The second volume of “Harry & Meghan,” Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s documentary about their experiences with the British Royal Family, has dropped and it’s already making waves.
via: CNN
Harry said it was “terrifying” to have his brother, Prince William, scream at him during his bitter split from the clan in early 2020, a period that set the couple on a drastically different course from the institution and opened wounds between the royals that appear still to linger.
The fourth, fifth and sixth episodes of “Harry & Meghan” were released Thursday, and cover the pair’s challenges since their 2018 wedding, Meghan’s deteriorating mental health and her 2020 miscarriage, and ultimately their decision to quit as working members of the family.
Harry said he initially asked for a “half in, half out” arrangement, where Harry and Meghan would have their own jobs but still work in support of the Queen, during a crunch family meeting. “But it became very clear very quickly that that goal was not up for discussion or debate,” Harry said.
“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 quietly sit there and take it all in,” he said, recalling the conversations with Prince William, then-Prince Charles, and Queen Elizabeth II.
“But you have to understand that from the family’s perspectives, especially from hers, there are ways of doing things. And her ultimate mission and goal, responsibility, is the institution … she’s going to go on the advice that she’s given,” Harry said.
The pair describe throughout the new episodes how, in their view, their position within the royal family became untenable after constant hounding from Britain’s media and repeated disregard for the couple’s wellbeing inside palace walls.
Buckingham Palace reiterated it will not comment on the documentary on Thursday. Royal engagements are meanwhile continuing, with King Charles and Camilla, the Queen Consort, set to visit a community kitchen in London and attend a carol service with the Prince and Princess of Wales and other members of the family.
Harry hinted that there was jealousy from other royals towards Meghan given the amount of media attention she was initially receiving. “The issue is when someone who is marrying in, who should be a supporting act, is then stealing the limelight or is doing the job better than the person who is born to do this,” he said.
“That upsets people. It upsets the balance. Because you have been led to believe that the only way that your charities can succeed and your mission can grow is if you are on the front pages of those newspapers.”
The series also touches on Meghan’s deteriorating mental health and her miscarriage in July 2020. “I was pregnant. I really wasn’t sleeping. The first morning that we woke up in our new home is when I miscarried,” Meghan said.
She described experiencing suicidal ideation, telling the filmmakers she believed “all of this will stop if I’m not here. And that was the scariest thing about it, it was such clear thinking.”
“The lies, that’s one thing. You kind of get used to that when you live within this family,” Harry added. “But what they were doing to her, and the effect it was having on her… enough. Enough of the pain, enough of the suffering.”
“I just did everything I could to make them proud, and to really be a part of the family,” Meghan said in the fifth episode, speaking of her relationship with the other royals. “And then the bubble burst.”
“I realized that I wasn’t just being thrown to the wolves, I was being fed to the wolves,” she said.
