Prince Harry said his final years in the royal family were like living in a soap opera. The series makes sure we’re all paying attention.
The final three episodes of Netflix’s "Harry & Meghan" documentary explore the gradual breakdown of his relationship with his brother William, accusing him of briefing the media against him, and the time leading up to the couple’s exit from the U.K. in early 2020.
The focus shifts toward how a fairy-tale romance turned into a nightmare for the two of them. It details the attacks on Meghan from the press that were rife with racial stereotypes, and how the couple wanted to leave. The British press dubbed it “Megxit,” but Harry says it was him who made the big push to leave.
Netflix said more than 28 million households globally have tuned in so far. There were no opposing voices in either part of the documentary: this is Harry and Meghan’s story from their point of view. Neither Buckingham Palace nor Associated Newspapers responded to requests for comment.
Here’s what we learned from the second half.
The rift between Harry and William
The tale of a deepening divide between brothers Harry and William is ongoing — and the Duke of Sussex explained why things have become so fraught between the two.
At the heart of their story, he said, is William’s inheritance, the crown, which means that the family stepped in to protect his brother but not his wife. “They were happy to lie to protect my brother, and yet for three years, they were never willing to tell the truth to protect us,” Harry said.
But he said their story involved broken promises too; both brothers pledged never to brief against each other but William’s office didn’t abide by their agreement. Harry also said the “joint statement” from the brothers that denied bullying on William’s part was false, adding that he never agreed to sign his name onto it.
Harry also detailed the moments when he told his family he wanted to leave. “It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me, and my father say things that just simply weren’t true, and my grandmother, you know, quietly sit there, and sort of take it all in.”
In the end, “a wedge was created” between himself and his brother. “He’s now on the institution side," Harry said.
Mail lawsuit and Meghan Markle’s miscarriage
One of the more shocking allegations in the documentary came when Harry said that he believed the stress of the (successful) lawsuit against Associated Newspapers, owners of the Daily Mail, MailOnline and The Mail on Sunday, caused Meghan to miscarry in July 2020.
“I believe my wife suffered a miscarriage because of what the Mail did,” he said. “Do we absolutely know that the miscarriage was created, caused by that? Of course we don't. But bearing in mind the stress that that caused, the lack of sleep, and the timing of the pregnancy.”
A judge ruled that the publisher breached Markle’s privacy.
Meghan said in the program that she had a miscarriage on the first morning after relocating to their new home in Santa Barbara, with a friend saying that she had collapsed in pain as the couple were moving in.
Tyler Perry’s reticence to attend a big christening for goddaughter Lilibet
Perry — a producer, director and actor — first reached out to Meghan ahead of her wedding to Harry in 2018 and later offered the couple a house to stay in when they left the U.K. The trio had never met prior to the housing arrangement, which included security detail that ensured six weeks of privacy. Harry called the respite “a slice of normal life.”
The documentary also reveals that Perry is godfather to the couple’s daughter Lilibet.
“They said, ‘Well, we’d like for you to be Lili’s godfather,’” he said in the documentary. “I got off the phone, took it all in, then I called them back and go, ‘Hold on a second, does this mean we gotta to go over there and do all of that in the church with them and figure all that out? Because I don’t want to do that.’” He suggested instead that they opt for a private ceremony in the U.S.
The double standards between other members of the royal family
Their difficult relationship with the press continued as a theme in the final three episodes, with a particular focus on how Meghan’s treatment compared with that of Kate Middleton, now Princess of Wales.
British historian David Olusoga gave examples: If Kate wore an off-the-shoulder-dress, it was perceived as a fashion statement but it broke protocol when Meghan did the same. If Kate cuddled her baby bump it was sweet and maternal, but it was seen as attention seeking when Meghan did similar.
The documentary used academics to explain the alleged difference in approach. “Nobody wants to be openly racist. That wouldn't be civilized. That wouldn’t be British. But it’s perfectly fine to kind of dog whistle. Give a nod to it. She’s a diva. She’s making people cry. This kind of angry Black woman trope. It just really came to the fore,” Kehinde Andrews, author of the "New Age of Empire" said.
