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LONDON (AP) — Britain’s royal family routinely paused and remained silent Friday in the second part of a documentary series on Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, which made hard-hitting claims against Harry’s brother, Prince William.
While the first half The six-part Netflix series centers on the couple’s bruising confrontation with the British media, with the final three episodes Imperial “firm” – intended to criticize the family and its employees.
In the three-hour episode aired on Thursday, Harry claimed William shouted at him during a family meeting and accused palace officials of lying to protect his older brother, who is now heir to the throne. Meghan spoke of wanting to end her life as she struggled to cope with toxic press coverage.
Harry, grandson of the late Queen Elizabeth II, married US actress Meghan Markle in a fairytale wedding at Windsor Castle. In 2018. The couple left Britain less than two years later, citing what they saw as racist treatment of Meghan by the media and a lack of support from the palace.
Harry, 38, said in the documentary that William lashed out at him during a family summit at Sandringham Castle in January 2020 for talking about the couple’s plans to step down as senior members of the royal family.
“It was horrible to have my brother scream and shout at me and my father said things that just weren’t true. And my grandmother, you know, just sit there quietly and take it all in,” Harry said.
He also accused royal communications officials of “leaking” and “planting” stories in the media, claiming staff would try to deflect negative coverage of one royal by issuing a story about another family member.
Meghan, 41, revealed she considered suicide amid a barrage of negative media coverage before the couple decided to take a break from the royal family.
“It was like ‘if I’m not here it’s all going to stop’,” she said.
Harry added that he believed the Mail on Sunday’s publication of a letter Meghan wrote to her estranged father – over which she successfully sued the paper’s publisher – contributed to her miscarriage in 2020.
Neither Buckingham Palace, which represents the monarch, nor William’s Kensington Palace office have commented on the series.
There were no dissenting views in the documentary, which included interviews with the couple and supportive friends and critics.
Royal expert Pauline McLaren, author of “Royal Fever: The British Monarchy in Consumer Culture,” said relations between William and Harry would be “very difficult to mend” after the bombshell claims.
“This feels so final,” she said.
Hours after the final episodes were released, senior members of the royal family put on a show of solidarity by attending a Christmas charity concert in London on Thursday evening. William, his wife Kate and their two eldest children, George and Charlotte, were joined at the Westminster Abbey carol concert by King Charles III, Queen Consort Camilla and other family members.
British newspapers, the focus of the couple’s ire, were furious about the series. The Daily Mail said in an editorial that the “only saving grace” was that Queen Elizabeth II, who died in September, “was spared seeing this whimsical exercise in self-promotion.”
The Sun called Harry a “traitor”, contrasting him with the “dutiful” William.
The Times of London urged Meghan and Harry to drop their royal titles, Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
“Harry and Meghan must see the hypocrisy of still claiming to be royals,” the newspaper said in an editorial. “They have made it clear that they consider themselves to be at war with the institution of monarchy, an institution that they hold in contempt.”
The show comes at a crucial moment for the monarchy. The king is trying to show that the institution still has a role to play after the death in September of his mother, whose personal popularity dampened criticism of the crown during her 70-year reign.
While the Netflix series has strained the couple’s relationship with the royal family – perhaps irreparably – McLaren said it will likely help the couple in their new careers as US-based charity campaigners and media personalities.
“I think it will build their brand very well,” she said. “I think a lot of people will see their perspective more, but especially (the younger generation). And I think that’s really where they’re always aiming anyway.
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