Netflix’s Harry & Meghan dropped on Thursday morning. All of the British media’s Friday papers have covers about the series, lots of emphasis on how they’ve disrespected Queen Elizabeth II, how little Harry has said about his father, how William is incandescent with rage, how Harry and Meghan should be stripped of their titles, etc, etc. Just wall-to-wall panic, rage, lies, contempt and ass-covering. And we haven’t even gotten to the meat of the series, which will be in Volume 2, the last three episodes. So, with all of this energy and all of this rage, you would think that all of those “royal sources” would agree that, no matter what, Harry and Meghan are still the most talked-about royals everywhere and that’s probably a huge problem for the monarchy? Not so fast! The Daily Beast’s Royalist column has yet another salty, stupid piece about how palace insiders are breathing a sigh of relief about how the series hasn’t done any damage to the king.
Insiders at Buckingham Palace are breathing sighs of relief after the new Netflix show Harry & Meghan failed to land any meaningful blows on King Charles or other members of the royal family. One source, as The Daily Beast reported Thursday, mocked the show, saying: “It’s hard to see what Netflix paid $100m for. If this is all they have got to say, I really think the worst is over for the king.”
However another source now says there is no room for “complacency” about the potential impact of the final block of three episodes due to be released next week. Harry and Meghan have also reportedly scheduled an appearance on the Tonight show next week to promote the show.
The source said: “The general feeling is one of relief and amazement. Relief that it was so bad, and amazement that they blew up the family for this.”
However, the source said that “no-one was inclined to underestimate” the Sussexes’ “capacity for surprises” and there was “no sense of complacency” about what next week’s episodes might bring.
It is understood that next week’s installments will continue the chronological sequence of their story, moving through the couple’s marriage, the birth of their children, their exiting of the royal family, and their new lives in California.
However, questions are now inevitably going to be asked as to whether the films will deliver on the trailers’ glossy promises of high drama after the lack of revelatory details in Thursday’s tranche of episodes.
Another source, a friend of the family, said the films “made a mockery” of the Sussexes’ regular complaints about press intrusion and would harm their credibility.
“It is beyond parody,” said the source. “They said they wanted more privacy—and now they are literally inviting the cameras into every aspect of their lives?”
“Relief that it was so bad, and amazement that they blew up the family for this.” What in the world are these palace insiders talking about? The show was “bad” because the Sussexes told their love story? It was “bad” that they… didn’t do six episodes about how much the Windsors f–king suck? Why is there such a palpable sense of anger coming from “royal insiders” that the Sussexes are NOT ripping the Windsors to shreds? It’s almost like – hear me out – the British media wants an excuse to spill some sh-t about the Windsors, yet they want to keep their hands clean and they expect the Sussexes to do their dirty work. And “amazement that they blew up the family for this.” This is making me so angry. I need to stop with these people.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Netflix.
-
- Britain’s King Charles III walks to attend an Advent Service at The Ethiopian Christian Fellowship Church, in London on December 8, 2022.,Image: 743249901, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
-
- Britain’s King Charles III attends an Advent Service at The Ethiopian Christian Fellowship Church, in London on December 8, 2022.,Image: 743249962, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
-
- Britain’s King Charles III attends an Advent Service at The Ethiopian Christian Fellowship Church, in London on December 8, 2022.,Image: 743250013, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
-
- Britain’s King Charles III reacts as he leaves after attending an Advent Service at The Ethiopian Christian Fellowship Church, in London on December 8, 2022.,Image: 743250067, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
-
- Britain’s King Charles III, accompanied by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, attends an Advent Service at The Ethiopian Christian Fellowship Church, in London on December 8, 2022.,Image: 743250243, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
Harry and Meghan didn’t do this docuseries for them and so they don’t give a shit if the family likes it or not. As it should be. Just more crap coming from them, trying to stay relevant. Yawn.
Can I say YAWN again 😍 TAMPONGATE needs to take a seat, horrible husband and even worse father 😫
So bad? Please. The gall of the courtiers, press and Charles. This is the same man who wished he was a fucking tampon so that he could climb into that decrepit old racist he married. I really cannot stand that family, the are the worst of the worst.
To be fair, I don’t think she was decrepit at the time, lol. But yeah, I agree with everything you’re saying here.
She was always decrepit. And always a nasty gaslight old monster.
If you don’t like “decrepit” just go with Used Up Old Hag.
I think he said he wanted to be her underwear to be close to her at all times but that knowing his luck, he’d be back as a tampon.
I’m not gonna kink shame anyone – just want to point out the specifics because facts matter and we want them to do the same for H&M (they won’t but if we care about facts, it should be all facts)
I have to say the specifics of Charles’s tampon conversation with his manipulating mistress are less of a concern for me on principle than Harry and Meghan getting violent threats and harassment for just trying to live and raise their kids.
So bad that 2.4 million viewers in the UK tuned in to the first episode.. the largest number ever and Netflix actually crashed/glitched because of all the people signing in. This number does not include computer, tablet or phone views. It also blows away the numbers of those who tuned into the crown when it was released.. So again they are just saying whatever they want acting like it’s the truth.I hope the royals and their mouthpiece rota have a devastatingly bitter cold winter.
Someone on twitter said something like “yeah but half of those were watching just to see how bad it was” and I was like, Netflix DOES NOT CARE! I don’t know why these people don’t get it. Netflix doesnt care why you stream. They care that you stream. Same with listening to Meghan’s podcast, and buying Harry’s book, and everything else. no one cares about your motives, they care about your money.
I did not want to watch Earthshot, so I didn’t. it wasn’t hard.
The trolls are all over Rotten Tomatoes in the “audience” section–and they have brought down the score with all their one stars. They repeat the talking points. Boring. Meghan is a narcissist. Etc.
How does his office think that as a king and a father- the documentary looks “so bad” – is a good look for him? It is petty and nasty. Seriously- head of state???- it is trump-esque.
No the worst imo is not over for the king. He does his own damage. Not harry and Meghan s fault Charles is withholding title from Edward
Exactly. This family creates their own problems.
The problem for the king is that he’s utterly irrelevant beyond his title.
Also a problem is that he’s an arrogant, entitled, unsightly, spoiled pr*ck.
@kelleybelle add adulterer to the list.
I normally would not want to support the British media in any way, but I do hope the Sussex’s give them what they want next week
Samesies
Haha, I love the way you phrased that, give them what they want. I came here to say…ummm, they know that was just the first half, right? They do know there are 3 more episodes, right, and the ones we’ve seen are building toward ‘giving them what they want?’ Can’t wait until next week!
💯 agree on this. The royal reporters wanted them to spill some real tea so they’d finally have license to write freely about Pegs. They’re disappointed.
100% the rota was delirious with the idea there would be drama so they could sell some stories and have more to threaten the family with revealing. “She wore a green dress and no one remembers their tour last week” does not sell clicks or ad space. 😂
Also the reason BP and the RR thinks it’s bad is because they can’t believe the royal family aren’t the centre of the story in the way kings used to believe the sun revolved around them. As if the name of the series wasn’t a strong clue!
Good for them pointing out the family and media have nothing to do with their love story lol. Also sure, KC3, be lured in by this terrible Netflix show… it’s just over a month until Spare drops.
Excellent point.
The british media is 100% mad that they didn’t blow things up. They want to be able to talk about everything and they were hoping H&M would give them an out to do that.
Also, why is this 100 million figure being tossed around like fact? do we know for sure that’s what the contract was worth?
The docuseries is exactly what Meghan said it would be – their love story – and its really well done. I think its funny bc the people I know who are complaining that its too boring are also pretty hard core royalists (even here in the States, lol) so its funny bc they seem to be disappointed that its NOT more salacious.
Oh yes the are bigly mad that they can’t drop their load on the RF esp the Keens without getting sued – remember Peggy has at least one super injunction against them. They only way they can get around that is if the story is broken outside of England (these super injunctions are not valid in Scotland, Wales and NI btw).
However we still have part 2 and his book so there could be some ‘tea’ spilled that could give the press the ‘out’ the need to drop their load. The press hate Peggy just as much as he hates Meghan.
Who knows? Maybe Liz Garbus snagged a sit-down interview with Rose Hanbury? Talk about blindsides, burning bridges, nails in the coffin, no way back. The Firm should not rest easy yet.
Actually, they got paid over 100 million. They were the most sort after couple after they left the Royal family and still are.
But has that figure been confirmed? That’s what I’m asking. I know its been speculated, but has it ever been confirmed?
One of the things with these types of contracts is that it’s not $100M up front. There is a signing amount and after that are potential payments, which have deliverables attached (and bonuses for hitting set viewership numbers). So Netflix ditched their animated division, including a show Meg was working on. So they’ll get whatever payment they got for the last deliverable on that, but no more. So that lowers the potential payout from the $100M.
So the $100M isn’t a made up number, but it kinda is. It’s what they could make, but also very unrealistic.
The press gaslit the public into believing that the docuseries was going to be – an all out attack on the family and a fly on the reality show. Meghan said it was going to be about their love story. The press are upset that they didn’t get what they wanted. That being said I think that Volume II will be more critical of the press and the family’s relationship. It will be how Harry and Meghan as couple navigated the invisible contact and the impact that it had on their relationship with the family.
The next episodes will include the bots and fake hate accounts. I also think that there will be more revelations about Jason Knauf.
They definitely want to go in on the Windsors and are hoping H&M blow the lid on it so they can finally talk. In the second trailer, Harry did mention planting stories so the press may get their wish. I’m excited for part II.
I said this yesterday, but it bears repeating: investigative and media circus are two of the tags on the series. It’s definitely going to hit the media for sure. That’s why the press is angry.
The royalists in the UK just can’t accept that the Royal family are not all that! The press held back on the others while the q were alive(look at the sketchy coverage of Andrew) and even now the Queen has gone, they are still petrified of the Royal family, WHY, they are just people in big houses with crowns and tiaras, that WE pay for. The press are desperate for Harry to spill the beans. Just so the press can run salacious stories about the Royals but blame Harry for it. That way they think the Palace will honour them with more stories. How about, Charles isn’t giving Edward the title that the Queen and Prince Philip wanted him to have,
How about Charles sold a lot of his mother’s horses and made staff redundant within weeks of her passing. And given that a lot of those staff will lose their homes as they are attached to their jobs, why no mention of that? I will tell you why, because Harry was right when he said the media and the Palace are in each others pockets
This family is dumb dumb dumb.
WTF do they think Volume 2 is for?
Right?! They’re about to get 💥 come Thursday.
Absolutely!
I’m kind of upset with the reaction of the people around me to this series. Tim de Wit on the Dutch news, for instance, essentially sees this series only in the very limited scope of Britain’s reaction. His views are in line with lots of people here. Meghan is American, so at the very least there should be equal time given to her point of view and culture. Surprise (not)! There is not. The tired argument that H&M wanted privacy (which is RR based!) has been used against them here. The fact that they’re constantly in the news (again, the RR continually write stories even though H&M disappear for months at a time) and that this is against the queen (dead)… Netflix streams international content: the BRF should be aware that this low-key series is going to be available for people to stream for a good long time all over the world.
The problem is that a lot of media figures haven’t been following the story as closely as we have, and they believed all the casual bullshit put out by the media. Add in the cluelessness of white privilege and the media is judging the series against the wrong criteria. They were expecting it to be a “take down” of the royal family–basically expecting Harry and Meghan to do the work they want to do, but fear doing.
If you look at what they said the series would be–their story, what they experienced, it’s fantastic. Meghan and Harry are 3 dimensional human beings, speaking on their own terms for the first time. They aren’t pawns in a bugger story, they aren’t ideas. They are people–extraordinary people who faced an extraordinary situation.
The tepid response only shows that many white people still aren’t willing to see black women as the center of their own stories. Black women are only supposed to appear within the context of white stories, after all.
I don’t think Harry and Meghan’s story will be fully appreciated for years to come. They will get a reckoning in the way that the stories of many women from the early 2000s are getting reconsidered today.
It’s actually kind of funny. On the one side, H&M’s story is linear, marching along to their eventual departure – on the other, we have the RF twisting and turning, every day contradicting themselves, they’re fearful, they’re sanguine, they’re furious, they’re keeping calm. So much writhing and churning…
They were setting up for a big reveal in the last three episodes, one involving Knauf and KP briefing against the Sussexes. They were careful to use his name and delineate his relationship to the Cambridges. I’ll bet they know he leaked the story of them dating.
My money has always been on CarolE for that one.
Something involving Knauth is definitely coming. There was something about the way they threw up his photo when they mentioned him early on–it’s like it read “Remember This Face”.
Yes, that was very chilling, they singled him out, and just let it hang …..a waiting game.
it kind of reminds me of White Lotus. Mike White throws out things & you can’t figure out why it’s there. Then comes the reveal. There is no other reason to mention Jason by name.
The show is number 1 on US Netflix. So Bad? Lolz.
Number 1 in the UK also and is in the 1st or 2nd spot for over a half of a dozen other countries..after Archetypes and the preorders of “Spare” they truly should have expected this.
I don’t understand why they’re all talking about it like the first three episodes were the whole thing and not just a set up for Part 2.
I wonder if they truly don’t think that Episode 2 will be more, can they really be that stupid?
They really are that stupid, yes.
This! Like there is a whole 2nd part about how this whole thing fell to pieces…..? Don’t celebrate too soon!
We’ll be back here, same time, next week, after we hear about “hierarchies within the family” and “leaking/planting of stories”. *wink wink*
Volume 1 just gave them all a false sense of security. The truth bombs get dropped in volume 2 is my hope. Reminds me of a jingle sung by my grandmother; ” little man so spic and span, where were you when the shit hit the fan? “
Buckingham Palace is relieved that “Harry and Meghan” hasn’t made them look bad. Yet. That’s what they meant to say. But if they are going in on Scamantha and her shittyness then surely the master manipulators of the whole thing will not get a pass. Be afraid palace, be vey afraid, lol.
I wish the royal press offices had made a stand and said – of course we are going to watch this. We love Harry & Meghan and their departure made us all very sad. Their decision to leave was incomprehensible and this may give us an opportunity to really understand where they were coming from.
Deluded fairytale eh?
I get really ragey at the family too, Kaiser. I so get that.
One thing I LOVED in Episode 3 was Harry discussing his pride in his bi-racial children, institutional racism and unconscious bias. In light of last week’s story about the mistreatment Ngozi Fulani received, it was a chef’s kiss moment.
Anyone else getting lots of pro Kate, William, and Charles crap on their social media?
It’s reminding me of Amber Heard’s trial where all the suggested posts on my social media were pro Depp and anti Heard posts, and all the meme pages I followed were the same.. constant pro Depp, anti Heard crap.
Now I am finding the exact same is happening with the Windsors.. constant suggested posts on Facebook and Instagram of photos featuring Charlotte’s face next to Diana’s, Kate smiling at William, Charles laughing with Camilla…
It is so obvious they have paid for a full on social media PR campaign to coincide with the release of the documentary.
Same thing is happening on my Pinterest feed today. First time ever, I’m getting suggested pins of Pegs and Kkkate, cowmilla, etc. WTF. I do not have one single pin of any of them on my boards. My twitter feed is like yours too @Shelly bean.
Hopefully next week will rip you racist and psychological abusers to shreds.
These dumdums are out here celebrating at halftime because the series hasn’t said anything really bad about them…yet.
If we’re talking SuperBowl analogies, this is the Atlanta Falcons celebrating before tom Brady gets back on the field after the halftime show.
Yikes, I remember that game! I went to bed at halftime, thinking it was over.
I don’t think that the series will deliver many truth bombs though–mainly to protect Meghan, who will be blamed for them. I think the bombs will come in Spare–because Harry will be looking at the institution as he lived it.
@Lanne I don’t think it will either, overall, but as we’re seeing now, it doesn’t have to be a “bomb” to set off the british media. Meghan saying the royals were formal behind closed doors is sending them all into a tailspin.
Haha, that’s the game where I went out on a drinks run and when I come back, suddenly the score had flipped!
I also don’t think there will be anything super shocking for us, but for many people this will be an introduction to the invisible contract, and how the palaces use the media. That alone could be damaging to how most people view the royals. People who started watching to see Meghan and Harry’s love story but aren’t, you know, on twitter or royal message boards. I think sometimes we forget that many people haven’t heard or thought much about Will and Kate since George was born.
I just think it’s funny that someone would watch these episodes and think “Phew! Dodged a bullet!” when they haven’t even gotten to the Pacific tour and her pregnancy yet.
I thought it was wonderful. I don’t see how anyone could watch it and not come away loving them. Meghan is the most genuinely warm and wonderful person imaginable.
I was reminded of how happy, hopeful, and excited so many of us were at the time of the wedding. Watching Charles walk Megan down the aisle and Henry thank him was a high point in my opinion of the royal family and I know it was the same for many of the readers of this site. I was left once again thinking, what if everything hadn’t changed, what if H&M were still in the royal family?
Agree. The surprise negative reactions seem to be from people who simply don’t like the idea of them talking further about their experiences. I cried my eyes out and didn’t even finish episode 1. I adore them and came away from what I saw in the documentary appreciating and admiring them even more.
Same @Elsa. I loved it. Theirs is a sweet love story. They have so much charisma together too (and separately).
So all that talk of colonialism, racism slavery, plunder , wealth and poverty- that’s not a problem for the monarchy?
I guess they are really short sighted.
Right but everything is ok cause they didn’t mention Chucky by name.
If pushed, he does have the handy option of trotting out another expression of “sorrow” for “the past” and sticking his fingers in his ears again.
It’s not easy for Charles to put those sausage fingers in his ears. Have pity.
Bingo. So short sighted. GIVE BACK THE STOLEN JEWELS AND TREASURES. PAY REPARATIONS.
They have no credibility making judgments about how “good” or “bad” the show is as television. Give me a break. They are not discerning critics of any pop cultural product.
It’s twisted that they were spoiling for a brawl. They are salty that they can’t now scream to the press. They wanted the show to neutralize all their previous bad behavior, but H&M aren’t giving them any ammo—yet. They’re more convincing when they’re whining about how “blindsided” they are and 0% convincing when they’re trying to act like they don’t care and are unbothered.
I assume the media is not too into themselves to realize that they didn’t come out too well in the first three episodes. In fact, it was about THEM and their treatment of Harry and Meghan. So let’s write a hundred articles about everything else.
A propos to nothing related to this particular post, just love the black and white colour palette of interview shots segments.
I said repeatedly that this wasn’t going to be about the RF and Harry for whatever else is going on there, still respects the Crown and wasn’t going to do some BS take down of Charles/William. What I think will happen next week is the courtiers being named by name and them going after specific people like Jason Knauf. And them tying the threads to the RR and the hate accounts who just blossomed and started YT channels about Meghan.
@ChillinginDC, I don’t know I agree it is a question of respecting the Crown so much as knowing that attacking it directly is a losing strategy for all kinds of reasons including the fact that he doesn’t need them targeting his children well into the future.
But I absolutely co-sign everything else you said here!
I haven’t gotten to watch this yet (hopefully this weekend!) but I get the feeling that Harry is about ready to blow it all up. Maybe in his next book? He just seems done and over it, tired of the lies. I just feel something bubbling up with him but I could be 8000% wrong of course.
@Formerly
He does respect the Crown (when his Grandmother was on the throne) question is how much does that go for Charles. He still wants to serve his King. I think that’s a hard thing even for him to unlearn which is why they had that rewrite in the Cut when it made it seem like Harry was estranged from Charles.
I also agree it’s a losing strategy. I think cutting the tabloids off at the news is the smart choice.
@Meghan
I think he will link to the RR and their ties to some messed up people who wanted his wife to kill himself. And how certain courtiers were feeding his wife to the press for whatever reasons they had. He won’t right out cough out Rose, but I think Harry will leave it to people to connect the dots.
Amazement that “they blew up the family for this.” Excuse me, WHO blew up the family? Will and the rota look like Wiley E Coyote when his careful plotting blows up in his face. And “this” means the right to tell the truth of what happened? Yeah, how dare they use their voice. And let’s not pretend the Brit media isn’t using this for clicks today, like every other day.
“It was so bad” is about shaping public opinion of the Netflix series. Some people prefer to believe what they are told than form their own opinions. This “review” is for them. But also? It’s an effort to make H & M look weak. Like Volume I was a failed attempt to land knock out blows. Please. I don’t believe for one moment that BP doesn’t see that Volume I was just laying the groundwork for Volume II and Spare.
Well said. They’re reading wrongly into H&M’s motives, and it shows you what their baseline mode is: attack, malign, hate, suspect, etc.
I called it. I said they would barely mention them and then they’d be mad because they’re barely mentioned.
Harry always looks SO happy when he is with Meghan. Have we ever seen a pic of them when he is not happy or glowing or even just content? I can’t remember even seeing him with just a resting face around Meghan and it just makes me feel all warm inside. So yeah, it was worth “blowing up the family” for Harry to always have a good look on his face.
He didn’t seem super pleased when she did her OTT curtsy…
Oh please. She was clearly and obviously making fun of herself in that moment, not the queen. *IF* Harry wasn’t laughing at that (a half-second video clip is not exactly context), it’s because it’s his fault that Meghan was so unprepared. He’s the one who should have told her to practice curtsying and what to expect. Her disbelief in having to adhere to these ancient protocols privately among family is completely understandable, and the only possible way for her to have been ready for those moments is if Harry had prepared her. He’s not displeased with her, if anything he’s mad at himself for failing at that.
Yeah, the time to tell her she had to curtsy to his grandmother was not as they were pulling up in the car for lunch where the Queen was making a surprise appearance. What if they had ran into her when they were walking around Windsor and he didn’t have time to tell her before they saw her? that was something he should have prepared her for well beforehand.
We talk a lot on here about the line between The Firm and the Family, and how Harry can divide the Queen from his Grandmother. But what is clear is that even with that line, and being able to make that distinction, she was always The Queen first, and Gran second. and my guess is Meghan thought that in private, she would still be the queen but Gran would come first. Like Meghan wasn’t suggesting she should be able to roll up to lunch with the queen with her hair in curlers and in sweatpants and flip flops. She just didn’t realize curtsying was required in a private family setting like that.
But l think he looked slightly embarrassed and the camera made a point of getting his interaction. Meghan is a real live wire, living with her will certainly not be dull.
I think his expression looked like mine when I hear my husband tell a story he’s told a million times before (and vice versa).
Harry and Meghan adore each other (and so do my husband and me).
I’m trying to decide if this is stupidity/short-sightedness on the part of the RF and BM, or if it is a sad attempt to get people not to watch. Like, if they just keep calling the show sad and unexciting, do they hope that they will discourage people from going back for the second half? Because we all know that it’s after the wedding that the real abuse began.
I feel like the first 3 episodes were just the beginning. It wasn’t “bad” in the beginning.
It got worse. Way worse.
The family is trying to lull themselves into a sense of security.
I think (hope?) next week will show that was a terrible idea, and that sense of security is false.
The next 3 episodes will likely delve further into the quid pro quo relationship between the courtiers and the rota, all sanctioned by the BRF. I imagine the Sussexes will go into the sheer illegality of their ploys (phone hacking, etc.) to get dirt, and why the BRF has not put a stop to it or at least made some sort of public announcement that they must cease the blatant racism. We all know it’s because A) the BRF is racist, and B) they are complicit in feeding the beast to save their own skin. I hope the big bomb that gets dropped is on Knauf and his cohorts, and possibly the reason why the night nanny got marched out of Frogmore in the middle of the night.
I think Jason Knauf is in for some trouble in the second series. Can’t think why else they single him out by name.
💯
I feel like I watched a completely different docuseries than everyone else. Yes, their love story was featured, and it was touching. But what was really impactful for me was how they clearly showed how Harry has been relentlessly hounded by the media, ogled like an animal at the zoo literally since the day he was born, and how his father and the palace encouraged it for their own gain rather than protecting him. Given that history, from daily harassment to the pursuit and death of his mother, it directly explains why he reacted as he did when Meghan became the tabloid’s favorite toy, and why he had to break the cycle, refusing to put his children through what he endured. They also dismantled the illusion of the royal ‘experts’ in the rota, and by sharing the real stories behind how they met, the engagement, her half-sister, etc, they showed that the narratives surrounding Meghan were edited, redacted, twisted by the palace and fed to the media, and clearly implicated how the palace set Meghan up at every turn.
To me, it felt like a clear and damning indictment of the insidious relationship between the British tabloid press and the royal family, with their love persevering despite the onslaught of sabotage tactics they were subjected to.
@Sunday, 1000000%
I wonder if this part is new for many in the UK? Do they see it as clearly as we do? I found it interesting that Harry mentioned the media agreement has been in place for thirty years. Perhaps that is his note and cue to his family that there is a path forward? The media relationship is so unseemly.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!! That was my takeaway too — an extraordinary story. Also struck by how his experiences outside the bubble (the army, Lesotho) gave him an appreciation of how not normal, in relative terms, his life was.
Like Meghan said, “no matter how good she is, these people want to destroy her”. If she spilled the tea, she would be ripping the monarchy apart. If she did what she did in the first part of the series which is telling her love story, she is tearing the monarchy apart. She didn’t tear the monarchy apart by wanting to tell her and Harry’s love story. They know they pulled some shit on her and they anticipated she would tell all so they tore her apart.
I’m surprised more isn’t being made at the complete unnaturalness of William and Harry’s upbringing with the constant paparazzi attention. Even Charles didn’t have it that bad when he was growing up and neither did the Queen. I know William and Harry have talked about it before but the media attention really did increase and worsen on them after Diana died. They were constantly hounded when they were going out in London and it was the infancy of social media. Like that photocall when the kids went skiing (with poor Eugenie I think it was barely able to keep up holding her skis because she was so small?)? Kate and William would never let their kids be exposed like that (I would hope?). It just shows how terrible of a father Charles was, to force his kids do some stupid photocall like that when they were on vacation. It didn’t stop the paparazzi from going after them and my heart broke watching teenage Harry being put on display with his brother and cousins in the snow.
Bad??? We’ve only seen episode one and we thought it was incredibly well-done! I suspect there’s jealousy, as their side couldn’t possibly put together anything this good…
So bad it’s number 1 on Netflix today, Dec 9. They don’t care why you watch as long as you watch. Thanks for the free publicity insane British tabloids and pathetic American anglophiles.
I appreciate Nels Abbey’s insight on the series as I peruse various reviews and commentary:
A white lens sees Harry and Meghan as villains – through a Black one, they’ve done Britain a favour
The Netflix series has caused establishment outrage. But I think it gives us a chance to have a long needed discussion about racism
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/dec/09/harry-and-meghan-black-britain-white-netflix
Thanks so much for sharing the link to that Guardian column. It’s a really thoughtful and necessary column.
Nels’ insights really helped me to remember how people process institutional power.
@TallulahB – great article, thanks for posting!
Found it really disturbing to see poor little Guy in his leg casts. What the hell happened to him, to break both front legs? If it was a genuine accident it wouldn’t have been covered up like this, and think it’s really likely that somebody deliberately hurt him. Somebody who hates Meghan and is a violent monster.
I’m waiting for the dog’s two broken legs to be addressed. Someone who is vile enough to do this to any dog – but particularly to upset Meghan and perhaps cause her to flee – is indeed pure evil. If H&M know who did this, I hope they reveal the culprit to the world.
^^ Yes, I was disturbed by that too. Meg had already been forced to make the tough sacrificial decision to leave behind her beloved first dog, Bogart, with friends in Toronto. Beagle, Guy, is Meg’s heart. That was so obvious from all the sweet pics she posted on Instagram of herself with Guy and with both dogs. She also always reminded her fans to #adoptdontshop!
Meghan fell deeply in love with Prince Harry, but there were a number of prices to pay: she had to give up her career and brace herself for undue British media scrutiny; she also gave up lucrative contracts; her Tig website; eventually her Instagram; her home in Toronto; even her relationship with her niece, Ashleigh, was endangered. In addition, after the royal wedding, it appears that some of Meg’s friendships with Suits cast members were sidelined. Ultimately, she gave up Bogart.
At least, she had her little Guy, and her big guy, Harry. But wait a minute! Somehow, little Guy was seriously hurt soon after their move to KP and Nottingham Cottage. How and why?
The show was so bad, it is the most watched series ever in England.( 2.4 M watched compared with 1M for the Crown according to Deadline)
Netflix stock has the best stock on S&P. source is Forbes’s…
Meanwhile, 302 people watched PBS streaming show for Earthshot Awards.
A divorced adulterer surrounded by clergy is what makes Charles look bad. The Netflix docuseries has no current role in his damaged image, and he began destroying that nonstop the day his mother passed.