get caught”.
Harry also said the Duchess of Sussex is “so similar” to his mother.
“So much of what Meghan is, and how she is, is so similar to my mum,” he said in the first episode of the series. “She has the same compassion, she has the same empathy, she has the same confidence.
“She has this warmth about her. I accept that there will be people around the world who fundamentally disagree with what I’ve done and how I’ve done it, but I knew that I had to do everything I could to protect my family, especially after what happened to my mum.
“I didn’t want history to repeat itself.”
Harry also spoke about his experience of facing photographers as a child.
“The majority of my memories are of being swarmed by paparazzi,” he said, adding that they rarely had a holiday without someone jumping out of a bush with a camera.
WATCH: Everything we’ve learnt from episode two
13:13 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks
Teaser hints second volume of Sussexes’ Netflix show will address royal exit
13:12 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks
Netflix has offered viewers a first look at the second volume of episodes from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s controversial docuseries.
A 30-second teaser available at the end of the third episode suggests they will tackle the couple’s decision to quit the monarchy and move to the US - dubbed ‘Megxit’ by some at the time.
A voice can be heard referencing their decision to “take a step back from their royal duties”.
Meghan follows on, saying to the camera: “This is when a family and a family business are in direct conflict.”
The teaser ends with Harry saying: “There was no other option at this point. I said, ‘We need to get out of here’.”
The first three episodes are steaming now, with the second volume of three set to be released on Netflix on December 15.
‘Royals not approached for comment on Netflix show’
12:54 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks
Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace and members of the royal family were not approached for comment on the content of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix series, palace sources have said.
A senior source in the royal household countered the written statement which appears on a black screen at the start of episode one, which reads: “Members of the royal family declined to comment on the content within this series”.
King ‘will rise above’ documentary, says royal confidant
12:52 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks
King Charles III will not be tuning in to Harry and Meghan’s new documentary series, according to Gyles Brandreth, a friend of the King and biographer of the late Queen.
Mr Brandreth said the monarch will “rise above it”, adding that he is not “obsessing on the latest royal brouhaha”.
“Like his mother, he is good at taking the long view,” he added. “He knows this too will pass.”
Read more here.
Meghan describes day the world found out about relationship as “overwhelming"
12:42 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks
Meghan reflected on the day her relationship with Prince Harry was revealed, describing it as “so overwhelming”.
Speaking in the first episode, she said she told Harry that she trusted he would keep her safe and get her through it.
Harry said: “Naively I didn’t know what I was walking into.”
Harry says wearing Nazi uniform was ‘one of the biggest mistakes’ of his life
12:31 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks
The Duke of Sussex said he felt “so ashamed” after wearing a Nazi uniform to a private party, calling it “one of the biggest mistakes” of his life.
Harry caused outrage in 2005 when, at the age of 20, he donned the soldier’s uniform complete with swastika for a fancy dress party. He was pictured holding a drink and cigarette, while wearing the costume.
Addressing the incident during the third episode of Harry & Meghan, he said: “It was probably one of the biggest mistakes of my life.
“I felt so ashamed afterwards. All I wanted to do was make it right.”
Read more here.
‘Awkward at first’: Couple recalls staying in tent in Botswana after meeting just twice
12:20 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks
In the first episode of the documentary, Harry and Meghan recall a week they spent staying in a tent in Botswana, after having met just two times.
They worked out they had the same week off in August 2016 when Harry would be in Africa doing conservation work, and he invited Meghan to join him there.
Harry told the show: “I was astonished that she said yes. This woman that I’ve only met twice, she’s coming to Botswana and we’re going to be living in a tent for five days. Wow.”
Recalling her arrival, Meghan said they were “awkward at first”, adding that Harry handed her a chicken sandwich.
Harry said: “And then we jumped in a Land Cruiser and off we went. To start with we were sitting next to each other, and then we progressed to holding hands, and then we squeezed in a kiss in amid the bumps, and then everything felt totally normal and natural.”
He added: “We had to get to know each other before the rest of the world and before the media sort of joined it.”
Harry said it “just felt so right” and “felt so normal”, while Meghan said: “We could just be completely ourselves. There was no distraction, there was no cell phone reception.
“There was no mirror, there was no bathroom, there was no ‘How do I look?’. Thankfully we really liked each other.”
WATCH: Highlights from the first episode
12:15 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks
Harry: ‘My children are mixed race, I’m proud of that'
11:57 , Miriam Burrell
Episode two of Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan showed the duke walking with his son, Archie, who was speaking with an American accent.
Harry said: “My son, my daughter, my children are mixed race, and I’m really proud of that.
“When my kids grow up, and they look back at this moment, and they turn to me and say ‘What did you do in this moment?’ I want to be able to give them an answer.
“I think it is such a responsibility as human beings that, if you bring a small person into this world, that you should be doing everything you can to make the world a better place for them.
“But, equally, what’s most important for the two of us is to make sure that we don’t repeat the same mistakes that perhaps our parents made.”
Watch: Harry accuses Royal Family of unconscious bias
11:39 , Miriam Burrell
Harry and Meghan party night before relationship revealed
11:31 , Miriam Burrell
Meghan and Harry enjoyed a big night out together after being told that their romance was about to go public.
The couple shared images and detailed their partying on the eve of their relationship being exposed by a tabloid in October 2016.
Harry chimed in: “We went to this Halloween party together. We completely dressed up so no one would know.”
The pair were joined by his cousin Eungenie and Jack.
Drinks at 6? You’re on: Harry and Meghan detail first messages
11:18 , Miriam Burrell
Harry and Meghan have shared some of the first messages sent between each other when setting up their first date.
The pair went for drinks in London in July 2016.
Harry wrote: “So come on – what u doing tomorrow night? Hope you’re having fun over there!”
Meghan replied: “Heading back to Soho. I have a dinner tomorrow at 8 but can do drinks tomorrow night. Would that work? Maybe 6?”
Harry wrote back: “You’re ON!”
Harry: ‘I am my mother’s son'
11:05 , Miriam Burrell
Harry said there is a temptation in the royal family to marry someone who “fits the mould”.
Speaking in the first episode of the documentary, he said: “I think for so many people in the family, especially obviously the men, there can be a temptation or an urge to marry someone who would fit the mould as opposed to somebody who you perhaps are destined to be with.
“The difference between making decisions with your head, or your heart. And my mum certainly made most of her decisions – if not all of them – from her heart.
“And I am my mother’s son.”
Watch: Meghan receives death threat in Toronto
11:00 , Miriam Burrell
‘Who is Prince Haz?’
10:55 , Miriam Burrell
Harry said he first spotted Meghan on a friend’s Instagram.
He said: “I was scrolling through my feed and someone who was a friend had this video of the two of them, it was like a Snapchat.”
An image of Meghan with the popular dog ears filter is then shown. Harry said: “That was the first thing. I was like ‘who is that?’”
Meghan said the friend then sent her an email, the words of which are typed out on the screen, saying: “Between you and I thought you might want to know this being newly single and all. I put our Snapchat on Instagram and Prince Haz follows me (he’s a friend) he called me last night dying to meet you. hehehe. I might just have to set you up” (sic).
Meghan’s reply, which was also typed out on screen, was: “Who is prince haz?????”
Meghan and Harry detail their first date
10:25 , Miriam Burrell
Harry and Meghan say they had their first date at 76 Dean Street – and Harry was late.
“He was just so fun, just so refreshingly fun, and that was the thing, we were like child-like together,” Meghan said in the first episode.
Meghan then called him and asked to have dinner the next evening, so the couple returned to the place.
Harry said: “That was when it just hit me. I was like, OK, this girl, this woman, is amazing, is everything that I’ve been looking for.
“And she’s so comfortable and so relaxed in my company.”
Meghan said: “He had a list apparently of what he was looking for.” She said it was an “extensive” list, and Harry said: “Let’s not go there.”
Watch: Meghan says engagement interview ‘orchestrated reality show’
10:20 , Miriam Burrell
Pictured: Harry, Meghan and family
10:15 , Miriam Burrell
Meghan reveals break-down of relationship with father
10:10 , Miriam Burrell
The Duchess of Sussex said she discovered her father Thomas Markle wasn’t going to attend her wedding “through a tabloid”.
She said: “The week before our wedding we get a call from our joint communications secretary who said this story is going to come out tomorrow saying your father has been staging pictures and taking money from press. That was the first I was hearing of it.”
Meghan then explained the following conversation with her father.
Meghan said: “(I said) ‘We’ll just come and get you out a day early to get you out of Mexico’, and he said ‘No no I have things I need to do’.
“And it felt really cagey. I said ‘it doesn’t make sense’. And when we hung up I looked at H (Harry), I was like ‘I don’t know why but I don’t believe him’.
“Paps and journalists were following him all day, every day, the unravelling happened that week when he wouldn’t pick up my call, and instead you’re talking to TMZ and I’m find out that you’re not coming to our wedding through a tabloid.”
Harry ‘blocked out’ early memories of Diana
10:00 , Miriam Burrell
The Duke of Sussex has said he does not have many early memories of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, believing he has internally “blocked them out”.
Diana died in a car crash when Harry was just 12.
“My childhood, I remember, was filled with laughter, filled with happiness and filled with adventure,” he said.
“I don’t have many early memories of my mum. It was almost like internally I sort of blocked them out.
“But I always remember her laugh, her cheeky laugh, her always saying to me ‘You can get in trouble – just don’t get caught’.
“I’ll always be that cheeky person inside.”
‘Huge level of unconscious bias’ in Royal Family
09:33 , Miriam Burrell
The Duke of Sussex said there is a “huge level of unconscious bias” in the royal family during episode three of the series.
The documentary referenced when Princess Michael of Kent wore a Blackamoor-style brooch to an event the Duchess of Sussex attended in 2017.
Harry said: “In this family, sometimes you are part of the problem rather than part of the solution. There is a huge level of unconscious bias.
“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.
“It is education. It is awareness. It is a constant work in progress for everybody, including me.”
Harry then spoke about when he wore a Nazi uniform to a private party in 2005.
He said: “It was probably one of the biggest mistakes of my life. I felt so ashamed afterwards. All I wanted to do was make it right.”
Harry and Meghan’s long-distance relationship
09:26 , Miriam Burrell
In episode two Harry and Meghan spoke about how their long-distance relationship survived increased media attention.
Harry said: “Most of the time we were on the other side of the Atlantic. She was in Canada working, I would try and get over to see her, and she would come over here and see me a hell of a lot more.”
Meghan described landing in the UK, getting harassed and going to hunker down in Kensington Palace until she left.
Harry said: “Dating became this combination of car chases, anti-surveillance driving and disguises, which isn’t a particularly healthy way to start a relationship, but we always came at it with as much humour as possible.
“Whenever we saw each other we would just give each other a massive hug and try and have as much of a normal life as possible.”
Meghan: Meeting Queen for first time was ‘shock to the system’
09:19 , Miriam Burrell
Harry described in episode two how Meghan meeting the Queen for the first time was a “shock to the system”.
Harry said: “My grandmother was the first senior member of the family that Meghan met. She had no idea what it all consisted of so it was a bit of a shock to the system for her.”
Meghan said: “There wasn’t like some big moment of ‘Now you’re going to meet my grandmother’. I didn’t know I was going to meet her until moments before.
“And I remember we were in the car driving up and he’s like ‘You know how to curtsy, right?’ And I just thought it was a joke.”
Harry said: “How do you explain that you bow to your grandmother? And that you will need to curtsy. Especially to an American. That’s weird.”
Meghan added: “Now I’m starting to realise ‘This is a big deal’. I mean, Americans will understand this… We have medieval times, dinner and tournament. It was like that.”
Harry opens up about his parents’ divorce
09:08 , Miriam Burrell
Meghan and Harry were keen “not to make the same mistakes our parents did” while bringing up their children.
The pair spoke about how the breakdown of their parents’ marriages had affected their approach to raising son Archie, three, and daughter Lilibet, one.
Meghan said: “There’s so much from anyone’s childhood that you bring with you into the present. Especially when you’re the product of divorce.”
Harry added: “What’s most important to the two of us is to make sure that we don’t repeat the same mistakes that perhaps our parents made.”
“Being pulled from once place to another or maybe your parents are competitive, or you’re in one place longer than you want to be or in another place less than you want to be. There’s all sorts of pieces to that.”
Meghan’s childhood in LA
09:02 , Miriam Burrell
Speaking about the press coverage of Meghan’s background during the second episode of Harry & Meghan, her mother Doria Ragland said paparazzi would take pictures of deprived neighbourhoods in Los Angeles.
Ms Ragland told the Netflix documentary: “They would take pictures of different parts of say Skid Row and say that is where I lived and that is where she was from.”
“It was horrible,” Meghan said. “But I continued to hold the line. Say nothing.”
Harry: ‘The difference here is the race element’
08:56 , Miriam Burrell
Prince Harry has said members of the royal family asked why his wife Meghan should be “protected” when they questioned newspaper headlines about her.
Speaking in episode two of Harry & Meghan he said: “The direction from the Palace was don’t say anything.
“But what people need to understand is, as far as a lot of the family were concerned, everything that she was being put through, they had been put through as well.
“So it was almost like a rite of passage, and some of the members of the family were like ‘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?’”
“I said ‘the difference here is the race element’.”
Harry and Meghan address headlines
08:51 , Miriam Burrell
Episode two of Harry & Meghan looked at some of the headlines in the UK tabloid press ahead of Kensington Palace’s statement on the media’s treatment of the Duchess of Sussex.
They included “Harry’s girl is (almost) straight outta Compton”.
Meghan said: “Firstly, I’m not from Compton, I’ve never lived in Compton, so it’s factually incorrect. But why do you have to make a dig at Compton?”
Other headlines shown in the Netflix documentary are “One’s gone GanstER”, and another saying Meghan’s ancestors were a “tailor, a teacher and a cleaner in racially divided Jim Crow South”.
The Duke of Sussex said: “Eight days after the relationship became public I put out a statement calling out the racist undertones of articles and headlines that were written by the British press as well as outright racism from those articles across social media.”
Pictured: Meghan, Harry and family
08:45 , Miriam Burrell
The documentary series features a plethora of photographs of Harry, Meghan and their family that have never been shared before.
Here are a few:
Meghan and Harry engagement ‘orchestrated reality show'
08:29 , Miriam Burrell
The third episode of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s documentary series saw Meghan describe the time around their engagement as an “orchestrated reality show”.
She said their engagement interview was “rehearsed”.
The episode also featured historian David Olusoga and writer and broadcaster Afua Hirsch describing the UK’s history of slavery.
Meghan then disclosed her son Archie’s favourite song is Bennie And The Jets by Sir Elton John, a close friend of the couple.
The couple are seen listening to music by the veteran British artist with Meghan remarking: “Archie loves Bennie And The Jets. It is his favourite song.”
Meghan’s mother ‘stalked by paparazzi'
08:24 , Miriam Burrell
The mother of the Duchess of Sussex has spoken about how she felt “unsafe” as she was “stalked by paparazzi”.
Speaking about press interest early in Meghan and Harry’s relationship, Doria Ragland, Meghan’s mother said: “I felt unsafe a lot. I can’t just go walk with dogs. I can’t just go to work. There was always someone waiting for me, following me to work. I was being stalked by the paparazzi.”
Meghan said: “The UK media, I truly believe, wanted my mum’s side of my family to be the ones that all this drama could be stirred up in. And suddenly, you just had my mum who’s classy and quiet and in there... and you had the other side of my family that is just... acting differently.”
Harry was late for first date with Meghan
08:15 , Miriam Burrell
Harry was late for his first date with Meghan, it has been revealed in the new series.
“You were genuinely so embarrased and late,” Meghan said during a sit-down interview with the pair in the first episode.
“He kept texting: ‘I’m so sorry I’m in traffic’,” she revealed. Harry said: “I was panicking. I was freaking out.”
Meghan revealed she thought he was making her wait because of his “ego”. “I was just not interested in that.”
Who was late for their first date? Harry & Meghan. Volume I: Now Streaming. pic.twitter.com/SEv8AqGZhR
— Netflix (@netflix) December 8, 2022
‘My job is to keep my family safe'
08:10 , Miriam Burrell
The series begins with footage, appeared to be recorded on a phone, of Prince Harry stating he is in the Windsor suite at Heathrow Airport in March 2020.
He said he and his wife Meghan had just finished two-weeks of Royal engagements.
“It’s really hard to look back on it now and go, what on earth happened? How did we end up here?” Prince Harry said.
“My job is to keep my family safe,” he said. “I’m genuinely concerned for the safety of my family,” he added.
First episodes drop on Netflix
08:04 , Miriam Burrell
The initial three episodes of Meghan and Harry’s “first-hand account” have dropped on Netflix.
The first episode begins with the words: “This is a first-hand account of Harry and Meghan’s story, told with never before seen personal archive.
“All interviews were completed by August 2022. Mmebers of the Royal Family declined to comment on the content within this series.”
Documentary: What we know so far
07:52 , Miriam Burrell
The release of an explosive trailer for the series provided some clues on what will be explored.
“It’s really hard to look back on it now and go, ‘What on earth happened?’” Harry reflects in the trailer.
The royal claimed there is “a hierarchy of the family” and there is “leaking but there’s also planting of stories”.
“It’s a dirty game,” he added. The Duke said he was “terrified” and he didn’t “want history to repeat itself”, suggesting a comparison between the media treatment of his mother, Princess Diana, and his wife.
In the trailer his wife Meghan said: “I realised they’re never going to protect you.”
The trailer ends with Harry claiming: “No one knows the full truth. We know the full truth.”
Harry and Meghan awarded for activism
07:45 , Miriam Burrell
Harry and Meghan said “a ripple of hope can turn into a wave of change” after being honoured for their activism work in New York on Tuesday.
The couple received the Ripple of Hope Award at a gala by the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights (RFKHR) organisation.
The accolade honours leaders across government, business, advocacy, and entertainment, and the pair were recognised for their racial justice and mental health work.
During the ceremony the couple announced a new collaboration between their foundation The Archewell Foundation and the RFKHR – the Archewell Foundation Award for Gender Equity in Student Film.
Duchess wins podcast award on eve of documentary
07:31 , Miriam Burrell
Meghan Markle thanked her supporters after winning an award for her podcast - just hours before the launch of her and Harry’s Netflix show.
She said her podcast Archetypes had been a “labour of love” after it scooped the top podcast honour at the People’s Choice Awards in Los Angeles on Tuesday night.
“I loved digging my hands into the process, sitting up late at night in bed, working on the writing and creative,” she wrote on her and Harry’s Archewell website.
Documentary trailer causes controversy
07:27 , Miriam Burrell
A trailer for the docuseries appeared to use footage of the press filming events unrelated to the couple to depict how they were hounded by the paparazzi.
In one section of the footage, clips of paparazzi are paralleled alongside old footage of Harry’s mother, 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.”
However, one of the clips shown to illustrate his words appears to be actually of members of the press awaiting TV star Katie Price arriving outside Crawley Magistrates Court.
What led to the documentary?
07:18 , Miriam Burrell
Meghan and Harry plunged the monarchy into crisis with their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.
The Duke and Duchess accused an unnamed member of the family of racism towards their son Archie before he was born, and the institution of failing to help the suicidal Duchess.
The couple quit as senior working royals in 2020 in favour of more freedom and the ability to earn their own money in the US.
Harry said he felt let down by his father and that “there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened” in their relationship. His longstanding rift with William has continued.
The brothers fell out over what Harry perceived to be William’s “snobbish” attitude to his bride, it was claimed.
In the aftermath of the Oprah broadcast, the Queen issued a statement saying “while some recollections may vary”, the issues would be taken “very seriously”, but dealt with privately as a family.
What to expect from the first three episodes
07:15 , Miriam Burrell
The first three episodes of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s six-part Netflix docuseries will be available to watch from 8am in the UK.
The next three episodes will be available on December 15.
The pair look set to outline Meghan’s treatment by the press, challenge allegations the duchess bullied staff, and seemingly delve into their relationships with the royals and the household.
The Sussexes signed lucrative deals thought to be worth more than £100 million with Netflix and Spotify after quitting the monarchy amid the Megxit crisis as they struggled with royal life.
Watch the trailer:
