LIVE: Every big moment from the Harry & Meghan documentary
By 9Honey|
The first episodes of Prince Harry and Meghan's docuseries has aired, sharing the story of the couple's relationship leading up to their controversial exit from the royal family.
Harry says at the beginning of the series: "No one knows the full truth. We know the full truth."
From the tension between Meghan and her sister-in-law Kate, to the Duchess' surprise relationship with her niece, there were many new details from the first three episodes of Harry & Meghan. And there is still more to come, with the final three episodes dropping on Netflix on December 15.
READ MORE: Harry & Meghan documentary premieres with unprecedented details?
Episode? 3
Harry's heartache for Meghan over 'losing' her dad
Harry says it is "incredibly sad" that Meghan lost her father.
"Of course it's incredibly sad, she had a father before this and now she doesn't have a father," he says. "And I shouldered that because if Meg wasn't with me then her dad would still be her dad."
And that's a wrap on episode three. We can expect the series to pick back up again on December 15 with a look into what happened behind the scenes at Harry and Meghan's royal wedding.
Meghan claims she found out her father wasn't attending the wedding and had suffered a heart attack through the media
Meghan says she and Harry offered to fly her father to the United Kingdom early due to the paparazzi photo scandal but he didn't answer any of their many calls and she became aware his phone "had been compromised."
She claims she begged him via text to "pick up the phone" but she didn't hear from him, until suddenly she received text messages she says didn't sound like him.
"It was really weird," Meghan says of the messages as recreations of them show on-screen.
"You know how people text, you know? My dad used a lot of emojis and a lot of, like, ellipses and dot dot dot and this was just the opposite, and it called me Meghan. It's like, he's never called me Meghan on any day I've lived on this planet, he calls me Megกญ and so we knew his phone had been compromised."
Harry says he texted Thomas Markle asking him to pick up the phone so they could verify it was him but he didn't answer.?
Meghan discovers her father has sold staged photos to paparazzi ahead of the royal wedding
Meghan talks about receiving a phone call from their then-Communications Secretary Jason Knauf regarding reports Meghan's father Thomas Markle had been selling staged photos ahead of the wedding.
She says she asked Knauf, "What kind of pictures?" and then she and Harry phoned her father to ask him directly, and Thomas was "cagey" on the call.
Meghan says her father denied doing so but after the phone call she turned to Harry and said, 'I don't know why but I don't believe him."
Doria Ragland, meanwhile, says of Thomas' paparazzi photo scandal: "That's not what you do, that's not parenting."
Harry claims people were paid to make negative comments ahead of 2018 wedding
"It's amazing what people will do when offered huge amounts of money," Harry says of the press.
The Duke of Sussex claims media outlets offered amounts such as $50,000 and $100,000 to anyone who had met Meghan and most people refused but some did share photos and information following their engagement announcement.
Meghan's snub to her beloved niece
Meghan claims she received advice to disinvite her niece Ashleigh from the royal wedding due to the difficulty explaining it to the press.
"How do they explain that the half-sister isn't invited to the wedding but the half-sister's daughter is?" Meghan recalls.
Ashleigh said she understood but was "hurt on some level" and ultimately blamed her mother, Samantha Markle: "I feel like because of her it was taken away. It's been hard."
Meghan also says Samantha asked for an invitation to the wedding, which she ultimately did not receive from the Sussexes.
She also speaks about having to play "whack a mole" with increasingly "salacious" stories from the press as the wedding drew closer, while sharing a communications team with William and Kate, and remarked how "scary" the lead up to the wedding was, as she received death threats.
Meghan says she deliberately wore 'muted tones' while with the royal family in an attempt to 'fit in'
The Duchess of Sussex says she deliberately chose to wear "muted tones" while with the royals to avoid clashing with Queen Elizabeth and other senior members of the British royal family.
"So there was no version of me joining this family and not doing everything I could to fit in," she says.
Meghan learned the British national anthem by Googling it
Meghan taught herself to wave and act appropriately when joining the royal fold and learned the British national anthem by Googling it and practising it privately.
She says she didn't want to "wave like an American" and learned she just needed to make her wave "smaller" while with the royals.
This is the third time the couple have spoken about Meghan not having any formal royal training in the docuseries, after first raising the issue in their interview with Oprah.
Prince Harry hints at pain of loss of military titles and permission to wear military uniform to royal events
As footage of Harry and Meghan meeting with military families at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey in November 2021 is shown, Harry speaks about his pride at the time he served in the army.
"My 10 years in the army, it gave me the lived experience that other members of the family wouldn't have had," Harry says, noting he's "been to war twice."
He says he thinks his mother "would have been proud" of his service and his brother sent him a letter during one of his tours telling him he was proud of him.
Prince Harry speaks of sorrow and regret after being photographed wearing a Nazi uniform in 2005 when he was 20
Harry addresses the controversy caused when he wore a Nazi uniform to a party in 2005 saying it was "one of the biggest mistakes of my life" and he "felt so ashamed afterwards."
He says he did his best to make up for it, including speaking to a Holocaust survivor.
"I could have just ignored it and gone on and made the same mistakes over again in my life, but I learnt from that," he says.
Harry admits there is an 'unconscious bias' in the royal family
Prince Harry says there's "unconscious bias" in the royal family and that "in this family sometimes you're part of the problem, not part of the solution."
He says that while it's "no-one's fault", once it has been pointed out to you, you need to "make it right."
Harry also addressed the fact that he wore a Nazi costume to a party, and Princess Michael of Kent's racist brooch when greeting Meghan was also alluded to.
Meghan comments on spending Christmas with the royal family in 2017
It was unprecedented จC Meghan, in December 2017, was merely a royal fiancจฆe at the time, but she was invited to spend Christmas with the Queen and her family at Sandringham that year. This was five months before Harry and Meghan tied the knot.
Kate, meanwhile, had to wait until she was married to William before she was allowed to attend.
"I remember the first Christmas at Sandringham vividly and calling my mum and she said 'How's it going?' and I said 'Amazing. It's just like a big family like I always wanted,'" Meghan recalls. "And there was just this constant movement and energy and fun."
Meghan revealed she was seated next to Prince Philip at the dinner table.
"I was just like, 'This is so wonderful, and we chatted and it was great and we talked about this, and this, and this,'" she says.
"[Harry] was like, 'You had his bad ear. He couldn't hear anything you were saying,'" she continues.
"I was like, 'Oh. Well, I thought it went really well,'" Meghan concludes with a smile.
Meet Ashleigh Hail, daughter of Samantha Markle, who Meghan considers a 'sister'
Despite the half-sisters' estrangement, Meghan grew close with Samantha Markle's daughter Ashleigh Hail, an immigration attorney.
Hail says she and her brother were raised by their paternal grandparents, and they adopted her.
"For me, they were my parents," Hail says of her paternal grandparents, noting how she only reconnected with her biological mother, Samantha, in 2007. Hail says she hadn't seen Samantha since she was six.
Meghan says it was her father, Thomas Markle, who informed her that Samantha and Hail had reconnected, and Meghan asked if she could have Hail's email address. They started corresponding, and then eventually, they travelled together while Meghan was working on Suits.
"I think she takes on a lot of roles for me. There's a sister element, there's something maternal. She's my best friend, she's kind of all the things," Hail says of Meghan.
Meghan refers to Hail as her "little sister" and says she didn't want Hail to be "plagued with drama."
Hail also claims that Samantha tried to bad-mouth Meghan to her, and she says she believes Samantha resents Meghan. Hail is estranged from Samantha.
"Some people you just can't reason with," Hail says of her mother.
Meghan comments on half-sister Samantha Markle's label of 'Princess Pushy'
At this stage, Meghan speaks about her father Thomas Markle's side of the family, specifically her half-sister Samantha Markle, with whom she is currently embroiled in a defamation lawsuit against.
"My half-sister, who I hadn't seen in a decade, and that was only for a day and a half, suddenly it felt like she was everywhere," Meghan says of Samantha. "I don't know your middle name. I don't know your birthday. You're telling these people you raised me and you've coined me Princess Pushy?"
"Tom's kids were a good 17 years older than her and Meghan and I left when she was two," Doria says.
"I don't remember seeing [Samantha] when I was at my dad's house if and when they would come around and then the last time that I saw her that I remember was when I was in my early twenties," Meghan says. "I hadn't had a fall out with her, we hadn't had a closeness, and I wanted a sister."
The docuseries then includes a disclaimer from Samantha's camp, which reads: "Samantha Markle maintains that she and Meghan had a close relationship until 2018 and that the media fabricated quotes that have been attributed to her."
Doria Ragland: 'I felt unsafe'
On the topic of the media, Meghan's mother Doria Ragland commented that she "felt unsafe" under the constant scrutiny.
"I just can't walk my dogs, I can't just go to work," Doria says. "There was always someone there waiting for me, following me to work. I was being stalked by the paparazzi. Once I pulled out and he said, 'I'm just trying to get a story. You know you can get a lot of money for this.'"
Ragland says she told him: "This is my child, I have nothing to say."
Harry stopped performing for the media after he met Meghan
Former Palace spokesman and executive director of Archewell Foundation James Holt notes how, at one point จC the screen shows shots of Holt with Harry and Meghan on a walkabout in Cape Town, South Africa in 2019 จC a photographer of the royal rota said "almost in jest" to him, "Oh, can't you get him to do something more. He doesn't perform for us anymore."
Holt says he then did something he now regrets "wholeheartedly" - he says to the Sussexes, "Sometimes we just gotta play the game."
"And that ultimately, that game, is the invisible contract."
"Harry, Meghan and the rest of the family had an obligation to perform," Holt says. "And if they didn't, you would fall out of favour, and then any opportunity would be used to write negative or highlight negative would be taken."
"Imagine all these people who have published horrible things about you, who have published horrible things about your family, have published horrible things about your mother, you've got to perform for them," he continues. "So it's a real, cutthroat business and Meghan, there was no limit, it was fair game on everyone."
Friend Lindsay Jill Roth also notes at this stage that the press would go to extreme "lengths" to contact people close to Meghan, like following them and going to their houses. Susan Williger, Meghan's childhood friend, says the media was "ruthless" and would go to her childhood home.?
Williger also says that Meghan was not obsessed with Diana, unlike what was reported Williger's mother said.
What is a royal expert?
Former president of Archewell Mandana Dayani is seen asking Meghan about what a "royal expert" is, and Meghan directs Dayani to her husband.
"People can just call themselves royal experts?" Meghan asks Harry.
"It's the same as a royal correspondent," Harry begins. "Royal correspondent is a title, I suppose, that is given to a select group of journalists so that those newspapers can use them and their stories with 'royal correspondent' as credible fact just so that whatever the papers print can come with extra credibility. I mean, anyone can be a royal expert.
"The whole point of it is to try to lend legitimacy to media articles and they get paid for it and that press pack of royal correspondents is essentially just an extended PR arm of the royal family. So that's been an agreement that's been there for over 30 years," Harry says.
"It all comes down to control," Harry says, as he explains the relationship between the royal family, the royal rota, and the tabloids. "This family is ours to exploit. Their trauma is our story and our narrative to control."
Cute Archie moment with Elton John
While Meghan is getting her makeup done in New York City in November 2021, she asks Harry to DJ - he chooses Elton John's Bennie And The Jets, which Meghan quickly notes is Archie's favourite song.
"It's his favourite song," Meghan says. "And to watch a two-year-old go, 'Bennie! Bennie! Bennie!"
She laughs.
Reemphasising claims Meghan did not receive any formal royal training
We first heard of this in Harry and Meghan's tell-all with Oprah in early 2021, and Meghan notes how she had never seen or heard of a "walkabout" before.
Harry says he only knew his experience, not what a woman would need to know, for example, her wardrobe.
"We just sort of went with it," Harry says of Meghan's first official walkabout in Nottingham in 2017.
With the episode then showing reactions from the crowd and media saying Meghan "sparkled" and "was a breath of fresh air" after her first walkabout, Harry recalls thinking at the time: "What a dream. I found a woman that, not necessarily finds this easy, but is able to do it and make it look easy."
'Who dreamed that Britain would have a Black princess?'
British historian and writer David Olusoga speaks about the history of the British empire, noting of Meghan, who is biracial, in that context: "Who dreamed that Britain would have a Black princess? Who could have conceived that?"
"It was a conclusion to a history that was so improbable as to be astonishing," he says, noting that in Britain's quest to become the biggest empire in the world, somebody had to pay the cost - and it wasn't the royals.
Journalist Afua Hirsch then speaks about the history of slavery, and how it "fuelled the British empire" and how, up until the abolition of slavery, it was financed by British monarchs.
Olusoga speaks about the abolition of slavery and how key parts of British history in this regard have been "airbrushed" out, noting that slave owners were compensated "enormously" when slaves were freed.
He then spoke about the significance of Harry and Meghan's engagement, recalling: "Could this be the moment the royal family caught up with the rest of Britain?"
Harry and Meghan's engagement announcement was 'rehearsed' and they 'weren't allowed to tell our story'
Episode 3 opens with outtakes from Harry and Meghan's 2017 engagement announcement, an official appearance Meghan notes was "rehearsed" จC the photo opportunity and the interview itself.
Meghan notes the Firm prepared her to show off her ring, as that was what "they" would "want" to see.
As we see shots of Charles, Camilla and Kate each saying they're "thrilled" at the engagement news to the press, the scene cuts to Meghan saying in the interview that Harry's family, specifically Kate, had been "welcoming" and "wonderful."
Meghan, in 2022 (before August), then tells Netflix cameras that they "weren't allowed to tell our story because they didn't wantกญ"
"We weren't allowed to tell our story," Harry reiterates, to which Meghan laughs and says, "That's true."
"That is consistent," Harry says.?
"Yeah," Meghan agrees. "Until now."
Episode 2
'They were still going to find a way to destroy me'
Episode 2 ends on an ominous note, against the backdrop of Harry and Meghan's engagement being announced to the world in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace in late 2017.
As footage of the couple smiling and holding hands as they speak to the gathered media personnel plays, Meghan admits that at this point, she was still listening to the narrative she was hearing from those around her as her entrance into royal life began in earnest.
"At that point, I was still very much believing what I was being told กญ 'It will pass, it will get better, it's just what they do at the very beginning'," she recalls.
"This promise of, 'Once you're married, don't worry, it'll get better. Once they get used to you it'll get better, of course it'll get better'.?
"But truth be told, no matter how hard I tried, no matter how good I was, no matter what I did, they were still going to find a way to destroy me."
How the engagement really unfolded
Sure, Meghan and Harry told the story of how their engagement unfolded during their first joint interview with the BBC in 2017. However, it turns out there were plenty of details they kept to themselves.
The prince says he had wanted to propose earlier, and that because he had to ask the Queen for her permission first, he "couldn't" pop the question outside of the UK.
Harry confirms the proposal took place at home as Meghan roasted a chicken, and says he inadvertently tipped her off to something special happening when he brought home champagne.
"It was a magnum!" Meghan laughs.
To set the scene, Harry จC quite the romantic, it turns out! จC set up electric candles in the courtyard of their Kensington Palace cottage, and "of course" got down on one knee.?
Adding to the cuteness, Meghan's beagle, Guy, who had moved to the UK with her earlier that year when she resigned from her acting work, was also involved. A photo from the moment shows Guy sitting beside Harry as he presents Meghan with the ring.?
A friend reveals Harry and Meghan celebrated privately with an engagement party, with all the guests wearing animal onesies. The couple of honour chose penguin onesies in a nod to the fact penguins mate for life, Meghan's friend noting: "She felt like they could take on the world."
When Meghan met the royals
The couple get candid about the reception Meghan received from the royals when she met them for the first time จC and her own reaction to the 'formality' of the family, even privately.
Reflecting on the first time she met "Will and Kate" when they came over for dinner, she recalls being barefoot in ripped jeans.?
"I was a hugger, always been a hugger. I didn't realise that that is really jarring for a lot of Brits," she says, laughing.?
"I guess I'd start to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside, there there is a forward-facing way of being and you close the door and go, 'Ah, we can relax now' but that formality carries over on both sides, and that was surprising to me."
Harry says his late grandmother was the first senior royal to meet Meghan, an experience the duchess calls 'surreal': "I didn't know I was going to meet her until moments before."
She remembers thinking Harry was joking when he asked her if she knew how to curtsy, and re-enacts the moment she gave it a crack in front of the Queen, demonstrating a low and dramatic bow she likens to something out of "medieval times".
"It was so intense," she laughs, and remembers Sarah, Duchess of York, Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank จC who were all at Royal Lodge when the encounter took place จC telling her, "You did great".
In a more serious moment, Harry says his family members were "incredibly impressed" by Meghan, though some had obvious misgivings.
"Some of them didn't quite know what to do with themselves, they were surprised," he says.
"The fact I was dating an American actress was probably what clouded their judgement more than anything else at the beginning กญ [thinking] 'This won't last'."
Meghan agrees, saying she felt the UK had a particular view of what being an actress meant, and that it was "easy to typecast".?
Friends asked Meghan, 'Is he worth this?'
Meghan and members of her inner circle recall how her "beautiful" life as an actress in Toronto soon "exploded" as paparazzi followed her every move.?
At one point, Meghan says she went to the police to flag she was being stalked by photographers, but was told, "There's really nothing we can do because of who you're dating."
However, this changed when the actress received her first death threat and she was given a security detail to escort her two and from the Suits set.
At this point, she says her inner circle began asking her a tough question: "We know you're happy and you love him, but is he worth this? Look what's happening to your life."
Harry and Meghan recall the challenge of dating between two cities and under constant surveillance, with Meghan facing "harassment at each end", whether she was in London or Toronto.
"Dating became a combination of car chases, anti-surveillance driving and disguises, which isn't a particularly healthy way to start a relationship," Harry says.?
"But we always came at it with as much humour as possible. Whenever we saw each other we'd just give each other a massive hug and try and have as much of a normal life as possible."
Harry and Meghan bond over being 'the product of divorced parents'
The couple reflect on their shared experience of being the "product of divorced parents" จC like Prince Charles and Princess Diana, Doria Ragland and Thomas Markle, Sr split when Meghan was young.
As photos of both sets of parents appear on screen, Harry recalls the impact of growing up in this environment: "[You're] being pulled from one place to another, maybe your parents are competitive กญ there's all sorts of pieces to that."
In a rare move, Meghan opens up about her father Thomas, from whom she has been estranged since her wedding to Harry in 2018.?
She recalls spending weekdays with her mother, and living with her father on weekends.
"I was a daddy's girl my whole life and I was with him a lot, but I do remember also feeling lonely when I was a kid and wanting to have more people around," she says.
Harry on the responsibility of raising mixed-race children
Harry admits that after a lifetime of travelling around the Commonwealth, he thought he had "an awareness to issues, ways of living, unconscious bias, all of it". But when he met Meghan, and heard her speak out on issues of injustice, he realised: "Here you are, blissfully sleepwalking through life."
Now, as a "proud father" to two children with a mixed racial heritage, he says he's aware of the importance of speaking up and doing the right thing: "When my kids grow up and they look back at this moment and turn to me and say, 'What did you do in this moment?' I want to be able to give them an answer."
Harry says it's the responsibility of parents to make the world a better place for their kids, adding, "Equally, what's most important for the two of us is to make sure we don't repeat the same mistakes, perhaps, our parents made."
Doria's warning as media storm intensified
Ragland remembers warning her daughter that race was playing a significant role in how the tabloid media was responding to her relationship with Harry, following the news breaking in 2016. She says Meghan initially dismissed this, but it soon became clear she was right.
Reflecting on one headline declaring his new girlfriend was "(almost) straight outta Compton" จC a reference to her Los Angeles upbringing จC Harry says the palace's direction to the couple was "don't say anything".
The prince claims the palace's position was that the treatment of Meghan by the press was "a rite of passage", of sorts จC "Everything she had been put through, they had been put through as well" จC and, thus, why should she get protection when they didn't?
"I said, 'The difference here is the race element'," he recalls. Meghan adds, "It was horrible but I continued to hold the line, like, say nothing."
'Tremendous relief' of going public 'very quickly changed'?
Meghan says she and Harry felt "tremendous relief" when the news of their relationship finally broke in late 2016, and she was finally able to confirm the news with loved ones she hadn't been able to tell yet. But that "very quickly changed", she notes.
She remembers the first time she found photographers outside her home when she ducked out to buy flowers, and greeting them politely.
"I remember H the next day saying, 'You can't talk to them กญ the UK media is saying you love it, you're smiling, you love it'," she remembers. A British friend of Meghan says she even warned the future duchess about the nature of the UK press and the lengths they were prepared to go to in pursuing her, saying, "I remember [Meghan] was quite shocked."
Suddenly, Meghan says it "felt like all of the UK media descended on Toronto", where she was based at the time while working on Suits.?
"My house was just surrounded, just men sitting in their cars all the time, waiting for me to do anything," she recalls, saying they would knock on her neighbours' doors and even pay locals to put "livestream cameras" up that pointed into her yard.
Harry, who was thousands of miles away in London, says he felt "completely helpless" as the situation unfolded.?
The couple are frank about how this impacted their blossoming romance, with Meghan saying, "Long-distance relationships are work, no matter who you slice it, and then you add this layer กญ It really accelerates the learning curve in a relationship."
Illustrating this point, Harry recalls seeing things written about his new girlfriend in news articles, and having to approach her to ask about them as it would be the first time he'd heard the information.
Meghan's mum Doria Ragland speaks out for the first time
Since Meghan's entry into royal life, her mother Doria Ragland has remained steadfast in her silence จC but now she's speaking out.
"The last five years has been challenging. I'm ready to have my voice heard, that's for sure, a little bit of my experience as her mum," she says.
Ragland recalls Meghan telling her in a whispered phone call that she was dating Prince Harry จC "I started whispering, 'Oh my God' จC and meeting him for the first time.
"He was a 6'1" handsome man with red hair, really great manners ... they looked really happy together. Like he was The One."?
Ragland says when the couple's relationship news finally went public, it felt like "a novelty", but that soon changed.?
E?pisode 1
Harry and Meghan had only met twice in-person when they went to Botswana
Harry and Meghan's relationship was long-distance for the first chunk, and they had only met twice in-person before they joined each other in Botswana on a five-day romantic getaway in August 2016.
"For me, [Africa has] always been quite special, so it was absolutely critical to share it with Meg," Harry says, noting they were "living in a tent" for five days together.
It was in Botswana where they had their first kiss, and properly held hands.
"We had to know each other before the rest of the world and the media joined in," Harry says.
"It just felt so right and felt so normal," Harry says of the trip.
The couple decided it was easier for Meghan to fly under the radar and travel to the UK to visit Harry as no one knew about their relationship, so it was easy for Meghan to stay with Harry at Kensington Palace, visit Windsor, and walk around their future home, Frogmore Cottage, without the press knowing.
Meghan says the secrecy aspect meant it was easy for them to get to know each other, as they weren't out in the world - they were just together.
It was a risk, however, for Meghan to get through the police barrier at Kensington Palace, according to Harry, as "people talk."
"It's not about who you trust, it's about who they trust," Harry says.
Meghan says they were "petrified" of when news of their relationship would break, and that Harry '"tried to prepare" her for what it might be like.
By October 2016, Harry's Communications Secretary Jason Knauf informed Harry a tabloid had scooped their relationship.?
They had one last night of fun at a Halloween party in London, dressed up in the disguises of costumes, before the news broke. Eugenie and her now husband Jack Brooksbank were also at the party.
Then, the news broke, and their real challenges started. Meghan says it was "overwhelming" and Harry says he "didn't know what [he] was walking into."
He said in October 2016, everything changed.
The impact of Diana's death and funeral on Harry and William
The death of Diana in Paris in 1992 shook the world to its core จC but no one more so than her two sons, who Harry says became divided between "two hats [they had] to wear."
"One was two grieving sons wanting to cry, grieve, and process that grief because of losing our mum," Harry says.
"And two was the royal hat, no emotion, get out there, meet people, shake hands," he continues as footage of his long walk in London during his mother's funeral floods the screen.
A teenage William is also shown on the screen, shaking hands with mourners after his mother's death.
"An expectation to see myself and William out and about was really hard for the two of us," Harry says.?
At this stage, Harry's childhood friend Nicky จC who met Harry at Eton aged 13 จC opens up about seeing the impact of Diana's death on Harry from the outside, while also knowing him.
Nicky also alludes to Harry's mental health after Diana's death being minimised by his peers due to "not having the language" to have that "complicated" chat, or outright avoided as a topic of conversation because it's "an emotional hot potato".
Nicky says that although he believed there was an agreement that Harry and William would be left alone at school, he remembers the media camping outside Eton on their first day.
Harry says that when he was at Eton, all the "stuff" that had been happening with Diana started happening to William and himself. He says not all media stories were false, but a lot were exaggerated.
"There's a difference between, 'OK, we have this position in this family, and therefore there'll be a level of interest, and being swarmed by paparazzi chasing you in cars through red lights, and then chasing you down the road on foot,'" Harry says, noting that happened to him roughly 30 or 40 times when he was younger. "It was too much."
"I was trying to balance the whole experience of being a young boy, who was trying to deal with the loss of his mum, without much support or help or guidance," Harry says. "It didn't seem right, it didn't seem fair."
'I knew I had to do everything I could to protect my family, especially after what happened with my mum'
Earlier on in the documentary, Harry touched on how Diana "did such a good job to protect us", in particular from media trying to get "unauthorised shots" of the children because they'd sell for "thousands".
Harry says that he accepts there will be people across the globe "who fundamentally disagree with what I've done and how I've done it, but I knew that I had to do everything I could to protect my family, especially after what happened with my mum."
We also get another glimpse of Archie, who is being held up by Meghan as he looks at a framed shot of Diana's Vogue cover shoot, while Meghan directs him to say "hi" to "Grandma".
"I didn't want history to repeat itself," Harry says.
Harry compares Meghan to Diana with photo of Camilla, Kate, Sophie
Harry says Diana was "harassed" by the media throughout her relationship with Charles, but after his parents separated, the "harassment went to new levels" จC he said once Diana and Charles divorced and she left the Institution, she was "by herself" and "completely exposed."
"I saw things, I experienced things, I learned things," he says.
"The pain and suffering of women marrying into this institution," he continues, over a photo of Princess Margaret, Diana and Sarah Ferguson on Buckingham Palace's balcony, before it flashes to a photo of Camilla, Queen Consort, Kate Middleton, and Sophie, Countess of Wessex, on that same balcony years later.
"I remember thinking, 'How can I ever find someone who is willing and capable to be able to withstand all the baggage that comes with being me?'"
Harry says that, historically, every relationship he's had within weeks or months become a matter of public record, with his partner's family being harassed.
"So when I met M, I was terrified of her being driven away by the media," he says. "The same media that had driven so many other people away from me."
This is why, Harry says, he tried to keep his romance with Meghan under wraps for as long as possible.
"So much of what Meghan is, and how she is, is so similar to my mum," Harry says. "She has the same compassion, she has the same empathy, she has the same confidence. She has this warmth about her."
Harry comments on the condemned Panorama interview
Harry discusses the relationship between the Firm and the media, and how Diana "did such a good job to protect us."
"Paparazzi used to harass us to the point where we had to be forced into smiling and answering questions to the travelling press pack," Harry says as footage of himself, his brother, and his cousins Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie on holiday as children overlaid the screen.
"That made me feel really uncomfortable from the get-go," Harry says.
It also shows Diana trying to get the press pack away from the children on that same holiday.
The episode then takes a turn, commenting on how Diana sat down with BBC's Panorama and gave a tell-all interview, which, years later, was revealed to be conducted under false pretences.?
"She was deceived into giving the interview but at the same time, she spoke the truth about her experience," Harry says of the controversial interview with Martin Bashir.
Keep calm and carry on
Harry touches on the long-known mentality of the British royal family จC keep calm and carry on จC and how that manifests despite public pressure and a lack of privacy.
He says that within the family, advice that has always been given is, "Don't react. Don't feed into it."
Harry opens up about his childhood and his lack of early memories of Diana
Interspersed with behind-the-scenes footage from his childhood alongside older brother Prince William, father King Charles III, and Diana, Harry says he remembers his childhood as one "filled with laughter, filled with happiness and filled with adventure."
The Duke of Sussex also says he does not have many early memories of his mother, the former Princess of Wales จC except for her "cheeky laugh". Harry says he'll "always be that cheeky person inside."
Harry says there's no formal 'class' for being a royal
Harry says it was a gradual process of him realising his family is "different."
"I mean, there's no point that we're all sat down in the classroom and my grandmother stands there with a long stick, glasses on her nose and goes, 'Right, so this is what it means to be in the royal family,'" Harry says.
"That doesn't happen."
This echoes past claims that Meghan did not receive any formal royal training, nor did Diana.
The Sussexes release a statement?
'I am my mother's son'
"I think for so many people in the family, especially the men, there can be a temptation to marry someone who would fit the mould, as opposed to somebody who perhaps you are destined to be with," Harry says, before he compares himself to his mother, the late Princess Diana.
"The difference between making decisions with your head, or your heart," he continues. "And my mum made most of her decisions, if not all of them, from her heart."
"And I am my mother's son."
How Harry & Meghan came to be
It was in July 2016 that the Sussexes met, just after Meghan had signed on for another season of Suits. She was single, and ready to travel the world with her friends.
"She was just going to be free," Meghan's friend Lindsay Jill Roth says.
"I was like, really intent on being single," Meghan says. "I had my career, I had my path, and then came H. I mean, talk about a plot twist."
Harry says he met Meghan over Instagram, after a video of Meghan came up on his friend's feed. Harry's friend, who was also a friend of Meghan's, then reached out to Meghan via email, and said Harry wanted to meet her.
Meghan, impressed by Harry's private Instagram feed, then exchanged numbers with Harry. The rest, as they say, is history.
Meghan says Harry had an "extensive list" of what Harry was looking for in a partner, and Harry says he fell for Meghan, in part because of how "happy" and "relaxed" she was around him.
'The institution knows the full truth'
The moment Buckingham Palace has been bracing for is here จC at least the first part of it is จC and it's looking like Harry and Meghan won't be holding back.
In the first few frames of Harry & Meghan, the former senior royals have teased at what's to come in their highly-anticipated six-part Netflix docuseries, a "first-hand account" of their "personal story" from their "never before seen personal archive."
The docuseries stipulated in its opening statement that all interviews were complete by August 2022, and members of the British royal family declined to comment for the series. The Queen died on September 8.
It promises a raw look at the private life of the Sussexes, but as Harry says, it's not just about them.
"It's always been so much bigger than us," Harry says.
He says "the institution knows the full truth" and the "media knows the full truth" as they have "been in on it."
Harry said that Meghan had no idea what she was getting into.
"When you feel like people haven't got any sense of who you are for so long, it's really nice to just be able to have the opportunity to let people have a bit more of a glimpse into what's happened and also who we are," Meghan says.
"I ended up sacrificing everything that I had to join her in her world," Harry says.
'What on earth happened? How did we end up here?'
The documentary opens with self-filmed confessionals by both Harry and Meghan, who say they were advised by a friend to document their love story. It's Harry who wonders how he and his wife ended up 'here'.
How much Harry & Meghan are expected to earn from their Netflix docuseries
Remember reports that the Duchess of Sussex was "shocked" she wasn't getting paid for walkabouts during her royal tour of Australia? Well, that's not a problem here.
It's believed that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle signed a $US100 million (approx. $148 million) production deal with Netflix in September 2020, which includes this six-part docuseries, which is spread over two volumes. The second volume of Harry & Meghan is due out on Netflix on December 15.
As part of the reportedly lucrative deal, Harry and Meghan were also understood to have signed on for feature films, scripted shows, and children's programming with the streaming giant.
The Sussexes have also reportedly signed a $US18 million (approx. $26 million) deal with Spotify, which includes Meghan's podcast Archewell, and Harry reportedly was paid a $US20 million (approx. $29 million) advance for his book, Spare.
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