Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary overshadows the good works of royal family
It has the world talking but Harry and Meghan’s Netflix series is stealing attention away from the good deeds that the royal family is known for, writes Kerry Parnell.
Opinion
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The royal family enjoys comedy gifts, but something tells me they’re not chuckling at this one.
They have a tradition of swapping funny presents at Christmas – Princess Anne famously gave King Charles a leather toilet seat and the Queen was gifted a Big Mouth Billy Bass – which she displayed at Balmoral.
However, just like those annoying warbling fish, I bet the Windsors wish they could mute Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary.
The first three episodes of Harry & Meghan were released on Thursday and rather like receiving an enormous gift-wrapped box, only to discover smaller and smaller ones inside, Russian doll-style, the actual heart of the first part isn’t that substantial.
Having sat through all three hours, I can report it is fairly benign, with few real missiles, other than the much-repeated message Britain is racist and disparaging the commonwealth.
The love story is charming; the footage of Archie, sweet; hearing from Doria, insightful (“I was absolutely stunned that Tom would become part of this circus … that he would capitalise. That’s not parenting,” she said of ex-husband Thomas Markle).
There were a few jibes at the royal family, but nothing like the Oprah interview, although that may come in the second half. The inclusion of the Panorama interview was surprising, as Prince William had specifically asked that it “should never be aired again. It effectively established a false narrative which, for over a quarter of a century, has been commercialised by the BBC and others,” he said. However, on the documentary, Harry said, “she spoke the truth of her experience”.
Harry’s claim his 10 years in the army gave him “lived experience that other members of my family wouldn’t have had”, would also, you’d imagine, be met with confusion, considering Prince Philip was a decorated WWII naval hero, Prince Andrew served in the Falklands War and Prince William spent seven years in the military, followed by a stint as an air ambulance pilot.
My summary? It was very Macbeth, “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”. Less Thane of Cawdor, more Bane of Montecito.
There are lots of “our truths”, which Sussex critics, like Piers Morgan, are gleefully pointing out are not “the truth”, but for me, the cruellest blow, is the timing of the documentary, which is taking away from any Christmas cheer the royal family may have hoped to spread. Rather like bosses who schedule difficult meetings for late December and consign you to a turkey of a Christmas, the release date is somewhat Scrooge-like.
While the world watches the Sussexes share their story, they don’t notice Camilla, Queen Consort, hosting terminally and critically ill children at her annual Christmas event at Clarence House, or Prince William awarding MBEs to paralympians, activists and charity workers at Windsor.
The second instalment of Harry & Meghan comes out this Thursday, on the same day the rest of the family will be attending the Princess of Wales’ carol service, at Westminster Abbey.
The Together at Christmas concert is dedicated to the life of the Queen, with readings by the Prince of Wales, Kristin Scott Thomas and Hugh Bonneville.
Silent Night has never been so poignant.
Team Wales vs Team Sussex is the real World Cup
Who needs the World Cup when we’ve got the Windsor one? This week we watched a royal rematch between Team Wales and Team Sussex.
The Prince and Princess of Wales have been in the US hosting their Earthshot Prize. Hoping to score points on the east coast, their game plan was thrown by the double-header of a racism row at Buckingham Palace and Harry and Meghan launching their Netflix documentary in the middle of it.
William and Catherine were in Boston for the Earthshot Prize Awards ceremony on Friday, where they also met President Joe Biden. The Wales’ goodwill window was always going to be short but they could never have imagined how quickly they’d get transferred.
They found themselves off-side by racism accusations from a domestic violence reception in Buckingham Palace, hosted by Camilla, Queen Consort.
The Sussex squad, warming up for the launch of their Netflix documentary, saw an open goal on Thursday and dropped the trailer for Harry & Meghan, right in the middle of the negative headlines.
On it, Meghan says, “When the stakes are this high, doesn’t it make sense to hear our story from us?”
Ngozi Fulani, founder of domestic abuse organisation Sistah Space, had told how the Queen’s former lady-in-waiting, Lady Susan Hussey, repeatedly asked her, “where she really came from.”
Prince William’s godmother, aged 83, immediately stood down and the Palace issued a statement saying the remarks were “unacceptable and deeply regrettable.”
A spokesperson said, “We have reached out to Ngozi Fulani on this matter, and are inviting her to discuss all elements of her experience in person if she wishes,” which sounded good, except Ngozi went on Good Morning Britain on Thursday and said, “nobody’s reached out to me.”
If William and Catherine were hoping to win back the hearts of the American people, who already thought the institution racist in its treatment of Meghan, they hadn’t reckoned with this.
Certainly, their charm, poise and passion for the environment went down well and may have levelled the score but they’ll have to play a longer game if they want to see real results.
Naming their environmental prize Earthshot in honour of JFK’s Moonshot, it made sense that William and Catherine joined forces with the Kennedys – America’s political royalty – for the occasion.
They teamed with JFK’s daughter and Ambassador to Australia, Caroline Kennedy, and her son Jack Schlossberg.
However, Team Sussex sided with activist Kerry Kennedy, daughter of Robert F. Kennedy. Due to present Harry and Meghan with a Ripple of Hope Award in New York on Tuesday, she is outspoken in her support of them.
“They went to the oldest institution in UK history and told them what they were doing wrong, that they couldn’t have structural racism within the institution; that they could not maintain a misunderstanding about mental health,” she said.
With balls being lobbed from everywhere, this royal commentator could hardly keep up. Sussex supporter Omid Scobie was loving it, tweeting if Friday was “Prince William’s Super Bowl, then here’s your halftime show”, with a link to the documentary.
My post-match analysis is, while Team Sussex had a home advantage, Team Wales lost with an own-goal. But there’s still everything to play for.
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