Harry and Meghan brace for bombshell new doco, Harry: The Lost Prince
The Sussexes’ are the focus of a new documentary that questions their credibility and their so-called newfound ‘freedom’.
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The director of a new documentary which casts a critical eye over Megxit has concluded that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have “set the bar very high” and have “not lived up to the image”.
Instead the couple have “isolated themselves” and appear separate, unable to create a functioning image together.
Harry: The Lost Prince, directed by German journalist Ulrike Grunewald and set to air in Germany Tuesday local time, examines Harry and Meghan’s life post-royalty in California.
It looks at the challenges faced by the couple and their strained royal family relations following Queen Elizabeth II’s death and King Charles III’s health issues.
The 45-minute film has been more than a year in the making and asks whether or not Harry and Meghan have succeeded in ‘finding freedom’ and launching themselves as a financially independent, globally influential force.
Ms Grunewald, who is also the presenter of German news and current affairs show, Heute-Journal (Today-Journal), and a royal correspondent since 1987 when she accompanied Prince Charles and Princess Diana on their visit to Germany, told the Daily Mail: “Harry and Meghan have set the bar very high. They want to be global benefactors who bring about tangible change. So far, they have not lived up to this image at all.”
Ms Grunewald travelled to Montecito, California to interview the Duke and Duchess and their friends and found out that the Sussexes had not been totally embraced by the West Coast’s powerbrokers and elites.
“The cultural life is very lively,” said Ms Grunewald, “but everything often takes place in closed circles and Harry and Meghan rarely take part in these activities. They seem to have isolated themselves a lot.”
On top of that, the film director said she was baffled by the couple’s Archewell Foundation.
“What surprised me most was how ineffectively Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Foundation is organised,” she told the Mail.
“The amount of donations has fallen drastically in one year: from 13 million dollars in 2021 to two million dollars declared in 2022/23.”
The foundation was started in 2020 and Meghan and Harry reportedly work one hour a week for the non-profit.
Ms Grunewald also examined Harry’s Invictus initiative – the Invictus Games was held in Dusseldorf in 2023 and was attended by 500 disabled servicemen as well as Meghan.
But it was later reported that the games had cost the German taxpayer 40 million euros.
“A year before the Invictus Games Harry and Meghan visited the city [Dusseldorf] for a day. I was reporting for [German TV network] ZDFRoyal at the time and wanted to find out more. How is an event like this organised and who pays for it?”
Ms Grunewald’s overall verdict on whether or not the Sussexes had achieved their goals was mixed.
“During the year that we worked on this film, a change of strategy was recognisable in Harry and Meghan. They started out as a power duo in their new life in California. Now they mainly appear separately, as they were unable to create a functioning image together. They have come down to earth.”
But she is not convinced their strategy for an independent and innovative life in the US are working.
Ms Grunewald said: “To be fair, from his point of view Harry wanted the best for his own family. And surely he has now gained valuable experience in California and learnt what it means to have to stand on his own two feet. He would never have been able to do that in the close circle of the royal family.
“He now has to decide for himself what he has to offer the people he wants to inspire for his business and charitable causes. He is still surrounded by a certain royal glamour, but in the tough atmosphere of the Hollywood industry this can wear off.
“People have long memories and few revelations can be more damaging to their image than the private details that Harry and Meghan have made public themselves in the last few years.”
“They don’t seem credible, which is underpinned by their disastrous poll ratings.”
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Originally published as Harry and Meghan brace for bombshell new doco, Harry: The Lost Prince
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