Trailers. They released two, promoting their Netflix tell-all which debuts Thursday. Harry and Meghan. Make no mistake, this documentary is not about the Real Harry and Meghan, who remain firmly behind closed doors. The Real Harry and Meghan will never emerge. My thesis here is that this documentary is not really a “tell all” but rather, it’s more of the same: the yo-yo is dropped, the string is within reach, but the personalities are anything but transparent. Opaque? Maybe not quite opaque, but surely not see-through?
Some of the footage, the “B roll” and such, used in the “documentary” has already been revealed to be…in a generous light, borrowed, and in a less flattering view, misleading or even deceptive. The production crew used footage from a Harry Potter film premiere as some kind of exhibit of the kind of harassment by paparazzi endured by Harry and Meghan.1 They show us footage of Diana being hounded, of the former Kate Middleton (now Princess of Wales) being followed as she left her flat. And most controversially, we are shown an image of the backs of Harry and Meghan leaving Buckingham Palace through a private entrance. The UK’s Telegraph newspaper has already reported that this image, uncredited, was taken during the reign of the late Queen, in March 2020, without her permission. Buckingham Palace rules dictate that photography in its walls, especially in private areas, must have permission from the monarch. We are already off to a rocky start, aren’t we? Imagine when the documentary actually debuts on Thursday!
My own feelings about Harry, and Meghan for that matter, have an unsteady past. (Harry more so because he has been in our consciousness longer; and Meghan is, if we’re just being honest, famous only because of him.) Harry today is inextricable from the memory of 12-year-old Harry (actually, he was days away from his 13th birthday, wasn’t he?) walking behind his mother’s coffin. I’ve always been a royal watcher, so I watched Harry through it all—Eton, Sandhurst, Sentebale, Chelsy Davy, Invictus Games, all the negative headlines. There was the alleged cheating on an art assignment; this allegation came by an illegal recording of a “confession” of the crime, so we were told, a recording made by a teacher who was later fired after accusing the school of pressuring her to give Harry (wink) “help” with his paper. Then there was the Nazi armband at a “Colonials and Natives”-themed costume party; good lord, talk about cancel culture! More recently (well, 2013, so yeah) there was the nude photo in Vegas. Yet there was plenty of positive press too. There was a lot of positive press for Harry. He was lauded for going to Afghanistan as a soldier—twice—and for highlighting the AIDS epidemic in Lesotho. He deserves credit for highlighting the existence of Lesotho alone. He was the royal wild card, the wild son of Charles and Diana, affectionately contrasted against his more serious, crown-bound brother. Harry was the “fun” brother, the sidekick, and he seemed rather to enjoy it—at that time. He rocked around, he danced, he laughed, he partied. He made royal duties look fun, actually. He was the only royal who could make cutting a ribbon look like the most exciting thing you’d ever seen. Harry became extraordinarily popular in 2012, the year in which Britain hosted the Olympic Games and his grandmother celebrated sixty years on the throne. Barack Obama was president, and, boy, did Barack and Harry do some roaring photo ops together! It was high times for those of us on royal Tumblr. Tumblr and Harry piqued together. (Neither is quite the same nowadays, sadly.)
Harry met Meghan in the summer of 2016. She was a lifestyle blogger (“The Tig”) with a recurring role on Suits, which I could never bring myself to watch beyond, like, the first few episodes. (I did try, I really did. I mean, I like legal dramas. And Gabriel Macht. *Evil grin*) Sorry. Back to Meghan. She had a friend who was a friend of Harry’s cousin, Princess Eugenie, and that is apparently how she entered the royal orbit. “Two dinner dates” and then camping in Botswana, that’s how they described the whirlwind of a romance in retrospect for the engagement interview. They hooked up in the summer of 2016. They started out long-distance because she had to film episodes for Suits in Toronto. There were tabloid stories of him flying over there to celebrate Halloween. Not long after that, he told his press office to issue a letter to the press, admonishing them for “racist” treatment of Meghan. The statement, issued on 8 November 2016, said that the “harassment and abuse” of Meghan had “racial undertones.” (I guess that was early-woke speak for microaggressions?) It specifically addressed the online articles: the “racial undertones of comment pieces,” the “social media trolls,” and “web article comments” contained “outright sexism and racism.” Her mother and “ex-boyfriend” (not sure who that is) were targeted too, it said. Paparazzi found her mother at the front door of her house. There were “substantial bribes” offered to the “ex-boyfriend” for stories. Harry worried about her safety, it said. “This is not a game; it is her life and his.”2
Early in 2017, as we in the United States were collectively flipping out because we had to watch the inauguration of one Donald John Trump, Meghan Markle took the significant step of shuttering The Tig. The website is still there, her statement standing alone exactly as it stood back then—symbolic of her transition.3 Meghan started flying over to watch Harry play polo. He invited her to attend a friend’s wedding in Jamaica. He took her to the reception of Pippa Middleton’s wedding. (The ceremony itself was married couples only.)
Meghan was the Vanity Fair cover choice for Graydon Carter’s last issue as Editor-in-Chief: “Wild about Harry!”4 Harry and Meghan totally stole the show at the Invictus Games in Toronto that year, Meghan in full It-Girl form, with her ripped-at-the-knee jeans and the glee never leaving her face. And then there it was. November 2017: Engagement. Photo op in Diana’s Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace. From there, a whistle stop tour of the British Isles, just so Harry could formally introduce his bride to the British people, although I’m not sure if the whistle stop tour included Wales. Does anyone ever include Wales? Meanwhile, in Mexico, paparazzi paid a visit to her dad. They staged a couple of “candid” photos, showing the old geezer googling news about her on an Internet cafe computer, then browsing through a book about English castles at a bookstore. Meghan was furious over this clueless behavior. She addressed an angry letter to him, expressing her sense of betrayal and disinviting him from the wedding. More on that later. (Actually, no. Look it up yourself. I’m not interested. It was a big lawsuit. Legal stuff bores me. Meghan sued the Daily Mail after they printed parts of the leaked letter. She won the lawsuit. The End.) Prince Charles, now the King (you might have heard) ended up walking her down the aisle. It was a weird wedding, for royalty, you know? There was no carpet on the aisle; there’s always carpet at royal weddings. The bride’s side was full of celebrities—Oprah, George Clooney, the cast of Suits. Her mom was there, but no one else in the family tree was there—not one sibling, not one cousin, not even a cranky “old friend of the family” to blow smoke rings at the reception. To be honest, in memory the whole affair is rather a blur for me. The only thing I remember very well is my exasperation at the exhaustive sermon of the episcopal bishop Meghan requested to mash up the Anglican tedium. I vividly remember the annoyance as I waited for that sermon to end! Google tells me the British taxpayer spent $45 million on that wedding. Surely, there are better things to spend $45 million on? Like? Anything else, I would suggest. I watched the wedding, but I tuned out everything that happened next, so bear with me as I try to get the highlights. Meghan was pregnant by October. Much ado was made about the announcement of the baby news in concurrence with Princess Eugenie’s wedding. I watched that too. I’m a sucker for royal weddings. I remember Meghan having a laugh with Princess Anne and all the Sussex Haters having a meltdown because it looked like they were talking about….what? The size of the wedding gifts? Whatever. Sussex Stans and Sussex Haters are always on about some ego-driven bullshit. Those two groups are simultaneously the reason that royal watching is no longer fun. 2018 and 2019 went by while I was watching other channels, but even if you aren’t following the royals day to day, you catch the big things, big enough that they flash across every channel, like Vogue covers and baby announcements and….Megxit. The coined term for the exit of Harry and Meghan from “working royal” life! Megxit—a punny portmanteau playing on the Brexit that never fully happened. That’s interesting! Megxit never fully happened either, did it? Half in, half out? Sort of royal, but sort of not? Royal adjacent?
Are they still Royal Highnesses? Yes and no. They technically still have royal status; they just “opt” for non-use, the loophole that allows them to engage in commercial enterprises. They still use the dukedom, and that’s fine; there are plenty of non-royal peers who do business. Sussex Haters have long been pushing for the Dukedom of Sussex to be officially retracted, but that is (almost) an impossibility. The monarch can bestow peerages, but s/he cannot take them away. (The late Queen bestowed the dukedom on Harry, per the custom, on his wedding day.) Only Parliament can remove a peerage, and it’s a very high bar to get it done. The precedent (German royals during World War I) sets the bar at literal treason.
He’s a wild card, and certainly no saint, but he’s not a traitor. Royal watchers disapproved of the Oprah interview, but even that was not the worst thing anyone in the royal family ever did. Hello? Henry VIII? The Duke of Windsor? The Duke of York?
There is something about Harry, though. Prodigal son? They, he and Meghan have flown far from the kingdom, but they are not forgotten by the King:
“As my heir, William now assumes the Scottish titles which have meant so much to me. He succeeds me as Duke of Cornwall and takes on the responsibilities for the Duchy of Cornwall which I have undertaken for more than five decades. Today, I am proud of create him Prince of Wales, the country whose title I’ve been so greatly privileged to bear during so much of my life and duty…. I want also to express my love for Harry and Meghan as they continue to build their lives overseas.”5 Half-in, half-out; royal family, but not statesmen, hence the kerfuffle about the state function they were excluded from.6
Their life overseas—“Megxit”—is still only halfway. At least while his grandmother lived, they maintained a house near Windsor Castle.7 Harry does still have royal patronages. Reinforcing my half-in, half-out thesis, he's allowed to do charity, royal-style, but he no longer holds honorary titles like "Captain General of the Royal Marines." (The loss of the honorary [unearned]8 military distinctions meant that he couldn't wear a military uniform for the Queen's funeral.)9 Yet he’s still a Councillor of State, which means he could act on the King’s behalf if his majesty has a condition that prevents him from performing the monarchial duties. Half-in, half-out! King Charles formally requested Parliament to look into expanding the pool of Councillors of State so that, if incapacitated, Harry won’t have to inconvenience himself and fly over from Montecito.10 A logical move, if you think about it. And it is more than just a matter of convenience, because according to Harry, it’s a matter of safety when it comes to his family returning to the UK. Harry and Meghan returned for the Queen’s mourning and funeral, but it seems they did not bring the children. They do not feel that the children are safe in the UK unless they can have a guarantee of Scotland Yard protection.)11
There are five Counsellors of State: Queen Camilla, Prince William, Prince Harry, Prince Andrew, and Princess Beatrice. (These are the Queen Consort and the adults in the top ten of the line of succession.) Harry lives abroad and is only a “half-in” royal. Andrew is—well, you know about him, right? No one wants him anywhere near the monarchial duties. So yeah, expanding the pool to include a few others does feel logical to me. Anyway, Members of Parliament felt that way too; they put a rush on the Counsellors of State Bill and when/if it passes in both houses, it will be taken to the King’s desk for Royal Assent.)12
What would the press do without Harry and Meghan? It strikes me hard that the press simply cannot let go of the Megxit beat. It puzzles me, but also fascinates me. Every podcast Meghan does, every word Harry utters! His book! Spare us? The press can’t help themselves. The op-eds roll out, full of snark about the “royals” of Montecito. The haters complain that Harry and Meghan keep getting attention, but it’s the haters who give them the most attention! It’s the haters who hang on every PR release. It’s the haters, like Piers Morgan and Lady Colin Campbell, who watch them obsessively. (She makes bank, Lady C, I’ll give her that. People send her “superchat” money in order to ask her questions and listen to her cringy guffaw.) Of course the Stans do it too, but that’s what Stans do. There’s nothing unusual about a Stan posting and reposting every picture of the object of their Stanning. It’s creepy, but it is….expected. It’s “normal.” What is totally bizarre to me is that the Haters and the Stans are equally fixated on Harry and Meghan. Love to hate or hate to love them, they are here to stay. The saying goes, there are [two some] certainties in life: Death and Taxes, and the love/hatred for Harry and Meghan. There’s a lot of money in loving and hating Harry and Meghan. I might argue there is slightly more money in hating them. The Haters are managing to generate continual clickbait and ad revenue. I’m not sure the Stans are quite as strategic as the Haters, but I might be wrong.
Anyway…. Thursday. December 8. That’s the day “Volume One” of Harry & Meghan comes out on Netflix. Will I watch it? Probably. I’m curious to see if this truly is the “make or break” moment the press keeps promising will happen. Make or break, to be or not to be royal? My guess is that the documentary will spell a little make and a little break; Harry and Meghan will be as they ever were, half-in, and half-out.
Petter, Olivia. “Paparazzi photograph used in Harry and Meghan Netflix trailer ‘taken at Harry Potter premiere in 2011.’” The Independent (UK). Archived: http://archive.today/XLmfD.
. The statement is available in the archives of the official royal website. Scroll to the bottom of the website, click on Media Centre, then click on Press Releases. Then use the calendar to filter the results to the specific date of the statement.
http://thetig.com. Much of The Tig was crawled and preserved by the Wayback Machine if you are curious.
https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2017/09/meghan-markle-cover-story.
Speech of mourning and continuity by HM the King on September 9, 2022
“Harry, Meghan Invite to World Leaders Event Retracted as Mix-Up Tests Truce.” Newsweek. https://www.newsweek.com/prince-harry-meghan-markle-invite-world-leaders-event-retracted-palace-1743888.
Furness, Hannah. “Prince Harry will renew Frogmore Cottage lease to keep serving Queen.” The Telegraph (UK). 19 February 2022. Archived: https://archive.ph/pD9py.
It was only the honorary ranks that could be stripped. No one can strip what was earned. Prince Harry and Prince Andrew were both stripped of honorary titles, but they keep what they earned, and each has a record of service in a conflict zone, Harry in Afghanistan and Andrew in the Falklands.
An exception was made for Harry to wear his Blues and Royals uniform as he joined his cousins and brother in a vigil in Westminster Hall. Prince William and Prince Harry both wore the Blues and Royals uniform to stand vigil around their grandmother’s coffin. Something the brothers will always share is their service together in the Blues and Royals.
Coughlan, Sean. “Princess Anne and Prince Edward to become stand-ins for King.” BBC News. 15 November 2022. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-63626113.
“Prince Harry lawyers say he feels unsafe bringing kids to UK.” Associated Press. AP News. 18 February 2022.
https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3366