The second half of Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary dropped at 8am this morning and already, discussion is rife online. In fact, it's a major trending search on Google right now with people searching: 'What happens in Meghan and Harry's documentary?', 'Meghan and Harry documentary review' and 'Harry and Meghan documentary explained’.
Much juicier than the first three episodes, major royal bombshells been dropped in the six-part series, with Harry and Meghan narrating their experience from the moment they met up to now. So, what are biggest revelations by Harry and Meghan? We’ve done a deep dive into every episode to collate them all for you. It's important to note that the royal family were asked to comment on the allegations made in the documentary, but chose not to.
What happens in Harry and Meghan’s documentary? A breakdown of the major bombshells from episodes four to six of Harry & Meghan...
After setting the scene of Harry and Meghan's romance in episodes one to three, which much-needed context about the purpose of commonwealth and deep-rooted structural racism in Britain, the second part of Harry & Meghan focuses on the turning point when public adoration for the couple turned sour due to tabloid stories that Harry alleges were often planted by his own family members.
Looking back at life since the 2018 royal wedding, when the furore began, the couple dissect how the narrative against them turned and that, amongst not being protected by the royal family, ultimately led to Harry's decision to step back.
Harry and Meghan's Australia, New Zealand and Fiji tour was the 'turning point' when they were seen as a threat to William and Kate's popularity
Harry and Meghan recall their first tour as newlyweds, when they were celebrated as the new royal it-couple by press and public alike. 'Australia was a real turning point because they were so popular with the public, the internals at the palace were incredibly threatened by that,' says friend Lucy Fraser.
'The issue is, when someone whose marrying in who should be a "supporting act" is then stealing the limelight or doing a better job than the person who was born to do this, that upsets people,' Harry explains. 'It shifts the balance because you've been led to believe that the only way your charities can succeed and your reputation can be grown or improved is if you're on the front pages of those newspapers. '
Harry likens Meghan's experience to Diana's, who is quoted saying 'with the media attention came a lot of jealousy, a great deal of complicated situations arose because of that.'
Harry accuses William's office of planting stories to detract from his own negative press
Initially, Harry and Meghan worked with William and Kate having one singular office that worked for both couples, but Harry explains that when the offices split, everything changed.
'I have 30 years experience looking behind the curtain and seeing how [the royal relationship with the media] runs,' Harry says. 'I mean, just constant briefings about other members of the family, about favours inviting the press in. It's a dirty game, there's leaking but also planting of stories. So if the [communications] team want to be able to remove a negative story about their principle, they will trade and give you something about someone else's principle. The offices end up working against each other... And you can always say "I didn't know about this"'
We made an agreement we would never trade stories on each other.
'William and I both saw what happened in our dad's office and we made an agreement that we would never let that happen to our office... I would far rather get destroyed in the press than play along with this business of trading, to see my brothers office copy the very same thing that we promised the two of us would never ever do, that was heartbreaking.'
Meghan's laywer, Jenny Afia, also states that she has 'seen evidence' of 'negative briefings' about Meghan and Harry by other offices for royal family members.
Harry implies that Charles' office leaked the story about them moving to Canada
After initially hoping to relocate to South Africa to avoid UK press, Harry explains that once that news was leaked to The Times the plan 'was scrapped because it's now a public debate'. Instead, they requested to move to Canada, but the news was leaked once again.
'By the time I was speaking to my father from Canada, the family and their people knew we were trying to find a different way or working for a minimum of two years,' Harry says. 'So, Canada, I was speaking to my father [saying] "This is the plan". He says "Can you put that in writing?" and I said "I'd rather not after what happened last time" and he said "I can't do anything unless you put it in writing." I sent him emails on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd January and in one of those I mentioned that if this wasn't going to work out then we would be willing to relinquish our Sussex titles if need be.
'Five days later it was on the front page of the newspaper,' Meghan adds.
'It became clear that the institution leaked the fact we were going to move back to Canada, and the key piece of that story that made me aware that the contents of the letter between me and my father had been leaked was that we were willing to relinquish our Sussex titles,' Harry concludes. 'That was the giveaway.'
Harry was blocked from seeing the Queen to talk privately about his family's future
As tensions around Harry and Meghan's hope to step back grew, Harry says he began to be blocked from seeing his grandmother despite her desire to see him too.
'Before we left I spoke to my grandmother and told her we were coming back on January 6th I'd love to drive up and see you... she knew we were finding things hard,' Harry says. 'She told me she had no plans for the week and said "Why don't you come up and have tea and stay the night, you and Meghan?".'
But just as they were about to board the plane to Heathrow, Harry received an urgent message saying he wasn't allowed to see his grandmother because she was busy all week. 'I was like "That's certainly the opposite of what she had told me". Once we were back in the UK I rang her and said "I'm now told that you're busy" and she goes "Yes, I didn't know that I was busy, I've been told I'm busy all week.' I was like "Wow"'
William screamed at Harry during the 'Sandringham Summit' in 2020
After announcing their intention to have a reduced role to the public, crisis talks were called for at Sandringham - but only after Meghan had already left the UK to return to Archie in Canada, despite pleas from Harry to set a meeting sooner.
'It was clear to me that they planned it so that you weren't in the room,' Harry tells Meghan.
He then details what happened during the meeting, which included Harry, Prince William, the now King Charles and late Queen Elizabeth II.
'I went in with the same proposal that we'd already made publicly, but once I got there I was given five options – one being all in, no change, five being all out,' he explains. 'I chose option three in the meeting – half in, half out. Have our own jobs but also work in support of the Queen. It became very clear very quickly that goal was not up for discussion or debate.
'It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me and my father say things that just simply weren't true. And my grandmother, you know, quietly sit there and take it all in, but you have to understand from the family's perspective especially from hers, there are ways of doing things and her ultimate goal slash responsibility is the institution. If people are telling her [its] going to be seen as an attack on the institution, she's going to go on the advice she's given. It was really hard.'
Harry accuses William of bullying him and Meghan out of the family
'The saddest part of it was this wedge that's now created between me and my brother so that he's now on the institutions side, and part of that I get [because] that's his inheritance... It's already engrained in him that part of his responsibility is the survivability of this institution. That day part of the reason Meghan and I were leaving was because William had bullied us out and once I got in the car after the [Sandringham] meeting I was told about a joint statement that had been put out squashing the story about him bullying us out of the family.
They were happy to lie to protect my brother.
'I couldn't believe it, no one had asked me permission to put my name to a statement like that... within four hours they were happy to lie to protect my brother and yet for three years, they were never willing to tell the truth to protect us.'
Ultimately, it was Harry's decision to leave
Taking a stand against sexism towards Meghan and the narrative that she's controlling Harry from behind the scenes, the prince sets the record straight.
'I've seen little cartoons of me on all fours with her holding a dog lead and me wearing a dog collar,' he says. 'How predictable that the woman is to be blamed for the decision of a couple. In fact it was my decision, she never asked to leave. I was the one that had to see it for myself, but it's misogyny at its best.'
Harry believes Meghan's 2020 miscarriage was caused by the stress of the court case against the Mail
Discussing the lengthy court case Meghan issued against Associated Newspapers for articles published in The Mail on Sunday and posted on Mail Online (for publishing a letter she wrote Thomas Markle), Harry claims that the agony it caused Meghan ultimately caused her to miscarry in 2020.
'I believe my wife suffered a miscarriage because of what the Mail did. Now, do we absolutely know that the miscarriage was created, caused by that? Course we don't,' he says. 'But bearing in mind the stress that that caused, the lack of sleep, and the timing of the pregnancy, how many weeks in she was, I can say, from what I saw, that miscarriage was created by what they were trying to do to her.'
William is accused of authorising Jason Knauf to take the stand against Meghan
During said court case, Jason Knauf - who was once the Sussexes head of communications and then later William’s - voluntarily took the stand. He shared private messages with Meghan where she was seen demonstrating an understanding that the letter could be leaked, ultimately hurting her case.
'When we were just about to go to the Court of Appeal, a senior member of the Duke of Cambridge's team came forward to give this witness statement which wasn't required,' Jenny Afia explains. 'And sadly, there's just no way he could've done that without the authority of his bosses.'
In a statement, a representative for Knauf denies the claim:
'These claims are entirely false,' it reads. 'Mr. Knauf was asked to provide evidence by both The Duchess of Sussex and Associated Newspapers. He was advised by counsel that evidence in his possession could be relevant and he then provided this directly to the court, staying neutral in the process.'
The Duchess of Sussex's lawyers responded with the following statement:
'The legal team for Meghan disputes this claim. Mr Knauf was not asked to provide a witness statement by The Duchess of her team. Nor do her attorneys believe Mr Knauf remained 'neutral' by submitting a witness statement relied on by Associated Newspapers whilst working forThe Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.'
A breakdown of episodes one to three of Harry & Meghan - here's what's revealed:
Harry and Meghan have been filming since March 2020
Opening with video diary footage filmed on Harry and Meghan’s phones, the series makes it clear from the start that Harry and Meghan began documenting their royal exit as soon as they made the decision to officially leave their senior roles behind in 2020.
‘A friend of ours suggested we document this period of our lives because there’s already so much misinformation around,’ Harry explains. Essentially, after four years of tabloid stories and frustration at their own lives being shared by others, the pair felt it was integral to start documenting their lives knowing that one day they might want to tell their own story.
Harry thinks the men in his family choose brides who 'fit the mould'
Perhaps one moment the royal family might not take too kindly, Harry explains that when he was growing up, he learned that the men in his family are under pressure to choose their future brides based on who will ‘fit the mould’ of the royal family.
'I think for so many people in the family, especially the men, there could be a temptation to marry someone who would fit the mould as opposed to someone you are destined to be with,' he says. 'The difference between making a decision with your head or your heart. And my mum certainly made most of her decisions, if not all of them, from her heart. And I am my mother's son.'
Harry doesn’t have many memories of his early years with his mother
‘I think I blocked them out,’ he explains, noting the trauma of her death. ‘But I always remember her laugh.’ He does remember their holidays though, when paparazzi would hound them for pictures and he and William would be forced to pose with their cousins, Eugenie, and Beatrice – all of whom are said to have disliked the experience.
Harry says Diana felt ‘completely exposed’ after she separated from Charles
Much of the first episode features Diana and explains that after she separated from King Charles the tabloid frenzy intensified. It seems evident that Harry does not approve of the way Diana was left to fend for herself, and it made Harry even more terrified of the tabloid press watching it all play out.
Paparazzi paid to have live stream cameras in Meghan’s backyard
After the news broke, well, we all saw the frenzy. From racist trolling to hateful headlines, they describe the whirlwind of intrusion in episode two of the documentary.
‘Men would sit in their cars and wait for me to leave the house,’ Meghan says. ‘Paparazzi paid to have a live stream camera in my backyard. Suddenly my world became smaller, it was curtains closed, stay inside.’
Kate and William are just as formal in private as in public
Opening up about the first dinner with Kate and William, Meghan shared that she didn't know what to expect of the pair and assumed it would be like any family gathering. Barefoot, wearing ripped jeans and greeting them with a hug, she was surprised when the pair weren't as, shall we say, chilled.
'I guess I started to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside,' Meghan explained. 'There is a forward-facing way of being, and then you close the door and go "You can relax now"' but that formality carries over on both sides. And that was surprising to me.'
The royal family didn't think Harry and Meghan would last because she was an actress
'I remember my family first meeting her and being incredibly impressed. Some of them didn’t quite know what to do with themselves,' Harry said in the show’s second episode. 'So I think they were — they were surprised. Maybe surprised that the ginger could land such a beautiful woman. And such an intelligent woman. But the fact that I was dating an American actress was probably what clouded their judgment more than anything else at the beginning. [They were like] "Oh, she’s an American actress, this won’t last."'
'The actress thing was the biggest problem, funny enough,' Meghan agreed. 'There is a big idea of what that looks like from the UK standpoint. Hollywood and — it was just very easy for them to typecast that.'
Meghan says royals can't all wear the same colours
With episode three shining a light on how Meghan learned about the long list royal protocols, one interesting tidbit shared was that she couldn't wear the same colours as more senior royals to her. So, without a stylist of royal team helping her in the beginning, she opted for muted tones of camel and white to ensure there were never any clashes.
Samantha Markle did not have a relationship with Meghan
Speaking of the tabloid fury that Samantha Markle exploded upon Meghan, she Duchess explained that she hasn't seen her half-sister, who is 17 years her senior, in a decade. She has no memory of Samantha being around as a child, and only recalls a quick meeting in her early 20s.
Samantha's daughter however, Ashleigh, who was raised by her paternal grandparents from the age of two, did form a close relationship with Meghan over the years. When Samantha began talking to the press about Meghan then around the royal wedding, it created a wedge in their friendship as Meghan and Harry were advised that it would be difficult to deligitimise Samantha's tabloid stories while Meghan was still so close with her.
Harry's own problematic past still haunts him
It's impossible to have a documentary about structural racism without acknowledging your own wrongdoing, and Harry does just that in episode three. Speaking of the January 2005 incident when the Duke of Sussex attended a friend’s fancy dress-themed birthday party in a Nazi uniform, complete with swastika armband, he recalls it being 'one of the biggest mistakes of my life'.
'I felt so ashamed afterwards. All I wanted to do was make it right,' he said. 'We sat down and spoke to the chief rabbi in London which had a profound impact on me. I went to Berlin and spoke to a Holocaust survivor. I could’ve just ignored it and probably made the same mistakes in my life over and over again in my life, but I learnt from that.'
He then explains that he has since been on a journey to understand his own unconscious bias, something Meghan has helped profoundly with.