Meghan and Harry should be stripped of titles, after Netflix documentary royal insiders say
Royal insiders and commentators have lashed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, saying they should lose their royal titles and dubbed them “worse than the Kardashians”.
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Royal insiders and commentators have lashed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s docuseries, and have said they should lose their royal titles, dubbing the show a “travesty”.
Princess Diana’s former butler Paul Burrell said the Sussexes should lose their royal titles, telling the Lorraine breakfast show in the UK that Prince Harry has shown images in the series Prince William did not want to be aired again.
Royal photographer Arthur Edwards told News Corp he did not understand the point of the docuseries.
“Harry was such a nice guy, what’s the point of going on about press intrusion when, since the Leveson report, the UK press has peeled right off the royal family?
“Yes, when Harry and Meghan first started dating, there was a pressure on photographers to get the first picture, but no one continually chased them relentlessly, like they’re claiming.
“We told the palace to give us one picture of the new couple and everyone would have left them alone. They ignored us.
“That start of their romance could have been handled better by the Palace. Harry and Meghan are just milking the attention now for a reported $100 million Netflix and Spotify deal,” he said.
Royal biographer Robert Jobson also noted it was “interesting” that Prince Harry used footage from Princess Diana’s infamous BBC interview, tweeting: “This photograph used by Netflix and Harry and Meghan to suggest intrusion by the press is a complete travesty.
“It was taken from an accredited pool at Archbishop Tutu’s residence in Cape Town. [sic]
“William said after the Dyson report it should not be aired again.
Prince Harry said: “The ripple effect of a culture of exploitation & unethical practices ultimately took her life.”
Mr Burrell added the Netflix documentary was the final nail in the coffin for his relationship with the royals.
“These two could have had it all, they would have been protected by the Palace police but they chose to cash in, this is what this is all about,” he said.
“There is no way back for Harry now, the King will be personally furious, he won’t be going to the coronation. It’s very sad.
“Diana would remind Harry of his position, and the Queen would have been upset that Harry has shared so many private things.”
“If you want to see women surviving the royal monarchy, look at Kate, look at Sophie Wessex, because they know how to conform to the system.
“There is a place for Harry in the nation’s hearts but people are now saying ‘enough’.”
Controversial journalist and broadcaster Piers Morgan branded the series a “grotesque whine-a-thon, tweeting the Duchess “trashing” her own father, who is still recovering from a massive stroke, was a low blow.
“Ms Compassion hasn’t even called him,” he said. “It’s amazing what people will do when they’re offered a huge amount of money — hand over photographs to create a story … this is so funny,” he said.
On the duchess explaining why she uninvited her distraught niece to her wedding, he added, “Hilarious … Ms Compassion literally binned off her own family for the likes of George Clooney, Oprah & David Beckham.”
He added: “This is worse than Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Something I didn’t think was humanly possible.”
“God they’re so boring”, Morgan opined after the first hour and 45 minutes of the docuseries.
Former Sun editor Kelvin MacZenzie said: “Meghan claims she found the formality of the Royals ‘surprising’. Why? When, ahead of meeting The Queen, Harry asked if she could curtsy, Meghan says;” I thought it was a joke.” “The only joke is a self-involved, clapped out actress making money out of people who can’t reply.
On his show Dan Wootton Tonight, the British journalist branded the series hypocritical, tweeting: “For a couple who claim they care about their privacy, in less than half an hour Harry and Meghan have already shared with the world ‘private’ text message exchanges, ‘private’ photos from their dates, ‘private’ video diaries and ‘private’ clips of their son.
Prince Harry’s comment that men in the royal family usually marry someone who “fits the mould” also raised eyebrows.
“For so many people in the family, especially the men, there can be a temptation or an urge to marry someone who would fit the mould as opposed to somebody who you are perhaps destined to be with,” Prince Harry states in the docuseries.
Mr Wooton described the statement as an “obvious and very cruel dig at William and Kate by Harry …”
But author Jeffrey Archer, who was a close friend of Princess Diana, told British broadcaster Jeremy Vine that there were no “revelatory” bombshells.
He also defended Princess Catherine after Ms Markle said she was frosty when they first met each other.
“I have sympathy for Kate, who hugs someone the first time they meet them? Kate is doing a wonderful job as Princess of Wales, and had to go through the exact same thing as Meghan.
“There is another brother and he’s doing a good job, he’s (Harry) not the only one in the family.”
Lady Victoria Hervey, Prince Andrew’s former girlfriend, said since Prince Harry has been with Ms Markle “people don’t care about him anymore”.
“The presence of having his wife around is just very toxic … it’s a very negative energy around him,” she said.
The Telegraph’s royal writer Camilla Tominey told the This Morning breakfast show: “There were no new truth bombs dropped compared to Oprah, if they hadn’t done Oprah then it would have been revelatory,” she said.
“Harry is also talking about consent, what is in the public domain and what isn’t.
“But the media gave them both hugely positive publicity, like with the Invictus Games. What changed after the Leveson [inquiry] is we didn’t go on their holidays or to restaurants they were eating at.
“But the intrusion is now around the US [paparazzi] as there isn’t that market in the UK.
“Their private lives are treated with great respect. Is it intrusion they’re objecting to or when the headlines become more negative? They can’t have it both ways.”
One of the King’s former senior aides, Kristina Kyriacou, said she was “heartened” by the content and that the series wasn’t as spiteful as the trailers for the series had suggested.
“You hope it’s cathartic for him telling his story and this is a process Harry and Meghan have to go through to heal and mend. But will this tale of woe now end?” she said.
“The undercurrent that comes through very, very strongly is Harry’s intrinsic deep suspicion and paranoia of the media.
“It’s understandable that he feels like that, and he has a deep mistrust, which clearly dates back to when his mother was alive, not to mention the unfortunate timing of her death.
“They’ve allowed us all to believe there’s this hugely sensationalist element. But in the first three episodes, it’s very much Harry and Megan telling their story, how they felt about one another and how they felt about the intrusion of the media as members of the royal family.
“I was heartened by the content – this is a documentary told in their own words. There’s no spitefulness and there’s so nastiness. It’s very much from the heart. You hope that this is quite cathartic for Harry telling the story in this way.
“My thought is, will this be the end to this story?” Ms Kyriacou said.
“Indeed, what you do see from these documentaries is that they were filming video diaries from before they actually left the UK for this documentary. So this is something they’ve had in mind for a long time.”
Buckingham Palace remained tight-lipped about the series, sending an operational note about the Lithuanian ambassador to the UK to journalists signalling that it was business as usual.
“His Excellency Mr. Eitvydas Bajarunas was received in audience by The King this afternoon and presented the Letters of Recall of his predecessor and his own Letters of Credence as Ambassador from the Republic of Lithuania to the Court of St. James’s,” the royal communications note read.
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