(London) Almost three years after their shattering break with the monarchy, Prince Harry and Meghan settle accounts with the British tabloids, accused of persecuting the princess as they had done for Diana, in a documentary broadcast on Netflix Thursday.
Three months to the day after the accession to the throne of King Charles III, “Harry & Meghan” brings to the fore a crisis which has seen the British monarchy accused of never having accepted the actress into its midst. American, Métis and divorced, but also of racism.
If the last three episodes next Thursday promise to be riskier for the family with the story of their departure to California, the first three now available worldwide focus on the beginning of the love story of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, until their marriage in 2018.
Rather than attacking his father, now king, and his older brother William, he above all gives Harry the opportunity to attack the British tabloids, which initially saw Meghan Markle as a breath of fresh air for the institution before. to quickly become openly hostile towards the “capricious duchess”, unable to comply with the protocol and the very codified rules framing the relationship of the monarchy with the press.
“Exploitation and Corruption”
The series opens with images of their departure in 2020 and the remarks they filmed themselves on the telephone.
“I’m really worried about the safety of my family,” said Harry from London’s Heathrow airport, before setting the tone: “I feel that being part of this family, he is my duty to expose this exploitation and corruption that occurs within our media. »
In the three episodes, they criticize the methods of the tabloids which dissected the doings and gestures of Meghan, to whom no one taught the protocol, pursued her family and her friends and went to collect the confidences of a half-sister whom she hadn’t seen for 10 years.
The memory of Harry’s mother, Diana, who died in Paris in a car accident in 1997 chased by the paparazzi shortly after her divorce from Charles, comes back regularly. “To see another woman I love going through this frenzy is tough. It’s the hunter against the prey, ”sums up the 38-year-old prince.
“No matter how hard I tried, if I behaved well, what I did, they always found a way to destroy me,” said Meghan, 41.
The documentary uses an excerpt from Diana’s confessional interview in 1995, which William asked never to be shown again.
Memoirs to come
The couple left the UK in early 2020 for California, after Harry renounced all royal obligations, and their unpopularity has continued to grow among supporters of the royal family.
The couple, who have two young children, are now often described in the UK as hypocritical, criticizing the media attention, but earning millions from their confessions.
After the documentary on Netflix, Harry is due to publish his memoir titled “The Substitute” in early January, promising his share of revelations.
A year and a half after their shock interview on American television, in which they accused a member of the royal family of racism, Harry believes this time that this factor played a significant role in the hostility of the press towards his mixed-race wife . He also mentions the “unconscious biases” on this subject within the monarchy.
The hatchet is therefore far from being buried. In his first address as king, the day after the death of Elizabeth II, Charles III had yet mentioned his youngest son and his wife, sending them all his “love as they continue to build their lives abroad “.
The question now is whether and how Buckingham will react. Faced with accusations of racism, Elizabeth II had a now famous response: “Memories may vary”.
On December 15, the day of the release of the last episodes of “Harry & Meghan”, the royal family will unite: they will be gathered at Westminster Abbey for a concert of Christmas carols organized by the Princess of Wales, Kate.