{"id":814638,"date":"2026-03-09T15:25:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T15:25:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/814638\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T15:25:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T15:25:16","slug":"harry-and-meghan-the-ten-key-takeaways-so-far-from-their-netflix-documentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/814638\/","title":{"rendered":"Harry and Meghan: The ten key takeaways so far from their Netflix documentary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Details about the royal family and alleged racism and harassment from the British press were all part of Harry and Meghan’s six-episode docuseries on Netflix<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Airing on Thursday morning, the first three episodes touch on the couple’s disappointment with what they felt was a lack of protection from the royal family.<\/p>\n

Here are the key points and revelations from the first three episodes:<\/p>\n

The third episode saw Meghan describe the time around their engagement as an \u201corchestrated reality show\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said their engagement interview was \u201crehearsed\u201d.<\/p>\n

The interview took place following the pair\u2019s engagement photoshoot with the press in Kensington Palace\u2019s sunken gardens, with Meghan saying: \u201cWe went right inside. Took the coat off. Sat down and did the interview. It was all in that same moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was organised by the Kensington Palace press office as part of the handling of the announcement of Harry and Meghan\u2019s engagement.<\/p>\n

In the documentary, the couple were asked whether they were prepped with questions they might be asked, with the duchess saying: \u201cYeah. But then also like \u2018and then there\u2019ll be a moment when they\u2019ll ask to see the ring\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cMy point is we weren\u2019t allowed to tell our story because they didn\u2019t want\u2026\u201d with Harry interjecting \u201cWe\u2019ve never been allowed to tell our story\u2026 that\u2019s the consistency.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meghan agreed, laughing: \u201cThat\u2019s true\u2026 that is consistent\u2026 until now.\u201d<\/p>\n

A major theme in the documentary was Harry and Meghan\u2019s relationship with the press in the UK, with the Duke of Sussex remembering back to how \u201cuncomfortable\u201d he was with paparazzi as a child.<\/p>\n

He said in the third episode that he believes the media see his \u201ctrauma\u201d as their story to \u201ccontrol\u201d.<\/p>\n

He also addressed the royal rota, which is a system where media are allocated slots to cover the members of the family.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cIf you\u2019re part of the royal rota, you have priority over the story over everybody else.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll royal news goes through the filter of all newspapers within the royal rota, most of which, apart from the Telegraph, happen to be tabloids.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt all comes down to control, it\u2019s like \u2018this family is ours to exploit, their trauma is our story and our story and our narrative to control\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘No one knows the full truth. We know the full truth’<\/strong><\/p>\n

In episode two, the couple looked at some of the headlines in the UK tabloid press ahead of Kensington Palace\u2019s statement on the media\u2019s treatment of the Duchess of Sussex.<\/p>\n

They included \u201cHarry\u2019s girl is (almost) straight outta Compton\u201d.<\/p>\n

Meghan said: \u201cFirstly, I\u2019m not from Compton, I\u2019ve never lived in Compton, so it\u2019s factually incorrect. But why do you have to make a dig at Compton?\u201d<\/p>\n

Other headlines shown in the Netflix documentary are \u201cOne\u2019s gone GanstER\u201d, and another saying Meghan\u2019s ancestors were a \u201ctailor, a teacher and a cleaner in racially divided Jim Crow South\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Duke of Sussex said: \u201cEight days after the relationship became public I put out a statement calling out the racist undertones of articles and headlines that were written by the British press as well as outright racism from those articles across social media.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Duchess of Sussex said the media would find a way to \u201cdestroy\u201d her \u201cno matter how good\u201d she was.<\/p>\n

All the press coverage they saw as hostile and intrusive led to Harry asking for greater support for Meghan.<\/p>\n

But members of the royal family, he claims, asked why the Duchess of Sussex should be \u201cprotected\u201d when they questioned newspaper headlines about her.<\/p>\n

The direction from the palace was \u2019don\u2019t say anything\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking in episode two, he said: \u201cThe direction from the Palace was don\u2019t say anything.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what people need to understand is, as far as a lot of the family were concerned, everything that she was being put through, they had been put through as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it was almost like a rite of passage, and some of the members of the family were like \u2018my 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 protected?’<\/p>\n

\u201cI said \u2018the difference here is the race element\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Harry elaborated on racism towards Meghan, he also spoke of a \u201chuge level of unconscious bias\u201d in the royal family during episode three.<\/p>\n

The documentary referenced when Princess Michael of Kent wore a Blackamoor-style brooch to an event the Duchess of Sussex attended in 2017.<\/p>\n

Princess Michael of Kent, pictured here in 2021, wore a Blackamoor-style brooch which was deemed to be racist Credit: PA<\/p>\n

Harry said: \u201cIn this family, sometimes you are part of the problem rather than part of the solution. There is a huge level of unconscious bias.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing with unconscious bias, it is actually no one\u2019s fault. But once it has been pointed out, or identified within yourself, you then need to make it right.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is education. It is awareness. It is a constant work in progress for everybody, including me.\u201d<\/p>\n

That need for self-awareness, Harry added, came to the fore when he spoke about wearing a Nazi uniform to a private party in 2005.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cIt was probably one of the biggest mistakes of my life. I felt so ashamed afterwards. All I wanted to do was make it right.\u201d<\/p>\n

He talked about meeting a holocaust survivor afterwards, reflecting that he \u201clearned\u201d from that.<\/p>\n

On the subject of racism, Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, spoke publicly for the first time in episode two. <\/p>\n

She discussed Meghan being mixed-race and revealed how, in hindsight, she would like to have had a “real conversation\u00a0about how the world sees you”.<\/p>\n

Speaking about the press coverage of Meghan\u2019s background, Ms Ragland said paparazzi would take pictures of deprived neighbourhoods in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Doria Ragland featured in the Netflix show Credit: Steve Parsons\/PA<\/p>\n

Ms Ragland told the Netflix documentary: \u201cThey would take pictures of different parts of say Skid Row and say that is where I lived and that is where she was from.”<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was horrible,\u201d Meghan said. \u201cBut I continued to hold the line. Say nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the third episode, the Duchess of Sussex said she discovered her father Thomas Markle wasn\u2019t going to attend her wedding \u201cthrough a tabloid.\u201d <\/p>\n

Meghan spoke about her estranged father while reflecting on the immediate lead up to her wedding on May 19, 2018. <\/p>\n

She said: \u201cThe week before our wedding we get a call from our joint communications secretary who said this story is going to come out tomorrow saying your father has been staging pictures and taking money from press. That was the first I was hearing of it.\u201d <\/p>\n

Meghan then explained the following conversation with her father, in which she said he denied the allegations but refused to be flown to the UK a day early for the wedding. <\/p>\n

Meghan said: \u201c(I said) \u2018We\u2019ll just come and get you out a day early to get you out of Mexico\u2019, and he said \u2018No no I have things I need to do.\u2019 <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it felt really cagey. I said \u2018it doesn\u2019t make sense\u2019. And when we hung up I looked at H (Harry), I was like \u2018I don\u2019t know why but I don\u2019t believe him.\u2019 <\/p>\n

\u201cPaps and journalists were following him all day, every day, the unravelling happened that week when he wouldn\u2019t pick up my call, and instead you\u2019re talking to TMZ and I\u2019m finding out that you\u2019re not coming to our wedding through a tabloid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harry referred to his mother as well, saying he is his \u201cmother\u2019s son\u201d \u2013 and that showed in his decision to marry Meghan. <\/p>\n

Speaking in the first episode, he said: \u201cI think for so many people in the family, especially obviously the men, there can be a temptation or an urge to marry someone who would fit the mould as opposed to somebody who you perhaps are destined to be with.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe difference between making decisions with your head, or your heart. And my mum certainly made most of her decisions \u2013 if not all of them \u2013 from her heart.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I am my mother\u2019s son.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their relationship dates back to an encounter on Instagram, they revealed in episode one.<\/p>\n

Harry said: \u201cI was scrolling through my feed and someone who was a friend had this video of the two of them, it was like a Snapchat.\u201d<\/p>\n

An image of Meghan with the popular dog ears filter is then shown.<\/p>\n

Harry said: \u201cThat was the first thing. I was like \u2018who is that?’\u201d<\/p>\n

Meghan said the friend then sent her an email, the words of which are typed out on the screen, saying: \u201cBetween you and I thought you might want to know this being newly single and all. <\/p>\n

\u201cI put our Snapchat on Instagram and Prince Haz follows me (he\u2019s a friend) he called me last night dying to meet you. hehehe. I might just have to set you up\u201d (sic).<\/p>\n

Meghan\u2019s reply, which was also typed out on screen, was: \u201cWho is prince haz?????\u201d<\/p>\n

Below her reply viewers can see the words: \u201cSent from my iPhone. Please excuse all technological mishaps. I\u2019m a Luddite.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, how has the royal family reacted? <\/p>\n

From the off, episode one opened with words written in white on a black background that said: \u201cThis is a first-hand account of Harry & Meghan\u2019s story, told with never before seen personal archive.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll interviews were completed by August 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cMembers of the royal family declined to comment on the content within this series.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, shortly after the documentary aired, sources said that neither Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace nor any member of the family were approached for comment on the content of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex\u2019s Netflix series.<\/p>\n

Listen to the ITV News Royal Rota podcast<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Details about the royal family and alleged racism and harassment from the British press were all part of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":814639,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7708],"tags":[7709,7721,7719,7718,7720,1281,447,7710,519,7711],"class_list":{"0":"post-814638","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-royals","8":"tag-british-royal-family","9":"tag-duchess-of-sussex","10":"tag-duke-of-sussex","11":"tag-harry","12":"tag-meghan","13":"tag-meghan-markle","14":"tag-prince-harry","15":"tag-royal-families","16":"tag-royal-family","17":"tag-uk-royal-family"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116199917212135844","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=814638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814638\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/814639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=814638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=814638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=814638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}