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“Harry and Meghan” is one of a series of programs that are being paired under a commercial deal with Netflix.
Angela Weiss | AFP | Getty Images
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle hit out at what they call the “exploitation and bribery” of the British press in a new, highly anticipated Netflix documentary released Thursday.
In the series, which reveals the “absolute truth” behind the couple’s life inside Britain’s royal family, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex also slammed the “unconscious bias” surrounding race within Buckingham Palace and the lack of support they receive from other royals.
In the opening episode, Harry describes the release of the documentary as an act of “duty and service”. It marks one of a series of programs that are pairing up under a commercial deal with Netflix.
“I feel it’s my duty, being a part of this family, to expose this exploitation and bribery in our media,” Harry says in the opening episode.
The six-part mini-series, titled “Harry and Meghan,” serves as a love letter to the pair’s high-profile relationship, revealing new details of their first introduction through a mutual friend in 2016. SnapchatOn her eventual decision to step down from the royal family in 2020.
The first three episodes of the series were released on Thursday, with the second batch slated to release next week.
It all comes under control, it’s like, ‘This family is ours to exploit.’
But in the episodes released so far, the series is as notable as anything it misses.
There are few, if any, difficult questions and a distinct lack of critical voices throughout the documentary.
For instance, Harry’s brother, William, Prince of Wales, is featured only briefly in a montage of childhood photos, and there is no mention of the extensive high-profile feuds between the couple and other members of the royal family in recent years.
There is also a distinct lack of input from other members of the royal family.
A disclaimer at the beginning of episode one states that members of the royal family “decline to comment on the content of this series.” However, a senior royal source confirmed to NBC News that neither Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, nor any member of the royal family was aware of any such approach to comment on the content of the series.
Here’s what the series tells us:
Collusion between the Palace and the British Press
One of the main themes running throughout the series is criticism of the British press, which Harry describes as being in league with Buckingham Palace to ensure constant media coverage.
“There are leaks but also planting stories,” he says, though does not give specific examples.
In the third episode, the Duke of Sussex refers to a royal rota, whereby various press outlets and broadcasters are given slots to cover family members, likening it to an expansion of the palace’s PR team. Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on the claims.
Prince Harry and Meghan stepped back in 2020 as senior members of the royal family.
Picture Alliance | Getty Images
“If you’re part of the royal rota, you have priority over the story,” says Harry. “All royal news passes through the filter of all the newspapers in the royal rota, most of which, except the Telegraph, are tabloids.”
“It all comes down to control, it’s like ‘this family is ours to exploit. Their trauma is our story and our story and our narrative for control’,” he added.
The prince also referred to a now infamous BBC interview with his mother, the late Princess Diana. Admitting that the interview was secured through “fraudulent” means, he says: “She told the truth of her experience.”
More accusations of racism in the royal family
The documentary also expands on an earlier, explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey, in which the couple made accusations of racism within the royal family.
Harry says other members of his family failed to support the couple when Meghan, the first mixed-race member of the modern royal family, faced racism in the media.
However, the couple moderates their allegations against the family by referring to such racial discrimination as “unconscious prejudice”.
For many people in the family … there may be a temptation or insistence to marry someone who fits the mold.
“As far as the family was concerned, whatever she was going through, everything was passed on to them,” he says.
“So it was almost like a rite of passage, and some family members 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 treated differently?’ will be protected?'”
“I said, ‘The difference here is the race element,'” Harry adds.
Last week, Lady Susan Hussey, lady-in-waiting to the late Queen Elizabeth II, was embroiled in an ethnic scandal after repeatedly asking charity boss Ngozi Fulani where she was “really from.”
Pushback against traditional royal weddings
In defense of his relationship with Meghan, Harry also appears to be taking a thin line at his father, King Charles III, and brother William.
In the first episode, Harry, whose relationship with American roots has come under much scrutiny – not least for his divorce status, a factor omitted in the documents – points out the difference between “making decisions with the head and the heart”.
The highly anticipated new Netflix documentary on Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, has been released.
Jacob King – Pa Images | Pa Images | Getty Images
Harry said, “For a lot of people in the family – especially, obviously, the men – there can be a temptation or insistence to marry someone who fits the mold as opposed to someone who’s decided to be with you.
Charles famously married Diana at the behest of the royal family, despite his long-standing and well-documented relationship with his current wife, Camilla, the queen consort. William’s wife Kate, Princess of Wales, meanwhile, despite being a non-royal herself, has been widely acknowledged in the media.
Comparing himself to his mother Diana, Harry added, “My mother certainly made most of her decisions, if not all, from the heart. And I’m my mother’s son.”
A barometer for Harry and Meghan’s popularity
The release of the series has already come under fire for allegedly misleading use of footage and photos.
Comments made by the couple about being victimized by the media, for instance, are reportedly accompanied by at least three images that have nothing to do with the couple.
Meanwhile, others have questioned the couple’s decision to shine more light on their relationship despite stepping out of the royal family to preserve their privacy.
But much will depend on the wider public’s response to the series as Harry and Meghan try to forge a new future – and income – outside the monarchy.
It’s unclear how much the couple have been paid for the series, though the extensive merchandising deal between Netflix and Archival Productions is believed to be worth millions of dollars.
“To survive in the future, they need to maintain that popularity,” James Holt, executive director of the couple’s Archival Foundation, says of the royal family in the series.
To some extent, the same is true for Harry and Meghan.
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