Although the royal family was reportedly hurt and blindsided when Prince Harry, 38, and Meghan Markle, 41, shockingly announced that they would be stepping down as working royals in January 2020, rumour has it that King Charles never actually wanted Meghan to be a working royal in the first place and actually wanted her to “carry on working” as an actress. Wow!
The unexpected revelation came from the Duke of Sussex himself, when recalling a conversation he had with his father about Meghan’s future in the royal family in his bombshell memoir, Spare.
When recalling a conversation he and his father had, King Charles reportedly asked his son, “Does she want to carry on working?” to which Prince Harry replied, “Say again?” King Charles then reportedly replied, “Does she want to keep on acting?” which led Prince Harry to say, “Oh. I mean, I don’t know. I wouldn’t think so. I expect she’ll want to be with me, doing the job, you know, which would rule out Suits… since they film in… Toronto.”
King Charles then allegedly said, “Hmm. I see. Well, darling boy, you know there’s not enough money to go around.” Prince Harry then wrote in his memoir that he “stared” at his father after he said this, and then thought, “What was he banging on about? He explained. Or tried to. ‘I can’t pay for anyone else. I’m already having to pay for your brother and Catherine.’”
In her lawsuit against the duchess, Samantha Markle alleges that Meghan made “demonstrably false and malicious statements” to a “worldwide audience.”
Following the judge’s denial of a motion to halt the testimony, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be forced to testify under oath in a US defamation case brought by the duchess’s half-sister.
A lawsuit against the duchess for “defamation and injurious falsehood” was filed by Samantha Markle in 2021, following the couple’s high-profile tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Samantha Markle asserted in a document filed in March of last year that Meghan made “demonstrably false and malicious statements” to a “worldwide audience.”
The duchess previously filed a motion to stop a person from being forced to testify under oath during depositions, where a person is made to give testimony under oath, from taking place in the case.
However, this motion was dismissed by Florida judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell on Tuesday.
“Defendant Markle does not show that unusual circumstances justify the requested stay, or that prejudice or an undue burden will result if the court does not impose a stay,” the documents state.
“Defendant Markle does not satisfy the high standard required to stay discovery pending the resolution of a dispositive motion.”
Image:Samantha Markle is suing her sister for ‘defamation and injurious falsehood’
In their joint interview with US talk show host Winfrey in March 2021, Harry and Meghan spoke about both their families and made a series of allegations about the Royal Family.
Samantha Markle’s original complaint stated the comments made by the Sussexes during the interview had reached “roughly 50 million people in 17 countries”.
In the filing she alleged she was defamed by Meghan in the interview when the duchess “falsely and maliciously” said that she was “an only child”.
“Plaintiff – who suffers from multiple sclerosis and is confined to a wheelchair – brings this action for defamation based on demonstrably false and malicious statements made by her half-sister to a worldwide audience, including roughly 50 million people in 17 countries who watched the Oprah Winfrey interview with the defendant, Meghan Markle, and her husband, Prince Harry of England,” the filing stated.
“Meghan – who was featured with Prince Harry on the cover of Time Magazine’s annual feature on ‘The World’s Most Influential People’ published and disseminated false and malicious lies designed to destroy Plaintiff’s reputation and which have subjected Plaintiff to humiliation, shame and hatred on a worldwide scale.”
The filing also added that Meghan had used “the powerful resources of the royal family’s public relations operation” to disseminate and spread “lies worldwide” about Samantha Markle and their father, Thomas Markle.
“(It was) a premeditated campaign to destroy their reputation and credibility so they could not interfere with or contradict the false narrative and fairy tale life story concocted by the Defendant.”
The planned depositions come following the Sussexes’ explosive Netflix series and the publication of Harry’s memoir Spare last month.
His announcement coincided with Netflix’s end-of-year disclosure of a significant increase in subscriber numbers.
People were expected to cut back on streaming services when money was tight.
Netflix, however, defied expectations and added more than seven million new subscribers, bucking the trend.
The film Glass Onion, the new Addams Family spin-off series Wednesday, and Harry and Meghan’s revelations all attracted a lot of viewers.
“2022 was a tough year, with a bumpy start but a brighter finish,” the company said in a statement.
Mr Hastings’ long-planned move means he is leaving Netflix in a crowded market, with challenges ahead, but with 231 million viewers signed up around the globe.
Mr Hastings, who was an early pioneer in the streaming business and is seen as one of the original tech industry disruptors, will stay on as executive chairman.
The firm will now be run by Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, both already in senior executive positions.
“Reed Hastings stepping down from his current role raises a lot of questions about Netflix’s future strategy,” said Jamie Lumley, analyst at research firm Third Bridge.
“Incoming Co-CEO Greg Peters will have a number of major decisions on his plate from managing high levels of expenses, password sharing, and cracking the code to find the next Stranger Things.”
Image caption,Reed Hastings and a former colleague Marc Randolph founded Netflix in 1997
Mr Peters has been given a strong start, with total subscribers for the last three months of 2022 up 7.66 million, when the firm had predicted a rise of around 4.5 million.
Alicia Reese from Wedbush Securities said there were two reasons Netflix had managed to keep subscribers from cancelling.
“First, viewership trends indicate better retention on popular shows; second, Netflix offering an ad-supported tier to anyone looking to cancel or pause their membership,” she said.
Both those factors limited customer “churn” she said.
Revenue rose to $7.9bn (£6.37bn) in the fourth quarter. However, profit was lower in this quarter than the same period a year earlier, and profit for the year as a whole was down from 2021.Although Netflix remained “ahead of its competitors” on profitability, said Ms Reese.
In early 2022, Netflix faced an uphill battle. It was facing increased competition from rivals such as Amazon, HBO, Apple TV and Disney. It cut hundreds of jobs, but still found it had to put up prices to customers to cover rising costs.
That dealt a blow to its subscriber numbers in the first half of the year.
In November, it introduced a cheaper ad-supported option in 12 countries, including most of Europe, the UK and the US,and signalled it would be less tolerant of password sharing in future. Netflix said it was “pleased with the early results” from the service.
But Paolo Pescatore at PP Foresight said that, as the new ad-funded service had only been introduced in November, most of the additional customers in the last three months of 2022 would be paying full price.
However, the coming year would be challenging for Netflix, he said, with a “significant slowdown” expected in the ad market.
“The year ahead is unlikely to be plain sailing as all media companies will have to contend with uncertainty,” he said.
Netflix shares, which had fallen by nearly 38% in the past year, rose in after-hours trading following the results announcement.
Netflix started out in 1997 as a mail-order film service. Customers ordered via the website and DVDs were posted to them at home.
Mr Hastings has sometimes said the idea for Netflix was sparked when he owed a large fine for forgetting to return a video cassette to rental shop Blockbuster and thought a model more like gym membership, with a monthly fee for renting films, would be better.
However, his co-founder Marc Randolph reportedly disputed this version, saying the pair had simply aimed to emulate Amazon.
In an interview conducted ahead of the publication of his book Spare, Prince Harry stated, “I would like to get my father back; I would like to have my brother back.”
It’s unclear to whom he is referring when he says “they’ve shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile.”
He made the remarks during an interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby, as well as an interview with CBS in the United States.
Buckingham Palace has declined to comment.
Both interviews will be broadcast on January 8, two days before the autobiography is published.
Speaking to CBS News 60 Minutes journalist Anderson Cooper in a chat the broadcaster described as “explosive,” Prince Harry claims he was “betrayed” with “briefings and leakings and the planting of stories against me and my wife.”
He said: “The family motto is ‘never complain, never explain’, but it’s just a motto.
“They will feed or have a conversation with a correspondent, and that correspondent will literally be spoon-fed information and write the story, and at the bottom of it, they will say they have reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment.
“But the whole story is Buckingham Palace commenting.
“So when we’re being told for the last six years, “We can’t put a statement out to protect you,” but you do it for other members of the family, there becomes a point when silence is betrayal.”
ITV said its interview will cover Prince Harry’s personal relationships and “never-before-heard details” surrounding the death of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales.
Filmed in California where the Sussexes live, the ITV interview will also see Harry refer to “the leaking and the planting” of stories, before adding: “I want a family, not an institution”.
“They feel as though it is better to keep us somehow as the villains,” he adds.
Harry: The Interview, an exclusive in-depth discussion with Tom Bradby.
Prince Harry’s autobiography Spare, which is anticipated to give details about disagreements with his brother the Prince William, will be released on January 10.
Publisher Penguin Random House calls it “a landmark publication full of insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief”.
The autobiography follows the release of Netflix documentary Harry and Meghan, in which Prince Harry said it was “terrifying” to have his brother “scream and shout” at him during a summit to discuss the couple’s future in the Royal Family. Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the claims made in the programme.
The Sussexes also talked about why they decided to give up royal duties and move to the US, criticising the British press and the inner workings of the royal institution.
Netflix has released another look-ahead clip, this time containing snippets of interviews with Meghan, her friend Lucy Fraser, and attorney Jenny Afia – and they are not holding back. This comes ahead of the final three episodes of Harry & Meghan airing on the streaming service.
The palace is charged with “feeding” stories about the duchess to the media in order to prevent the publication of other, “less favourable,” stories, according to a new trailer for the final episodes of Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary series.
The streaming service has released another look-ahead clip, this time featuring snippets of interviews with Meghan, her friend Lucy Fraser, and attorney Jenny Afia, ahead of the final three episodes of Harry & Meghan airing on Thursday morning.
Ms Afia, a partner at the media law firm Schillings, is first to be featured, speaking as footage of Buckingham Palace is shown.
“There was a real kind of war against Meghan and I’ve certainly seen evidence that there was negative briefing from the palace against Harry and Meghan to suit other people’s agendas,” she says.
The trailer moves on to Ms Fraser, who says: “Meg became this scapegoat for the palace, and so they would feed stories on her whether they were true or not, to avoid other less favourable stories being printed.”
“You would just see it play out,” Meghan then says herself. “Like, a story about someone in the family would pop up for a minute and they go, ‘gotta make that go away’.
“But there is real estate on a website home page, there is real estate there on a newspaper front cover, and something has to be filled in there about someone royal.”
A press release from Netflix on Tuesday, the documentary about Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, received 81.55 million hours of viewing in its first week. The duration of that documentary’s premiere week on the streaming service was the longest ever.
In 85 nations, the show made the Top 10 TV list and peaked at No. 1 in the UK. One billion people watched the Addams Family drama “Wednesday,” which was one of the most watched Netflix series that week.
On Thursday, part two of “Harry and Meghan” with three additional episodes focusing on their choice to leave the Royal Family will be available on Netflix.
In a trailer for the second part of the documentary, Prince Harry tells viewers, “they were happy to lie to protect my brother,” while his wife says “I wasn’t being thrown to the wolves, I was being fed to the wolves.”
Prince Harry discusses “institutional gaslighting” in a new trailer for part two of their highly anticipated Netflix docuseries, which will have three episodes and will be available Thursday.
In the clip, released Monday, the Duke of Sussex discusses stepping back from royal duties and ponders what might have happened to the couple “had we not got out when we did.”
“Our security was being pulled. Everyone in the world knew where we were,” Meghan says.
In the first three episodes of the docuseries, which have already aired, the couple shared intimate details of their courtship, took aim at the “unconscious bias” inside the royal family, and criticized the media attention they’d been subjected to — particularly from Britain’s tabloid press.
In a Netflix web posting introducing the trailer for the second installment of the series, the company said, “Theirs is one of the most high-profile love stories in history, and even the most plugged-in fans and followers of their story have never heard it told like this before.”
In their latest Harry and Meghan series on Netflix trailer, Prince Harry said “They were happy to lie to protect my brother, they were never willing to tell the truth to protect us”.
Ahead of the second half of the series, the trailer shows the couple saying why they stepped down from royal duties.
“I wasn’t being thrown to the wolves, I was being fed to the wolves,” says Meghan.
However this brief teaser does not yet say who is being accused of lying or undermining the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, or who was manipulating how they were seen by the public.
But the tone does suggest these could be more hard-hitting episodes, after the first half of the documentary series had fewer bombshells or revelations than expected.
The most potentially controversial moment is the reference to Prince William – with the trailer showing the two royal brothers together.
The commentary from Prince Harry says: “They were happy to lie to protect my brother”, but without saying who “they” were or the context of why Prince William was being protected.
“I wonder what would have happened to us had we not got out when we did?” says Prince Harry, who now lives with Meghan in California.
Meghan speaks of security worries – and a clip shows Prince Harry saying they were on a “freedom flight”, suggesting that this was their departure away from the pressure they felt around them in the UK.
Christopher Bouzy, whose firm tackles abuse and misinformation on social media, appears in the trailer saying: “They were actively recruiting people to disseminate disinformation.”
There are clips of the couple enjoying their new life, but Prince Harry adds: “To move to the next chapter, you’ve got to finish the first chapter.”
The Privy Council might be given the authority to downgrade the couple’s royal status if MPs approve a resolution in the bill.
According to a Conservative MP, legislation that could result in the Duke and Duchess of Sussex losing their royal titles is something he plans to introduce .
Isle of Wight MP Bob Seely said the brief private members’ bill would allow MPs to vote on a resolution that could allow the Privy Council to downgrade the couple’s royal status. The bill could be brought forward to the new year.
It comes a day after the release of the couple’s “tell-all” documentary on Netflix, which has prompted anger from some royal fans.
Mr Seely said he had been thinking about the bill even before the documentary, saying there is a “political issue” with Harry’s comments, as he quit working as a senior royal more than two years ago.
He asked why Harry continued to use his title while “at the same time trash(ing) the institution of monarchy and his family”.
He told the PA news agency: “As well as trashing his family and monetising his misery for public consumption, he is also attacking some important institutions in this country.”
Meanwhile employment minister Guy Opperman told the BBC that the couple are “utterly irrelevant” to the progress of the UK and the Royal Family.
Royal correspondent Laura Bundock looks at the Netflix documentary
“That having been said, I agree that they are utterly irrelevant to this country and the progress of this country and the Royal Family that we all, I believe, support.”
Meghan says ‘when family and family business are in direct conflict’
In the documentary, Harry alleges the Royal Family has “unconscious bias”.
King Charles avoids questions on Harry and Meghan’s Netflix docuseries
He says: “In this family, sometimes you are part of the problem rather than part of the solution. There is a huge level of unconscious bias.
The Duke of Sussex says members of the Royal Family asked why the Duchess of Sussex should be ‘protected’
“The thing with unconscious bias, it is actually no one’s fault. But once it has been pointed out, or identified within yourself, you then need to make it right.”
The series also uses footage from Princess Diana’s BBC Panorama interview, which Prince William has said should never be broadcast again.
The Duke of Sussex appears to criticise the parenting he received from King Charles, saying he tried to cope with the loss of his mother, who died in a car crash in 1997, “without much support or help or guidance”.
He added that he was “literally brought up” by a “second family” of friends in Africa.
The Duke and Duchess signed lucrative deals with Netflix and Spotify – thought to be worth more than £100m– after deciding to quit the monarchy in early 2020.
The very first three episodes of a new Netflix documentary series directed by and starring Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, were released on Thursday morning. The six-part series has been billed as an in-depth look at the royal couple’s early relationship and their version of the events that eventually led to them stepping down as full-time working members of Britain’s royal family.
From the first episodes of the series, Harry made it clear that one of the main sources of the couple’s frustration has been Britain’s media, which he accused of connivance in “exploitation and bribery.”
“I’m not going to say that it’s comfortable,” Meghan said about why the couple decided to make the documentary. “But when you feel like people haven’t gotten 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.”
“It’s about duty and service, and I feel as though, being part of this family, it is my duty to uncover this exploitation and bribery that happens within our media,” Harry says. “This isn’t just about our story. This has always been so much bigger than us. Who knows the full truth. We know the full truth. The institution knows the full truth, and the media knows the full truth, because they’ve been in on it.”
“I think for so many people in the family, especially single men, there can be a temptation or an urge to marry someone who would fit the mold, as opposed to somebody who you perhaps are destined to be with. The difference between making decisions with your head or your heart” Harry said in the first episode of the series. “My mum certainly made most of her decisions, if not all of them, from her heart. And I am my mother’s son.”
The couple got engaged the next year and were married on May 19, 2018. They had their son, Archie, on May 6, 2019.
“The pain and suffering of women marrying into this institution, 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 with me?” Harry said in the documentary, outlining the way many of his prior relationships had become media spectacles.
The series features interviews with friends and family of the couple, including Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland.
Since moving to the United States, Harry and Meghan have spoken out about the racism Meghan experienced while living as part of the royal family in the United Kingdom and the toll it took on her mental health. During her time in Britain, she was faced with an onslaught of negative, racist stories in the tabloid press, and last month, a senior British law enforcement officer said there had been multiple, credible threats to her life from the far right.
“I said to her: ‘This is about race,’” Ragland said in the Netflix series. “Meg said: ‘Mommy, I don’t want to hear that.’ I said: ‘You may not want to hear it, but this is what’s coming down the pike.’”
Harry said that the guidance from the rest of the royal family and their support staffwas to not respond to negative stories about Meghan in the British press.
“The direction of the palace was: ‘Don’t say anything,’” Harry said. “But 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. So it was almost like a right of passage. And some of the members of the family, it was like: ‘Right, but my 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?’ And I said: ‘The difference here is the race element.’”
The couple ultimately decided to move to the U.S. and step back from their royal duties. Last year, Harry told Oprah Winfrey that they “did what they had to do,” given what they were facing.
After receiving an award for their work in racial justice and mental health, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said, “we know a ripple of hope can turn into a wave of change.”
At a gala in New York, Prince Harry and Meghan received the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights (RFKHR) organization’s Ripple of Hope Award.
They also discussed their “belief in courage over fear and love over hate.”
The ceremony was hosted by actor Alec Baldwin.
The RFKHR is a human rights organisation that advocates for issues such as mass incarceration, racial justice, and gender-based violence.
It recognises those who have shown “unwavering commitment to social change and worked to protect and advance equity, justice, and human rights.”
During the ceremony, Harry and Meghan announced a new collaboration between their Archewell Foundation and the RFKHR – the Archewell Foundation Award for Gender Equity in Student Film.
“Our hope with this award is to inspire a new generation of leadership in the arts, where diverse up-and-coming talent have a platform to have their voices heard and their stories told,” the couple said in a statement.
“The values of RFK Foundation and the Archewell Foundation are aligned in our shared belief of courage over fear, and love over hate.
“Together we know that a ripple of hope can turn into a wave of change.”
The ceremony was hosted by actor Alec Baldwin, who last year was involved in a deadly shooting on the set of a Western movie when a gun that Baldwin was using during rehearsal killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Last October, Baldwin reached a settlement with Hutchins’ family.
RFKHR President Kerry Kennedy said the royal couple had been “incredibly brave” in addressing the issues of mental illness and racial justice.
“For Meghan to get out there on national television and normalise discussion of mental health, at this point, is incredibly important and very brave,” Ms Kennedy, the daughter of the late Robert F Kennedy, told US outlet Extra.
Speaking on stage with Ms Kennedy during the event, Harry joked: “I’ll be honest with you, Kerry – I just thought we were just going on a date night, so I found it quite weird that we’re sharing the room with 1,500 people.
“We don’t get out much these days because our kids are so small and young, so this is completely unexpected.
“But it’s nice to share date night with all of you, so thank you for coming,” he added to laughter from the audience.
Harry and Meghan’s new show will be released on Netflix later this week.
In the second of two trailers, Prince Harry spoke of the “leaking” and “planting of stories” as part of a “dirty game”.
However, the trailers have been criticised for allegedly using footage and photos in misleading ways.
Meghan and Harry have long discussed their mental health struggles. Speaking in a TV interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, Meghan said she found life within the Royal Family so difficult that at times she “didn’t want to be alive anymore”.
In the revealing interview, Meghan also said Prince Harry was asked by an unnamed family member “how dark” their son Archie’s skin might be.
Last week, the outgoing Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner said the duchess received “disgusting and very real” threats while she was a working royal.
Prince Harry has also said he had to step back from royal duties to protect himself and his family from the “toxic” situation created by the UK press.
The duke told TV chat host James Corden that it was “destroying my mental health” add he “did what any husband[or] father would do”.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’sstory will be told on the small screen in an upcoming Netflix docuseries, which will air very soon. On December 1, the streamer released the first teaser trailer for “Harry & Meghan,” but did not reveal a release date. Four days later, on December 5, Netflix released a longer trailer and announced the first instalment will be released on December 8.
The first teaser features a series of intimate black and white photos taken throughout their relationship that flash across the screen as dramatic music plays. The documentary’s director, Liz Garbus, is heard asking, “Why did you want to make this documentary?”As a photo is shown, Harry responds, “No one knows what’s happening behind closed doors “as a photo of a visibly emotional Meghan appears. He continues, “I had to do everything I could to protect my family.”
Aside from the two trailers, not much has been shared about the project from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex since they forged their partnership with the streamer two years ago. However, Markle gave a rare update on it in her Variety cover story published on Oct. 19, just days after Deadline reported that Netflix delayed the documentary’s release until next year.”It’s nice to be able to trust someone with our story — a seasoned director whose workI’ve long admired — even if it means it may not be the way we would have told it. But that’s not why we’re telling it,” Markle shared of the docuseries. “We’re trusting our story to someone else, and that means it will go through their lens.”
Markle and Harry’s multiyear Netflix deal was announced in September 2020, which includes the production of documentaries, docuseries, feature films, scripted shows, and children’s programming. So far, the only other projects the couple has confirmed for the streamer are their other documentary centered on the Invictus Games and their since-canceled animated series titled “Pearl” (Netflix reportedly axed it due to a stock drop).
Harry and Markle’s documentary was rumored to be a reality TV series, but the couple previously slammed that idea in a statement provided to People. “The Duke and Duchess are not taking part in any reality shows,” a spokesman said.
Following said rumors, Markle stressed the difference between a “historical documentary” and a “reality docuseries” in her August profile for The Cut, though she didn’t specify which one her and Harry’s Netflix project is. “The piece of my life I haven’t been able to share, that people haven’t been able to see, is our love story,” she told the outlet of what it’ll cover.
In her profile, Markle said that, at the time, she wasn’t aware of what had and hadn’t been confirmed about the docuseries, but she did take time to praise its director and share what likely inspired the project. “I will tell you, the Liz Garbus is incredible,” she said. “. . . When the media has shaped the story around you, it’s really nice to be able to tell your own story.”
Read ahead for everything else we know about Harry and Markle’s upcoming documentary so far.
Netflix announced that Volume I will premiere Dec. 8 and Volume II will premiere Dec. 15. According to Deadline, Harry and Markle’s documentary has been unofficially slated to debut on Netflix for quite a while, though that date has been thrown into question for a variety of reasons. The outlet noted that the streamer was shaken up after “attacks” from former Prime Minister John Major were aimed at “The Crown” season five. Major, as per CNN, reportedly referred to the Netflix drama’s depiction of his time in office as “damaging and malicious fiction.” “They’re rattled at Netflix, and they blinked first and decided to postpone the documentary,” a source told Deadline. Now, however, the series will continue on as planned. Reps for Archewell did not immediately respond toPOPSUGAR’s request for comment.
In a new trailer for Netflix’s Harry and Meghan series, Prince Harry speaks of “leaking and… planting of stories” as part of a “dirty game.”
In an apparent reference to his wife, Meghan, and mother, Princess Diana, he describes the “pain and suffering of women marrying into this institution.”
The topic of race is brought up, with one commentator describing the couple’s experience as : “It is all about hatred. It all about race.”
The series will be available on Thursday.
A further three episodes of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s account of royal life will follow on 15 December. It has a 15 age rating, with Netflix’s listing saying it deals with “discrimination”.
The latest trailer shows a series of hard-hitting comments, which show no sign of any olive branches to the Royal Family.
Instead there is a commentary that claims “there was a war against Meghan to suit other people’s agendas”.
Over an image of senior royals on the Buckingham Palace balcony, Prince Harrysays: “There’s a hierarchy of the family. You know there’s leaking, but there’s also planting of stories.”
Prince Harry and Meghan, who are no longer “working royals”, were not allowed on to that symbolic balcony for late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
In the previous trailer there was a noticeable image of Catherine, Princess of Wales, looking very stony-faced and this latest teaser includes another austere picture of her, alongside Camilla, the Queen Consort, and Sophie, the Countess of Wessex.
The trailer for the six-part series shows a quickfire narrative of the couple’s difficult relationship with the royals, the media and the public – which ended with Prince Harry and Meghan moving to the US.
It begins with Meghan being warmly received by the public – treated like a “royal rock star”.
But then it suggests “everything changed”, with Prince Harry talking of leaks and planted stories and with a commentator referring to “hatred” and “race”.
The trailer links Meghan’s experience to the pressure faced by Princess Diana using images of the intense press attention surrounding her – with Meghan saying “I realised, they’re never going to protect you”.
“We know the full truth,” says Prince Harry at the end.
Last week, a teaser for the season was released at the same time as Prince Harry’s brother, the Prince of Wales, was in the US to present his Earthshot environmental prize.
The documentary is said to offer an insight into what the couple describe as the inside story of why they stepped back from their royal duties.
Prince Harry and Meghan formally stepped down as senior royals in March 2020.
A year later, during an interview with US talk show host Oprah Winfrey,Meghan said life within the Royal Family became so difficult at times she “didn’t want to be alive anymore”.
The trailer for the upcoming documentary comes against a backdrop of a royal race row following comments to a black British guest at Buckingham Palace.
Lady Susan Hussey, Prince William’s godmother and lady-in-waiting to the late Queen, stood down from her honorary duties last week after Ngozi Fulani, the founder of the charity Sistah Space, described how she had been repeatedly asked where she “really” came from at a reception.
A spokesman for Prince William responded to the row by saying that “racism has no place in our society”.
The trailer for Harry and Meghan’s new documentary series has been released.
The one-minute preview, released by Netflix, features previously unseen black and white photographs of the couple set to music.
They are heard being asked “Why did you want to make this documentary?” to which Harry replies: “No one sees what’s happening behind closed doors.”
He adds: “I had to do everything I could to protect my family” before Meghan is seen wiping away tears.
The trailer ends with Meghan saying: “When the stakes are this high, doesn’t it make more sense to hear our story from us?”
Images of William and Kate with Harry and Meghan at the Commonwealth Day service in 2020, the Sussexes’ final public appearance as senior working royals, feature among the images.
There are also joyful pictures of the couple kissing while Meghan sits on a kitchen counter, as newlyweds dancing at their wedding, cuddling in a photobooth, and Meghan cradling her baby bump.
But the duchess is also pictured in sadder moments, wiping away tears and sitting with her hands covering her face.
Image: Meghan and Harry. Pic: Netflix
Netflix describes the documentary, titled Harry & Meghan, as a “global event” and says it is “coming soon” – reports say it will land on 8 December.
It says the show “explores the clandestine days of their early courtship and the challenges that led to them feeling forced to step back from their full-time roles in the institution”.
It features commentary from friends, family and royal historians.
It adds: “The series does more than illuminate one couple’s love story, it paints a picture of our world and how we treat each other.”
Harry and Meghan signed lucrative deals – thought to be worth well over £100m- with Netflix and Spotify after quitting the monarchy and moving to the US.
Despite his grief, the King has already started carrying out royal duties, holding his first audience with and greeting well-wishers gathered outside Buckingham Palace earlier on Friday.
King Charles vowed to serve the people of the United Kingdom with “loyalty, respect, and love” during his first televised address to the nation.
Offering words of comfort following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, the King paid tribute to her “love, affection, guidance, understanding and example” in a speech from Buckingham Palace.
“Queen Elizabeth was a life well lived; a promise with destiny kept and she is mourned most deeply in her passing. That promise of lifelong service I renew to you all today,” he said.
“Throughout her life, Her Majesty The Queen – my beloved mother – was an inspiration and example to me and to all my family, and we owe her the most heartfelt debt any family can owe to their mother.”
A memorial service for the Queen is being held at St Paul’s Cathedral, with 2,000 members of the public joining politicians, including the prime minister, to watch his address.
Speaking from the Blue Drawing Room of the palace, where his mother recorded some of her Christmas messages, His Majesty dedicated part of his speech to other senior royals, including his wife and children.
Of Camilla, now the Queen Consort, he said: “I know she will bring to the demands of her new role the steadfast devotion to duty on which I have come to rely so much.”
Speaking about his eldest son Prince William, who is now the Duke of Cornwall, Prince of Wales, and heir to the throne, the King said he would “continue to inspire” alongside his wife, Catherine.
He expressed his love for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan “as they continue to build their lives overseas” – in what could be considered a symbol of his bid for reconciliation amid past troubles with the couple.
As he begins his reign, the King also set out his changing role, saying it will “no longer be possible” for him to give as much “time and energies to the charities and issues” he cares “so deeply” about.
‘To my darling Mama…’
King Charles sat to deliver his address, with a posy of sweet peas mixed with rosemary placed on a desk in front of him, which represents remembrance.
“On behalf of all my family, I can only offer the most sincere and heartfelt thanks for your condolences and support,” the King said.
“They mean more to me than I can ever possibly express.
“And to my darling Mama, as you begin your last great journey to join my dear late Papa, I want simply to say this: thank you.”
He thanked the Queen for her “love and devotion” before concluding his address with a quote from the William Shakespeare play Hamlet.
“May ‘flights of Angels sing thee to thy rest,” His Majesty said.
He shook hands with dozens of people and was also hugged and kissed before walking through the palace gates with his wife by his side.
Despite his grief, the monarch has already started carrying out royal duties, holding his first audience with Prime Minister Liz Truss earlier on Friday.
He returned to London with the Queen Consort, after spending Thursday at Balmoral to be with the Queen before she died.
Dressed in a black suit and tie, the grieving King left the royal residence seated in the back of a car, with his wife in the front passenger seat, as they were driven to Aberdeen airport.
The monarch is due to be proclaimed at the Accession Council at 10 am on Saturday in the State Apartments of St James’s Palace, Buckingham Palace has said – with the process televised for the first time in history.
A 7-year-old beagle named Mamma Mia has been accepted by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle into their family. Learn more about the family’s newest, lovely baby.
The 7-year-old beagle was recently adopted by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex after being rescued from a Virginia breeding facility that was allegedly guilty of numerous safety violations.
“The Duchess called me personally,” Shannon Keith, an animal rights attorney who runs the Beagle Freedom Project, told the Los Angeles Times on Aug. 24, revealing that the call led to the couple stopping by the non-profit organization earlier this month.
Although Mia was rescued along with eight of her newborn puppies, as Shannon explained, the pair fell in love with the beagle mom instantly during their visit. “The Duchess is holding Mia and was like, We’re adopting her,’” Keith said. “‘We want ones we can help who are older.’”
But before they departed with their newfound family member for her new home in Montecito, Keith said Prince Harry noted that Mia couldn’t be without a keepsake. “He’s just like, Well, we can’t leave yet because there’s something in that back house she needs,’” Shannon recalled. “‘Does she have a favorite toy or something?’”
And after Mia grabbed a fox toy that she had played with for the duration of her trip from the facility to the organization in Los Angeles, they were set. As Shannon shared, the Duke said, “OK, now we can go home.”
Beagle Freedom Project/Mega
Mia isn’t the first furry friend to join Meghan and Harry’s family. Before tying the knot, Meghan was already a dog mom after adopting a beagle named Guy and a pup named Bogart from a rescue shelter. In August 2018, shortly after the pair wed, they expanded their family by adopting another rescue dog, a black Labrador named Pula.
“After a life spent being forced to give birth to litter after litter of puppies destined for laboratories,” Kitty Block, president, and chief executive of the Humane Society of the United States told the New York Times on Aug. 24. “I can think of no more fitting happily ever after’ than being adopted by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.”
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, made a formal complaint to British broadcaster ITV relating to Piers Morgan’s comments about her mental health, CNN has learned.
ITV announced on Tuesday that Morgan would leave the program he hosted, “Good Morning Britain,” after he cast doubt on whether Meghan had suicidal thoughts, a major revelation from her blockbuster interview with Oprah Winfrey.
“Following discussions with ITV, Piers Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain,” ITV said on Tuesday. “ITV has accepted this decision and has nothing further to add.”
CNN understands that Meghan’s complaint to ITV concerned the impact Morgan’s comments could have on others and how it could degrade the seriousness of mental health issues. The complaint did not relate to the personal nature of Morgan’s attacks.
On Monday’s edition of “Good Morning Britain,” Morgan questioned whether the Duchess was being truthful about having suicidal thoughts. His comments sparked a huge controversy in Britain, and he was rebuked by mental health charity Mind.
UK media regulator Ofcom said it had received over 41,000 complaints about Monday’s edition of “Good Morning Britain,” and had launched an investigation under its “harm and offence rules.”
On Wednesday, Morgan said that he “still” does not believe Meghan. “I’ve had time to reflect on this opinion, and I still don’t [believe her],” Morgan tweeted. “If you did, OK. Freedom of speech is a hill I’m happy to die on. Thanks for all the love, and hate. I’m off to spend more time with my opinions.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have told the UK’s tabloid press they are ending all co-operation with them.
In a letter to editors of all the Sun, Mirror, Mail and Express titles and websites, a representative said the pair had taken the step due to “distorted, false or invasive” stories.
Harry and Meghan said they refused to “offer themselves up as currency for an economy of click bait and distortion”.
The couple have relocated to California after stepping back as senior royals.
In the letter, the couple’s public relations representative wrote it was “gravely concerning that an influential slice of the media” has printed “distorted, false or invasive” articles.
“There is a real human cost to this way of doing business and it affects every corner of society,” the letter said.
“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have watched people they know – as well as complete strangers – have their lives completely pulled apart for no good reason, other than the fact that salacious gossip boosts advertising revenue.”
The BBC was told that the letter had been sent to the editors of the Sun, the Daily Mail, the Daily Mirror and the Daily Express newspapers.
The Daily Star, which was not specifically mentioned, is published by the same group that publishes the Mirror and Express titles.
The ban on engagement with the papers will mean that the couple’s PR team will no longer even answer calls from the papers asking them to confirm whether claims made about the couple are true or not.
‘Not avoiding criticism’
Outlining the new policy of “no corroboration and zero engagement” with all the publications that received it, the letter said the measure would also protect the couple’s communications team “from the side of the industry that readers never see”.
“This policy is not about avoiding criticism,” the letter continued.
“It’s not about shutting down public conversation or censoring accurate reporting. Media have every right to report on and indeed have an opinion on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, good or bad. But it can’t be based on a lie.”
Prince Harry has spoken in the past of seeing – as a young child – the effect media intrusion had on his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales Copyright :PA Media
The letter said the couple will continue to work with other media and “young, up-and-coming journalists” to raise awareness of the issues and causes they care about.
In recent days, photographs of the Sussexes delivering food to vulnerable people in Los Angeles have been published by two of the newspapers to receive the letter.
As The Duke and Duchess of Sussex now settle into the next chapter of their lives and no longer receive any publicly funded support, we are writing to set a new media relations policy, specifically as it pertains to your organisation.
Like you, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex believe that a free press is a cornerstone to any democracy— particularly in moments of crisis. At its best, this free press shines light on dark places, telling stories that would otherwise go untold, standing up for what’s right, challenging power, and holding those who abuse the system to account.
It has been said that journalism’s first obligation is to the truth. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex agree wholeheartedly.
It is gravely concerning that an influential slice of the media, over many years, has sought to insulate themselves from taking accountability for what they say or print—even when they know it to be distorted, false, or invasive beyond reason. When power is enjoyed without responsibility, the trust we all place in this much-needed industry is degraded.
There is a real human cost to this way of doing business and it affects every corner of society.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have watched people they know—as well as complete strangers—have their lives completely pulled apart for no good reason, other than the fact that salacious gossip boosts advertising revenue.
With that said, please note that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will not be engaging with your outlet. There will be no corroboration and zero engagement. This is also a policy being instated for their communications team, in order to protect that team from the side of the industry that readers never see.
This policy is not about avoiding criticism. It’s not about shutting down public conversation or censoring accurate reporting. Media have every right to report on and indeed have an opinion on The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, good or bad. But it can’t be based on a lie.
They also want to be very clear: this is not in any way a blanket policy for all media.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are looking forward to working with journalists and media organisations all over the world, engaging with grassroots media, regional and local media, and young, up-and-coming journalists, to spotlight issues and causes that so desperately need acknowledging. And they look forward to doing whatever they can to help further opportunities for more diverse and underrepresented voices, who are needed now more than ever.
What they won’t do is offer themselves up as currency for an economy of click bait and distortion.
We are encouraged that this new approach will be heard and respected.
Prince Harry could give up hunting because his wife dislikes the sport, according to conservationist Dr Jane Goodall.
In an interview with Radio Times, Dr Goodall said she had spoken to the Duke of Sussex since he and Meghan stepped down as senior royals.
At the suggestion that Harry and his brother, the Duke of Cambridge, were champions of the natural world, she said: “Yes, except they hunt and shoot. But I think Harry will stop because Meghan doesn’t like hunting, so I suspect that is over for him.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have previously championed environmental causes, including setting up an eco-tourism initiative, Travelyst, under their Sussex Royal Foundation.
Image: Dr Jane Goodall visited Harry and Meghan last year
Meghan also asked for her earnings from her voiceover role on Disney+ film Elephant to be donated to Elephants Without Borders, a wildlife charity supported by Harry.
Dr Goodall, 86, said she thought Harry was finding life “a bit challenging” following his move to Los Angeles.
“I don’t know how his career is going to map out, but yes, I’ve been in touch, though I think he’s finding life a bit challenging just now,” she said.
