What we learned from the final episodes of Netflix's Harry & Meghan docuseries
'It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me,' Harry says in documentary series
Harry criticized his brother Prince William for allegedly participating in media attacks against him and wife Meghan Markle — while she opened up about her contentious lawsuit against British media — during the latest episodes of their highly publicized Netflix docuseries.
The final three instalments, released Thursday, revealed more specific grievances than last week's batch of episodes. They also featured interviews with the couple, journalists and historians, as well as friends like tennis champ Serena Williams and filmmaker Tyler Perry.
Here's what we learned from Harry & Meghan, part two.
Meghan opens up about suicidal thoughts
As negative media coverage continued — much of it illustrating the apparent double standard in coverage of Meghan Markle versus Kate Middleton — Meghan says she began having suicidal thoughts: "All of this will stop if I'm not here."
Shortly after an interview in which Meghan publicly shared for the first time that she was "struggling" and "not OK," the couple "started having harder conversations about what needs to happen for us to be able to continue to make this work," she said.
The fact that it got to that stage, I felt angry and ashamed.- Prince Harry
Prince Harry added that he wished he had done more to support Meghan as she struggled with her mental health, but that he had been trained from a young age to prioritize his royal duties over nearly everything else.
"I was devastated … the fact that it got to that stage, I felt angry and ashamed," he said.
"I didn't deal with it particularly well. I dealt with it as institutional Harry as opposed to husband Harry, and what took over my feelings was my royal role … looking back on it now I hate myself for it."
Meghan sued tabloids, saying royal institution wouldn't take action
Meghan's father, Thomas Markle, began taking part in media interviews after the wedding in which criticized his daughter and the other members of the Royal Family. "It was very embarrassing for the family," she said.
According to Meghan, the Queen and Prince Charles advised her to write her father a letter. But the note was intercepted and subsequently leaked to the public.
The Mail on Sunday, a sister paper to the Daily Mail, printed part of the letter — which was heavily critical of the publication and other tabloid newspapers — completely redacting the lines that called attention to the media's behaviour.
Meghan alleges in the documentary that the royal institution chose not to take legal action against the Mail, even though she says she chose to write it on the advice of senior members of the Royal Family. She and Harry sued the Mail independently.
"That litigation probably was the catalyst for all of the unravelling," she said.
Couple decided to leave royals after Canada move leaked
Meghan and Harry rented a home on Vancouver Island at the end of 2019. At this time, they began exploring options to leave Britain, where they said life surrounded by paparazzi had made life very challenging.
"We really wanted to remove the supposed public interest argument that the press had over every element of our lives," Harry said.
They asked for permission from Prince Charles to move to Canada. The plan was to continue working within the Commonwealth and doing work in the name of the Queen while moving away from the royal "rota" of media and photographers, they said.
Harry wrote several emails to Prince Charles, reluctantly putting their plans into writing at Charles's request. Harry said he included a detail that the couple would be willing to relinquish their Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles if their moving plans didn't materialize.
"Just five days later it was on the front page of the newspaper," Harry said, alleging that the royal institution leaked the couple's plans to move to Canada. It was at this point that they decided to step back from their royal duties and pursue financial independence.
Harry says William screamed at him during meeting
During a private family meeting between Harry, Prince William, then-Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth, the four discussed Harry and Meghan's desire to move to Canada amid complaints of mounting media harassment. Harry alleges that Prince William shouted during the conversation as the younger brother contemplated leaving his royal duties behind.
"It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me and my father say things that just simply weren't true," Harry said. He later added that "the saddest part of it was this wedge created between myself and my brother so that he's now on the institution's side."
Harry added that Prince William broke a promise not to participate in media attacks against him and Meghan.
Just a few days after the conversation, a joint palace statement under Harry and Prince William's names was released, denying allegations that William was trying to "bully" Harry and Meghan out of the Royal Family. Harry alleged that his name was added to the statement without his permission or knowledge.
Harry blames miscarriage on media coverage
Meghan suffered a miscarriage in early 2020 amid her lawsuit against publishers of the British tabloid the Daily Mail. The letter to her father expressed disappointment in his many media interviews critical of her and the royals.
During the docuseries, Harry said the Mail was indirectly responsible for the loss of the pregnancy. "I believe my wife suffered a miscarriage because of what the [Mail] did," he said.
While he added that they could never say with certainty if the Mail's coverage led to the miscarriage, he said the legal battle against the tabloid and other media outlets caused Meghan an immense amount of stress and lack of sleep during the early weeks of the pregnancy.
"I can say from what I saw, that miscarriage was created by what they were trying to do to her," he said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Reuters