For millions worldwide, Christmas is one of the most beloved holidays there is. That also goes for the Royal Family, who in the last number of years have seen Christmas once again turn into a season where children are at the center of the attention.
Yet though the royals will celebrate Christmas as usual, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have stirred up plenty of drama with just weeks left to go in the year.
The couple’s trailer for their new Netflix documentary series has not failed to capture the attention of Royal Family members. Moreover, reports suggest that they have snubbed King Charles’ invitation to spend Christmas at the royal estate of Sandringham.
In the past, Harry and Meghan have spent several Christmas holidays with the royal household. Just like “normal” families, they exchange Christmas presents – and no, these don’t have to be fancy cars or castles. One year, Meghan gave Prince William – whom she at the time had a great relationship with – a present that left many with a question on their lips.
That question? Was the gift too extreme?
When Meghan first met Harry, and the two started dating, things seemed to be great between the former and the latter’s elder brother. Meghan and William liked each other, which was, of course, crucial for the rest of the royals.
Authors of the Pro-Sussex biography Finding Freedom, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, wrote that William and Meghan got “along so well” after their first meeting.”
Meghan Markle – relationship with Prince William
For her part, Meghan was nervous about meeting William for the first time. She expected her relationship with him to be “trying” from the off. According to the authors, she “thought William would no doubt want to know everything about her and her intentions.
“She was self-aware enough to understand that the brothers were wary of women who were more interested in their titles than their wellbeing,” Scobie and Durand wrote.
“And she couldn’t have come from a more different world than that of William, his wife, and most of their friends.”
A friend of Meghan told the authors that she prepared herself for a grilling from William. But, in the end, their first meeting turned out great.
According to the authors, William told Meghan: “I was looking forward to meeting the girl who has put that silly grin on my brother’s face.”
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Even though William appeared to like Meghan initially, he was also concerned. However, Harry and Meghan’s relationship moved exceptionally quickly after a friend set them up on a blind date.
Soon after that date, Harry took Meghan to Botswana, where their relationship really took off. Then, in 2018, the couple tied the knot at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.
“Take as much time as you need to get to know this girl”
Only a year earlier, William was said to have told his brother: “Take as much time as you need to get to know this girl.”
The authors of Finding Freedom claim that William just wanted to help his brother so that he wasn’t blindsided by infatuation. However, Harry didn’t like his brother’s stance, interpreting the remark from his brother as “snobbish.”
William is also reported to have voiced concerns about how quickly his brother’s relationship developed, though this was done privately to his aides.
“William soon began to wonder about some of Meghan’s traits and motivations,” a source told the Daily Mail, as revealed by the Express.
“He was worried that at times she seemed to be more concerned about her personal progression or profile over the wider goals and aims of the Royal Family.”
However, William decided to keep those feelings to himself. Why? Because he “desperately wanted her to be happy and appreciated the huge adjustment of entering the Royal Family,” according to the source.
Well, that was at least up to the point when Harry and Meghan decided to leave the Royal Family altogether.
At this point, we all know what happened and what drove the relationship between the Sussexes and the royals to the brink.
Meghan & Harry’s Netflix documentary series
The infamous Oprah Winfrey documentary was only the beginning of the ongoing feud. Despite both parties having met since that – at the Queen’s funeral, for example – peace talks have yielded nothing.
Now, a new era of “royal fights” is likely to happen, as Harry and Meghan last week once again became the subject of talking once again with their new Netflix documentary.
It’s been widely suggested that the upcoming series might be the first of many accusations and revelations leveled against the Royal Family by Harry and Meghan.
On December 1, the trailer for the documentary finally aired.
Released on YouTube, it opened up with a woman’s voice asking why Harry and Meghan started their journey in the first place. Then, some personal photos create a slideshow, including a picture of Harry playing guitar and he and Meghan taking a selfie on holiday.
The slideshow also features a picture from the couple’s 2018 wedding celebration and another from when Meghan was pregnant.
So why are they doing all they’re doing?
“No one sees what is happening behind closed doors,” Harry says. “I had to do everything I could to protect my family.”
The teaser trailer – which gained nearly two million viewers in 24 hours – continues with a time-lapse of photos of both Meghan and Harry, from when they were children up to this point. Everything indicates that something big indeed will be revealed in the documentary series.
“Meghan has already destroyed the Markles”
“When the stakes are this high, doesn’t it make more sense to hear our story from us?” Meghan says in the trailer.
Regarding what the documentary series will be about, a Netflix spokesperson said: “In an unprecedented and in-depth documentary series, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex share the other side of their high-profile love story.”
The timing for the Netflix series has not been well-received by some. Especially not considering Prince William and Kate were both in the US for the Earthshot Prize Awards in Boston.
“Here it is, the day before Prince William and Catherine’s big royal event in the USA. Bitter Prince Harry and Meghan,” royal expert Richard Eden said, adding on Twitter.
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“I’m appalled by the trailer for Prince Harry and Meghan’s Netflix reality show – and so are Prince William and Catherine’s inner circle.”
“Right on cue, Harry and Meghan drop the trailer for their victimhood fest on Netflix. Shameless,” GB News presenter Dan Wootton said. “Meghan has already destroyed the Markles. Now Harry is trying to destroy the Windsors. Small mercy that the late Queen doesn’t have to live through this.”
While the Netflix documentary series might reveal new, bombshell details about the royals, the fans’ excitement about it isn’t close to what’s coming on January 10. Harry is to release his tell-all memoir, and since the announcement was made, reports suggest that he will reveal new details of life within the royal sphere.
Meghan & Harry reportedly snubs Christmas with royals
No one knows what will happen next between Harry & Meghan and the Royal Family. However, one sure thing is that the coming Netflix series – and Harry’s tell-all memoir – looks set to produce shockwaves.
As one can imagine, the risk of both being negatively received by the rest of the Firm is quite significant.
With that in mind, royal expert Angela Levin argues that Harry and Meghan are afraid of the Royal Family’s reaction, and this is why they have chosen not to travel back to the UK for Christmas.
“It’s been said that they’re not coming but it [is] also I think on what the documentary is like whether or not they would be invited at all,” Levein told The Sun.
“It could be a case where the royals don’t want them there after the documentary.”
“It’s up [to] the Sussexes on whether they want their children to know what their father’s family is like – but also it could be a case where the royals don’t want them there after the documentary,” she added.
Moreover, Levin says that Charles, Camilla, and the rest of the royals “want to make it a very positive day after the Queen’s death and I think the Sussexes presence would most certainly dampen that.”
“I think will be a huge relief for the rest of the family.”
Meghan’s special Christmas present to William
Even though Christmases together now seem like a distant memory, there were times when Harry and Meghan spent the holidays with the royals. Like millions of families worldwide celebrate Christmas, the Royal Family has its own traditions, from hunting and eating specific meals to watching the monarch’s speech and exchanging presents.
Even though Kate, William, Charles, Camilla, and other royals might seem strict in public, things are different when they spend time in private. As for Christmas, the royals are reported to have one fun tradition. Besides handing each other “ordinary” gifts, they also exchange gifts that intend to bring forward laughter.
Which is why Meghan one year who gave her new brother-in-law, William, a rather special present.
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Meghan Markle was invited to spend Christmas at Sandringham for the first time just one month after she and Harry got engaged. Usually, the royal tradition goes that only the closest family are welcome to spend the holidays at the estate. But in Meghan’s case, despite him and Harry not being married at the time, the Queen made an exception.
Over the years, several “gag presents” have been handed to the family members. For example, in 2016, Kate reportedly gave Harry a “Grow Your Own Girfriend” kit before he met Meghan – and William once gave the Queen a pair of personalized slippers with her face.
At least one of her gifts was a huge hit”
But Meghan opted for a relatively bolder choice. During her first Christmas with the royals, she reportedly handed Queen Elizabeth a singing hamster on a string, which both the monarch – and her corgis – loved.
But when it came to William, Meghan was left unsure. According to authors Carolyn Durand and Omid Scobiee, her “biggest challenge was finding the perfect novelty gifts to amuse her new extended family.”
That’s when she came up with quite the present for William.
“At least one of her gifts was a huge hit—a spoon for William that had ‘cereal killer’ embossed on the shallow bowl end of the utensil,” they wrote in Finding Freedom.
Moreover, Scobie and Durand revealed that Harry once gave his grandmother, the Queen, a shower cap that read “Ain’t life a b***h.”
Another person being handed a comedic present was Charles, with his sister, Princess Anne, giving him a leather toilet seat cover.
