Harry and Meghan have risked deepening the rift with the royal family as a new documentary started with a series of bombshell claims with Prince Harry saying some royals questioned why Meghan should be protected from press harassment.
Harry said some members of the family felt negative treatment in the media was “a rite of passage” – but he said: “The difference is the race element.”
Harry and Meghan signed lucrative deals, thought to be worth well over £100 million, with the streaming giant and Spotify, after quitting as senior working royals in 2020 following family rifts and struggling with royal life.
The “unprecedented and in-depth” docu-series, directed by Oscar-nominated Liz Garbus, is billed as a Netflix global event, with the couple sharing “the other side of their high-profile love story”. In it, they are also fiercely critical of the British media but their criticism of the royal family risks a backlash in the UK.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s six-part Netflix sensation premiered with the first three episodes available starting at 8 a.m. UK time. The pair, who are currently residents of California, made numerous false claims about the royal family in the series, which is predicted to bring in millions of pounds for them. They consist of:
On racism, there is a “huge level of unconscious bias” within the royal institution.
Harry claimed that some of the royal men suggested that the relentless media focus on Meghan was a “rite of passage” but he responded that what was different for her was the “race element”.
In what may be seen as a swipe at his brother William, or the King himself, Harry said that some of the royal men may have been tempted to marry “someone who would fit the mould as opposed to somebody who you perhaps are destined to be with”.
In apparent criticism of the Princess of Wales, Meghan said that when she first met her, she started to “understand very quickly that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside”. She added: “I was a hugger. I’ve always been a hugger; I didn’t realize that that is really jarring for a lot of Brits.”
The Duke of Sussex is said to have defied William by including footage of Princess Diana’s Panorama interview in the documentary, when he has opposed it being broadcast again.
Buckingham Palace has not yet responded to the claims.
