I had no intention of watching the Netflix docuseries “Harry & Meghan,” the first three episodes of which dropped on Dec. 8. Though the former royal couple had my sympathy, they didn’t deserve more of my attention. At least, that’s what I told myself. My vow not to watch lasted until Dec. 10, when I was alone in the kitchen baking and cooking and starved for the distraction that can be provided only by two rich, attractive people bathed in ethereal light, answering softball questions lobbed by a mostly off-camera interviewer and accompanied by a soundtrack straight out of “Downton Abbey.”
I don’t want to think that I’ve been betting on the wrong team. I want to admire Harry and Meghan. But I’m done with watching their “poor me” act. The fact is, I’ve always liked Meghan and Harry. I have been particularly impressed by Meg (apparently that’s what those closest to her call her, and after watching the Netflix episodes, not to mention the Oprah Winfrey interview and way too many YouTube clips, I feel that includes me). I love that she went to Northwestern, minored in English, made it as an actress and had a full and interesting life before she met Harry and they became the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
This was someone, I found out around the time of the Oprah interview, who as a kid lobbied Procter & Gamble to change an ad campaign for dishwashing soap when she let the company know (quite rightly) that the ad was sexist. Soon after, it reworded the ad. The story lost none of its appeal in the Netflix series. In her early activism, Meg reminded me of my sister, who wrote a letter to our state assemblyman in New York in 1972 complaining that the law forbidding girls to deliver newspapers was sexist. The state assembly changed the law. (Maybe if my sister had married a prince, this would be common knowledge, but she’s married to an arborist and neither Oprah nor Netflix has shown any interest in their relationship.)
But Meg doesn’t just remind me of my sister; she reminds me of myself. We were both raised by strong, single mothers who encouraged us to be self-sufficient and were also fiercely protective. Meg seems as close to her mom as I was to mine. Harry, of course, isn’t as relatable. But I have always had empathy for him because we both lost a parent in early adolescence, and our surviving parent insisted that we keep calm and carry on. When you’re not allowed to acknowledge and express your grief, you turn it inward. All the privilege in the world can’t shield you from that kind of pain.
So I’ve always been on Team Sussex. As the drama around the couple unfolded over the years, I found their gripes legitimate. I can understand Harry’s ongoing trauma with the unconstrained media. If my mother had died the way Princess Diana did, I’d have trouble watching packs of reporters going after my wife. There’s no question that British outlets, and many others, treated Meg terribly, and that the racism she encountered was appalling.
But watching the Netflix series, whose last three episodes were released on Thursday, made me realize I’ve reached peak Harry and Meg consumption, and the ongoing airing of their dirty laundry makes me feel icky (not that it stopped me from watching). I’m not sure if the point of “Harry & Meghan” was to make people feel sorry for them, but that’s certainly one of the messages I got, and I found it cringeworthy. It’s time for them to stop playing the victim card. I keep thinking of that Shakespeare line, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” The context is different but the point is the same: Enough already.
Yes, they were treated really badly. But if anyone has the resources to pull themselves up and do something positive to overcome that, it’s the two of them. Maybe they think their Netflix series is that something. I disagree — and I’m not alone. It’d be one thing if they were out of options. But they’re healthy and incredibly wealthy, which affords them advantages that most people don’t have. True, H’s family doesn’t appear too happy with them, but at least they have Doria Ragland, who seems like a pretty dreamy, supportive mother-in-law.
Harry and Meg have every material comfort at their fingertips — and whatever material comfort they don’t have, they can certainly afford, in no part thanks to the money they’re reportedly earning from those of us tuning in to Netflix to watch them describe in detail how poorly they’ve been treated. Call me cynical, but I can’t help but feel that instead of wanting to move on from their genuinely difficult experiences, they’re determined to milk them for every cent they can. Traumatized people generally don’t want to rehash in perpetuity the details of their trauma, so the couple’s comfort in delivering blow-by-blows of each negative encounter suggests they’re interested in something other than healing.
That calls into question their motives for how they’ve shared their stories from the beginning, and makes me question my reflexive feelings of support. I can now understand why Buckingham Palace found their behavior insufferable. Moreover, this is a couple that has sued the media more than once over coverage they’ve claimed is invasive. Yet this series — coming on top of the Oprah interview and dozens of other opportunities to give their side of the story — suggests that they have an insatiable appetite for publicity that relies on sustained media interest in the smallest details of their lives.
I don’t doubt that they’ve suffered, but with every counterpunch that they splash in front of the camera, Harry and Meg run the risk of looking like Olympic-caliber grudge-holders. I did a double-take when I heard Harry’s latest revelation, in the fifth installment of the documentary, that his brother Prince William allegedly yelled at him when he announced that he wanted to pull out of family duties. It wasn’t just because I have trouble picturing buttoned-up-completely-in-control-of-himself-would-never-have-gone-to-a-party-wearing-a-Nazi-costume Wills screaming. I’d probably scream too if my only sibling announced that he was quitting the family business, leaving me to pick up the slack, manage the dysfunctional relatives and prop up a crumbling industry.
Maybe the future king yelled because he’s jealous. Maybe he wants to be able to do what Harry has — pull away from the palace and live by his own rules. Whatever the reason for Will’s outburst, assuming there was such an outburst, it ended up shifting my sympathies from the younger brother to the elder.
I doubt that the point of the docuseries was to remind Sussex fans such as myself of the darker aspects of their character. But that’s exactly what it’s done — along with reminding me that their perfect images are undoubtedly curated and edited. I don’t want to think that I’ve been betting on the wrong team. I want to admire Harry and Meghan. But I’m done with watching their “poor me” act. Maybe the former royals aren’t ready to stop telling everyone all their woes, but I’m done listening. For real this time.
Prince William is said to be deeply upset over how the U.K. press has been treating his wife. This claim was made by Christopher Andersen, author of “The King,” who told Fox News Digital that the Prince of Wales has been “simmering” with anger as Princess Kate Middleton is faced with fierce scrutiny and an onslaught of conspiracy theories surrounding her health.
“William is a very different breed of cat [from that of his father],” Andersen said. “William broods. He simmers. Then, like his father, he blows. … He’s trying to protect his wife’s privacy. He’s always had a grudge against the media, and he is even less likely than his father to feel the need to explain anything. William still blames the press for [his mother’s] death, and for all his outward charm and natural flair for diplomacy, he continues to view reporters as little more than jackals.”
In January, Kensington Palace announced that the Princess of Wales had unspecified abdominal surgery and would be out of sight for weeks. The news quickly triggered much speculation and gossip about her health. However, an admission from the 42-year-old that she altered an official family photo – one that was supposed to reassure the public that she was doing well – made things worse.
It’s a rare misstep for the princess, who has hardly put a foot wrong in her journey from William’s shy “commoner” girlfriend to the glamorous young mother of three who, more than any royal since Princess Diana, boosted the popularity and appeal of the British monarchy worldwide.
“William is under so much strain, and he is livid about what is being written and said about his ailing wife,” Andersen said. “… The Prince of Wales has had his own clashes with Kensington Palace staffers about how clumsily they’ve handled things. Fists have been slammed on tables and angry emails have been sent. There has been a flurry of finger-pointing, although William is more about solutions than assigning blame.”
“In the midst of all this, William is overwhelmed with having to shoulder such a heavy load while his father battles cancer, and that means little time for self-indulgent tantrums of the sort that the king was famous for,” Andersen said. “Still, William is bound to crack. It’s only a matter of time. Heads will roll; of that I am certain.”
It was also in January that Buckingham Palace announced that the king, 75, had been diagnosed with cancer. The type of cancer has not been revealed. It is not prostate cancer, but the disease was discovered during his recent treatment for an enlarged prostate. He has been seeking treatment.
“William is under an enormous amount of pressure as he tries to take up much of the slack left by his father and his wife,” Andersen said. “… Charles is clearly in a physically weakened and emotionally fragile state – the outpouring of concern for the king has brought him to tears. But the palace has bungled things badly; the king knows that better than anyone. As far as the monarchy is concerned, this has been nothing less than an epic PR fail. There have been tense moments and raised voices as staffers try to figure out how to restore the public’s trust in the monarchy post-Queen Elizabeth II. But short of the king himself coming clean about his medical condition, as well as Kate’s, the rumor mills will continue to churn furiously.”
Andersen said William’s priority is protecting his wife’s privacy. The princess has rarely been photographed during her recovery. And unlike his father, William is less likely “to feel the need to explain anything,” Andersen said. He also noted that the 41-year-old holds a grudge against the U.K. press.
His mother, Diana, died in 1997 from injuries she sustained in a Paris car crash. She was 36. At the time, Diana was being chased by paparazzi.
“The king and William have a deeply rooted antipathy toward the press,” Andersen said. “Faced with something personal and as serious as a medical issue, it’s understandable that father and son would be inclined to tell the tabloids to go to hell. Behind the scenes, they argue that it’s none of the press’s business, that such matters are not for public consumption.”
“In the past, the palace could count on the press to back off, in exchange for future access,” Andersen said. “But that arrangement can only go so far. You can’t have the king and the Princess of Wales both hospitalized at the same time only then to vanish for months without any plausible explanation as to why. … The public will be solidly in their corner, but first, they are entitled to know at least the broad outlines of what’s really going on behind palace walls. Instead, this curtain of secrecy we are only allowed to peer behind now and then is creating suspicion, resentment and no small amount of hysteria in the media.”
Like William, Charles’ alleged temper is well-known within the palace, Andersen said. He chronicled alleged past incidents in his book. At the time of the book’s publication in 2022, a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace didn’t immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. However, a palace source previously told Fox News Digital that “we don’t comment on such books.”
“King Charles has always had a Vesuvian temper. His tantrums and angry outbursts are legendary,” Andersen said. “He may be in a weakened condition as he undergoes cancer treatment, but remember that in the past he tore the sink off a bathroom wall in a fit of rage – twice. … During an argument with Diana, the then-Prince of Wales hurled a heavy wooden boot jack at her, missing her head by inches. On other occasions, he’s thrown objects at servants. … Once at a friend’s villa, Charles became so frustrated with a stuck bedroom window that he tossed a chair through it to ‘get some fresh air.’”
“… [His wife, Queen] Camilla has always been a calming influence, and since he became king, Charles has mellowed considerably,” Andersen continued. “That doesn’t mean he’s lost his edge entirely, by any means. When he is displeased by something, he lets his staff know it in no uncertain terms. They feel the royal heat.”
Andersen noted that William has “exploded” at his younger brother, Prince Harry, which the Duke of Sussex wrote about in his 2023 memoir, “Spare.” In the book, Harry alleged that during an argument in 2019, William called his wife, Meghan Markle, “difficult” and “rude” and then grabbed him by the collar and knocked him down. Harry suffered cuts and bruises from landing on a dog bowl. Harry said that Charles implored the brothers to make up. Following the funeral of Charles’ father, Prince Philip, in 2021, the king pleaded, “Please, boys, don’t make my final years a misery.”
Neither Buckingham Palace, which represents the king, nor William’s Kensington Palace office commented on any of the allegations.
“Maybe the preternaturally even-tempered Kate can hold it together, but I’m not so sure about the Windsor men,” said Andersen. “They are not amused with the way things are going. They have made it clear to their staff in window-rattling terms.”
Kensington Palace previously announced that the Princess of Wales is expected to return to public duties sometime after Easter.
Source: Fox News, AP News
