Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been in the spotlight ever since leaving the Royal Family. Though many thought they would go on to lead a quiet life in California, their infamous Oprah Winfrey interview, recorded just months after they left the UK, began a whirlwind of events.
Suffice it to say that whirlwind is still in motion.
Their rift with the royals has firmly left Harry and Meghan out in the cold. Their relationships with King Charles, as well as Harry’s brother William and the future Queen Kate Middleton, are in dire straits indeed.
What’s more, the events of the coming weeks might well serve to make things worse, not least because of Harry’s upcoming tell-all book, but also because of a new documentary.
On Thursday, Netflix released the trailer for Harry and Meghan’s new documentary. If pictures are anything to go by, there will be plenty of drama.
Harry and Meghan probably thought their lives would be without drama or controversy when they left the Royal Family in 2021. After living for a short time in Canada, the couple found the perfect house in Montecito, California – about 90 minutes northwest of Los Angeles – to settle and raise their two children.
Harry & Meghan – feud with the royal family
But now, almost two years later, things haven’t exactly turned out the way they had planned. Or have they?
Harry and Meghan have both appeared in tell-all interviews, as well as signed big deals with both Netflix and Spotify. Meghan’s podcast Archetypes, released earlier this fall, quickly gained many followers. Ultimately, though, everyone is talking about their criticism of the royals.
The Oprah Winfrey interview started it all, and many might have thought it would end there. But unfortunately, despite tries at peace talks between Harry, Meghan, and the rest of the royals, that simply hasn’t happened.
The Sussexes and the Firm couldn’t find middle ground, and now, it seems like there is no way back. Especially not given the upcoming release of Harry’s tell-all memoir, Spare, in January.
It’s been described as a “raw, unflinching” and “a landmark publication full of insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief,” and it’s difficult to imagine that Harry won’t be describing his royal life in the fullest.
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Moreover, it looks like Harry and Meghan won’t reunite with the royals for Christmas. It’s been rumored that the couple declined Charles’ invite to spend Christmas in the UK. Instead, according to royal author Katie Nicholl, they prefer to stay in sunny California.
“Christmas is always a really special time for the Royal Family where they traditionally come together,” Nicholl told Entertainment Tonight.
Won’t spent Christmas in the UK
“That has always been at Sandringham and my understanding is that King Charles is going to follow his mother’s tradition and host a family Christmas at Sandringham this year.”
She added: “Harry and Meghan have been invited for Christmas but it’s our understanding that they won’t be coming over to the UK, they will be spending the holiday season in California.”
So why aren’t they keen on joining the Royal Family this Christmas? As mentioned, it’s been rumored that the couple declined Charles’ invite to spend the holidays in the UK. Yet Christmas in the UK reportedly has a deeper meaning for Harry & Meghan, as it was one incident during the holidays that made them want to leave for good.
The last time they spent Christmas with the Royal Family was back in 2019. At 3 p.m., the Royal Family – and millions of people around the country – sat down to watch the annual Christmas speech on television. Queen Elizabeth’s annual speech was a highlight for many – and this year will mark King Charles’ first time doing the speech.
Each year, while the Queen addressed the nation on Christmas, she was surrounded by photos of her family members.
In 2019, there were pictures of her father, King George VI, on display, as well as then-Prince Charles, Camilla, Prince Philip, and Kate and William alongside their three children.
‘Were not a fundamental part of royal future’
Notably, Harry and Meghan did not feature. According to authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand of the biography Finding Freedom, this was “the final straw” for the Sussexes.
At the time, Harry and Meghan had already started transitioning to a non-royal life. But ‘photo-gate,’ as it was dubbed in several tabloids, was the final nail in the coffin.
Scobie and Durand claim that Harry and Meghan felt they “had long been sidelined by the institution and were not a fundamental part of its future.”
“One didn’t have to look further than the family photos displayed during the Queen’s Speech on Christmas Day,” they wrote in the biography Finding Freedom.
“Palace sources insisted that the photos were chosen to represent the direct line of succession, but for Harry and Meghan, it had been yet another sign that they needed to consider their own path.”
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At the same time, Harry and Meghan were not totally forgotten in the Christmas Day speech of 2019. Never-before-seen footage of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip meeting Archie for the first time was included in the address.
Still, author Christopher Andersen said it wasn’t enough to stop the couple from feeling “erased.”
Hary & Meghan – Netflix documentary series, trailer
According to Andersen, the Queen removed their photo before making her speech.
“(The queen) loves all of her children and grandchildren, there’s no doubt about that,” he told Today. “But when it comes to ‘The Firm,’ as they call the royal family, she is all business.”
Andersen added: “That’s why she wouldn’t allow Harry and Meghan to remain as kind of part-time royals on the terms that they wanted.”
It’s been widely suggested that the upcoming Netflix documentary might be the first in a row of 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 the journey they’re on 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.
Meghan & Harry “share the other side of their high-profile love story”
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 has gained more than 1.9 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.
“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 everyone. Especially not considering Prince William and Kate are 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.
“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.”
“Afraid” of celebratting Christmas with royal family
“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.”
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.
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“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.”
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