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The British royal family stuck to routine and remained silent on Friday for the second half of the The documentary of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan series that makes heavy demands on Harry’s brother, Prince William.
While the first half of the six-part Netflix series focused on the couple’s harrowing encounters with the British media, the final three episodes have directed criticism at the royal “firm” – the family and its staff.
In three one-hour episodes released on Thursday, Harry claimed William shouted at him during a family meeting and accused palace officials of lying to protect his older brother, who is now heir to the throne. Megan talks about wanting to end her life as she struggled to cope with toxic press coverage.
Harry, grandson of the deceased Queen Elizabeth IImarried American actress Meghan Markle in a fairytale wedding at Windsor Castle in 2018. Less than two years later, the couple left Britain, citing what they saw as racist media treatment of Meghan and a lack of support from the palace.
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In the documentary, Harry, 38, said William attacked him during a family gathering at Sandringham Castle in January 2020 to talk about the couple’s plan to step back as senior royals.
“It was terrifying to have my brother yelling and screaming at me and my dad saying things that just weren’t true. And my grandmother, you know, quietly sits there and takes it all in,” Harry said.
He also accused royal communications staff of “leaking” and “planting” stories in the media, claiming staff would seek to deflect negative coverage of one royal by publishing a story about another family member.
Meghan, 41, revealed she considered suicide amid a barrage of negative media coverage before the couple decided to break with the royal family.
“It was like, ‘This is all going to stop if I’m not here,'” she said.
Harry added that he believed the Mail on Sunday’s publication of a letter Meghan wrote to her estranged father – for which she successfully sued the newspaper’s publisher – contributed to her miscarriage in 2020.
Neither Buckingham Palace, which represents the king, nor William’s office at Kensington Palace have commented on the series.
There were no dissenting opinions in the documentary, which included interviews with the couple and supportive friends and commentators.
Royal expert Pauline McLarnan, author of “Royal Fever: The British Monarchy in Consumer Culture”, said the relationship between William and Harry would be “very difficult to repair” following the bombshell claims.
“It does seem very definitive,” she said.
Hours after the final episodes aired, senior members of the royal family showed unity by attending a Christmas charity concert in London on Thursday night. William, his wife Kate and their two older children, George and Charlotte, were joined at the carol concert at Westminster Abbey by King Charles III, Queen Camilla and other family members.
British newspapers, at the center of much of the couple’s ire, were furious about the series. The Daily Mail said in an editorial that the “only saving grace” was that Queen Elizabeth II, who died in September, “was spared to see this obscene exercise in self-promotion”.
The Sun called Harry a “traitor”, contrasting him with the “obedient” William.
The Times of London has called for Meghan and Harry to give up their royal titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
“Harry and Meghan must realize the hypocrisy of claiming they are still royals,” the newspaper said in an editorial. “They have made it clear that they see themselves as at war with the institution of monarchy, an institution they seem to despise.”
The show comes at a crucial time for the monarchy. The king is trying to show the institution still has a role to play after the death in September of his mother, whose personal popularity softened criticism of the crown during her 70-year reign.
Although the Netlfix series has soured the couple’s relationship with the royal family – perhaps irreparably – McLarnan said it will likely help the pair build their new careers as US-based charity activists and media personalities.
“I think it will build their brand pretty well,” she said. “I think a lot of people will see more of their perspective, but especially the (younger) generation. And I really think that’s where they’ve always aimed.
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