What are the 7 things we learn from Harry & Meghan Netflix series?
1. Biased but sympathy-inducing
The programme lays bare the emotional toll the couple feel they suffered at the hands of the media and the royal family.
They talk about Meghan’s struggle with thoughts of suicide. Harry admits that he “didn’t deal with it well”. Meghan’s mother, Doria, cries as she says it “broke my heart” to hear her daughter wanted to take her own life.
They share their belief that the miscarriage Meghan experienced was brought on by stress, as a result of the court case against Associated Newspapers.
They film paparazzi in helicopters, boats and cars surrounding their Canadian home. They discuss how scared they felt.
Most viewers couldn’t help but feel a great deal of pity. Of course, the story is biased. Only their point of view is being presented.
To ensure that we are aware of their pain, the program’s creators use a soundtrack that is emotionally charged. (At one point, we notice that Roberta Flack’s song Do What You Gotta Do contains the line, “I loved you better than your own kin did.”)
But despite the fact that they may be manipulating us, their suffering is obvious.
2. Many questions remained unanswered
The assertion that there is racism in the royal family was one of the most devastating aspects of their interview with Oprah Winfrey.
We still don’t know who purportedly questioned how dark Archie’s complexion would be after six episodes of Harry & Meghan. Apart from using it as an illustration of how the Palace apparatus tried to discredit her, Meghan doesn’t address the allegations of bullying made against her.
We also don’t know what Prince William allegedly yelled at his brother at their meeting to discuss the future of Sandringham.
The Netflix cameras are reportedly filming as Harry receives a text from his brother the day following the shocking Oprah appearance. His expression is strained as he says, “I wish I knew what to do.”
We wish we knew what the text said but we don’t find out. These programmes still leave a lot hanging.
3. A tragic tale of two brothers
Anyone who saw the princes as youngsters accompanying their mother’s casket to her funeral will probably feel extremely saddened by the state of their relationship today.
Harry is considerably more openly critical of his brother in this second collection of episodes. He thinks that Prince William’s office was involved in what he terms the “dirty game” of negative media briefings by the royal communications teams.
The boys had decided they would never do that after witnessing how his father’s team would brief against their mother, according to him. The message is that William put himself above everyone else.
The pair’s relationship is ruined, and it doesn’t seem like things will get better any time soon.
4. Story is more complicated
This “truth” is what they believe to be the case. There are inconsistencies. We’ve heard rumours of jealousy because Meghan and Harry were dominating the news. According to our source, “they” began to brief against them. Additionally, we learn that the palace gave its approval to an entire Meghan and Harry documentary produced by ITV, in which she famously discussed her struggles.
What are the 7 things we learn from Harry & Meghan Netflix series?
Life is not binary, though. The story may not be as straightforward as they believe it to be, but it’s also possible to sense that their departure will be a significant loss for the royal family and for Britain as a whole.
Who could ever forget the happiness that surrounded their union? The gospel choir in the Abbey and Meghan’s appearance collaborating with the Grenfell neighbourhood. What happened can’t help but feel like a missed opportunity to move royalty into a more representative 21st Century.
5. Is it always Harry’s destiny?
In episode 6, Harry says “Everything that happened to us was always going to happen to us. If you speak truth to power, that’s how they respond.”
His tale, though, began much earlier. Losing his mother, free falling to reduce the pain (while making some questionable decisions along the way), finding a lady he could project his mother onto, and a lot of therapy.
Perhaps Harry’s “journey” was always going to wind up with him living alone in California, separated from his family, and tending to wounds that have been festering for years.
He obviously believes that by defending Meghan, against the press, and against the family, he is putting things right for his late mother.
He sees Meghan as Diana’s successor. When the couple talks about how challenging it was to outperform more senior royals with favourable frontpages (previously, as they see it, they were fed to the wolves), he says “My mum felt the same way”.
Meghan has filled the void his mother left, whether he is correct or not. And it’s obvious that he’s still processing the sorrow and rage Diana’s passing triggered.
6. Comparison of California’s life to the UK
We are shown the golden state in all its splendour, with its beaches, palm palms, and expansive skies (and a bit of yoga and meditation along the way).
It’s tough to avoid drawing comparisons between it and the more formal life we’ve seen shown in the UK and the theme running through the series that racism played a significant role in what they experienced.
The target audience for this programme is America, where the pair is more well-known.
In vibrant cinematic colour, California and their lives are made clear. (And let’s not forget that despite the personal cost, their lives are very wonderful — they have a large house, a sizable Netflix check, two adorable kids, and famous friends.)
They are emphasising to Britain how warmly they are welcomed in the United States. The UK appears greyer and less free in contrast.
7. What’s the next chapter?
At one point Harry says – in a sign he’s put his faith in therapy as the answer – that “in order for change to happen, a lot of pain has to happen and come to the surface. In order for us to move to the next chapter, you have to finish the first chapter.”
Perhaps it’s an admission that the couple’s relationship with the royal family will end once his memoir is out.
The title of that memoir, Spare, is interpreted as a jab at aristocratic customs, specifically the heir and the (slighted) spare.
However, when I watch these shows, I begin to question if Harry is the lucky one. He can leave because he is the spare. He may pitch his story to Netflix as the spare.
He may sell his story to Netflix as the spare. He has the option of taking the “freedom flight” he suggests.
To suggest that we should feel sorry for William and Kate is absurd. They live a life that the rest of us can only dream of in many ways.
But are they also confined to a narrative that they cannot alter? We are unlikely to hear their “truth,” or their side of the story.
Harry and Meghan will put it behind them and begin the next phase of their life, if they have any sense at all.
