The majority of Brits believe Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Netflix show was a bad idea, a new poll released to coincide with the final episodes suggests. The survey of 2,250 UK adults from December 9 to 11 found 59 percent say the documentary was not a good idea, compared to 33 percent who say it was.
Chris Hopkins, political research director at Savanta, said: “Although the series has garnered a massive amount of attention, it appears the public are not convinced the Sussexes version of events portrayed by Netflix will be accurate.
“Despite their best efforts, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are viewed as two of the most unfavourable members of the Royal Family.
“The series is an effort by them to show that this view held by the public is due to media attacks, perhaps even directed by the Palace.
“Time will tell who will get more public support, but it’s doesn’t appear from this polling that it will give the Sussexes the result they were hoping for.”
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Katie Harris
Harry and Meghan open up on Archie and Lilibet
Near the end of the final episode, Meghan says: “A part of what’s beautiful here is the freedom to have family moments out in the world.
“And I want our kids to be able to do that and to be able to travel and to fall in love. I just want them to be happy.”
Harry adds: “The world that they see is how I would love the world to be. They don’t worry about, they don’t need to worry about the things that we worry about.”
Elsewhere during the episode, the Duke says his son takes after the Duchess, while his daughter resembles Princess Diana.
He says: “I think at the moment I see a lot of my wife in Archie and I see a lot of my mum in Lili. She’s very Spencer-like. She’s got the same blue eyes, sort of like a golden reddish hair.”
Read more HERE.
Archie in a previously unseen snap (Image: NETFLIX)
Katie Harris
Duke says he had to get his family ‘the hell’ out of Canada
Prince Harry said he knew he had to get his family “the hell” out of Canada once they were told they would no longer have security provided for them around the same time the coronarivus pandemic hit in March 2020.
Meghan said in the fifth episode: “And then just like that, this thing called Covid. And at that moment our location was exposed, we knew our security was being pulled, everyone in the world knew where we were. So we weren’t going to be safe there.
“They’re going to close the border, without question they’re going to close the border in no time.”
Harry added: “There comes a point when you’re worried about what could happen next. And therefore you’ve got to do what I guess any husband and father would do, which is get the hell out of there.”
Katie Harris
Harry reveals what he misses about royal life
The Duke is asked during an interview in the final episode if there are things he misses about his “life in the institution”.
He replies: “Yeah, I miss the weird family gatherings when we’re all sort of brought together under one roof for certain times of the year. That I miss.
“Being part of the institution meant that I was in the UK, so I miss the UK. I miss my friends. I’ve lost a few friends in this process as well.”
Katie Harris
Meghan opens up on baby shower
Speaking about her lavish baby shower in New York in 2019 when she was expecting Archie, the Duchess said: “My friends surprised me with a really beautiful baby shower in New York.
“They were like, ‘We’re going to shower her with love, and shower her baby, and she’s going to survive this and we’re going to get through it with her’.”
Snaps are shown of the Duchess’s baby shower (Image: NETFLIX)
Meghan’s pals reach out to touch her blossoming baby bump (Image: NETFLIX)
Katie Harris
Archie’s nanny says couple ‘really hands-on parents’
Archie’s former nanny describes Harry and Meghan as “really hands-on parents” in the fourth episode.
Lorren Khumalo said: “They were really hands-on parents. In the morning when he woke up, first thing, mum and dad would come in. They would be with their baby, she would feed him. And after that, I’ll take over and normally we would go for a morning walk.”
Lorren is also pictured carrying baby Archie on her back in a mudcloth.
Meghan said: “She said is it OK if I tie him on my back with a mudcloth? Like we do in Zimbabwe? I said, ‘Yes let’s do that’.”
She added of Lorren: “She didn’t just take care of Archie she took care of us, she definitely took care of me.”
Lorren and baby Archie (Image: NETFLIX)
Katie Harris
British public ‘were sad that we were leaving’ – Meghan
Discussing their farewell week as working royals in the UK in March 2020 in episode five, Harry says: “We weren’t with the family. It was our opportunity to go out with a bang to be honest.
“It never needed to be this way. We talked about this over and over again, sitting up late after these late-night engagements saying: ‘We would have carried on doing this for the rest of our lives’.”
Meghan adds: “I thought the public, they’ve been fed these lies about me for two years, what do they think of me? They must hate us.
“No, the people were just so embracing. They were sad that we were leaving. We were sad that we were leaving.”
The documentary then shows a clip of Harry talking into his phone camera, saying: “We’re going to miss the British public. Not going to miss the British press, and their followers and their trolls that they create. I’m going to miss this country, so is Meghan.”
Katie Harris
Meghan breaks down as she describes receiving death threats online
In the fifth episode of the Harry & Meghan’s Netflix series, Meghan said negative media coverage had made people say they wanted to kill her.
She said: “Because of people creating hate – and I’m a mom, it’s my real life you know – and that’s the piece when you see it and you go, ‘you’re making people want to kill me’.
“It’s not just a tabloid. It’s not just some story. You are making me scared, right? And like that night, to be up and down in the middle the night, looking down the hallway, like ‘are we safe, are our doors locked? Is security on?’ – that’s real. ‘Are my babies safe?’
“And you’ve created it for what? Because you’re bored or because it sells your papers, or because it makes you feel better about your own life. It’s real, what you’re doing. And that’s because I don’t think people fully understand.”
Read more HERE.
Katie Harris
Harry accuses William’s office of briefing to press
Referring to the royal communications teams in episode four, Harry said: “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 game or this business of trading, and to see my brother’s office copy the very same thing that we promised the two of us would never ever do that was heartbreaking.”
Read more HERE.
Katie Harris
Piers Morgan slams ‘whining’ Harry and Meghan
The outspoken broadcaster tweeted: “God, their incessant whining is so insufferably exhausting. #MeghanandHarryNetflix.
“I’m being regularly heard/quoted in this second instalment of the Megsflix whine-a-thon.
“I’m traumatised by this terrible invasion of my privacy.”
Read more HERE.
Katie Harris
Meghan and Harry meditate together
The couple are shown meditating together during episode five.
A recording of a meditating instructor says: “You’re taking the bait. You’re feeding the beast. It is an illusion. Your work is not to prove your goodness.”
The couple meditate as they sit on a sofa (Image: NETFLIX)
Katie Harris
Duke denies claims he ‘blindsided’ Queen with Megxit statement
Prince Harry has denied claims he “blindsided” the late Queen with his and Meghan’s Instagram statement in January 2020 about stepping back as working royals.
He says in episode five: “This idea that I supposedly blindsided my grandmother just never happened. I have so much respect for her.”
Katie Harris
Harry claims letter he wrote Charles was leaked
In the fifth episode, the Duke said: “It became clear that the institution had leaked the fact that we were moving back to Canada.
“And a 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 titles.
“That was a giveaway. I was like ‘Wow, our story, our lives, literally got taken from underneath us’.”
Katie Harris
Harry says he and Meghan offered to give up Sussex titles
In the fifth episode, the Duke said he wrote to his father in January 2020 to say that he and his wife would be willing to relinquish their titles if thier plan to move to Canada as working royals did not work out.
He said: “By the time I was speaking to my father from Canada, the family and their people knew that we were trying to find a different way of working for the minimum of two years.
“Canada, I was speaking to my father, ‘This is the plan’, and he says ‘Can you put it in writing’, and I said I would rather not because of what happened last time.
“And he said ‘I can’t do anything unless you put it in writing’. So I put it in writing, sent him emails on the 1st and the 2nd and the 3rd of January.
“And in one of those I had mentioned that if this wasn’t going to work out, then we would be willing to relinquish our Sussex titles if need be. So that was the plan.”
Katie Harris
‘It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me’ – Harry
In the fifth episode, the Duke of Sussex said it was “terrifying” for his brother, now the Prince of Wales, to “scream and shout” at him during the Sandringham summit with the late Queen and then Prince Charles shortly after he and Meghan announced bombshell Megxit plans.
He said: “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.
“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 that, from the family’s perspective, especially from hers, there are ways of doing things and her ultimate, sort of, mission, goal, responsibility is the institution.”
Read more HERE.
Katie Harris
Snap of Archie’s first birthday
In the final episode Harry and Meghan are seen preparing for their son Archie’s first birthday while they were staying at Tyler Perry’s house in May 2020.
It is followed by a picture of the tot in his highchair, wearing a party hat and surrounded by his mother, father and grandmother Doria Ragland.
Meghan, Harry and Doria celebrate Archie’s first birthday (Image: NETFLIX)
Katie Harris
Moment Harry receives text from William after Oprah chat
Prince Harry appears visibly upset after receiving a text message from Prince William following the bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in the sixth episode.
He shows the phone to Meghan who says: “Wow.”
Harry adds: “I wish I knew what to.”
Read more HERE.
Harry shows the text to Meghan (Image: NETFLIX)
Katie Harris
Duchess on first royal engagement with Queen
Meghan said in the fourth epsiode: “I treated her as my husband’s grandma, and knowing that of course there has to be a completely different sense of propriety in public, when you’re sitting and having breakfast to just be able to talk.
“When we got into the car in between engagements she had a blanket and she put it over my knees and we were sitting in this car with this blanket and I thought ‘I recognise and respect and see that you’re the Queen, but in this moment I’m so grateful that there is a grandmother figure because that feels like family’.
The Duchess added of the engagement in Cheshire in 2018 that it was “such a good day, we laughed”.
Katie Harris
Meghan opens up on morning of royal wedding
Speaking in the fourth episode, she says: “I don’t know how I was so calm.
“And all I wanted was a mimosa, a croissant and to play the song Going to The Chapel. And that’s what I did, and it was great.”
A series of never before seen snaps are also shown from the 2018 Windsor wedding and reception.
Read more HERE.
The Duchess says she wanted a mimosa and a croissant on her wedding morning (Image: NETFLIX)
The newlyweds pictured at their wedding reception (Image: NETFLIX)
Katie Harris
Harry on moment ‘penny dropped’ for Meghan
Speaking in the fourth epsiode, the Duke said: “The issue is, when someone marrying in should be a supporting act, is then stealing the limelight or doing the job better than the person who is born to do this, that upsets people.
“It shifts the balance because you’ve been led to believe that the only way that your charities can succeed and the only way that your reputation can be grown or improved is if you’re on the front page of those newspapers.
“But the media are the ones who chose who to put on the front page. The first time that the penny dropped for her, M and I spent the night in a room at Buckingham Palace after an event where every member of the family, senior members of the family had been, including the Queen.
“And on the front page of the Telegraph, Meghan. She was like ‘but it’s not my fault’ – and my mum felt the same way.”
Katie Harris
Meghan says she thought about taking her own life
Speaking in episode four, the Duchess says: “It was like ‘All of this will stop if I am not here’. And that was the scariest thing about it because it was such clear thinking.”
Her mother, Doria Ragland, adds: “I remember her telling me that, that she had wanted to take her own life, and that really broke my heart because I knew…
“Well, I knew it was bad, but to just constantly be picked at by these vultures, just picking away at her spirit, that she would actually think of not wanting to be here. That is not an easy one for a mum to hear.”
Wiping away tears, she added: “And I can’t protect her. H can’t protect her.”
Harry says: “I was devastated. I knew that she was struggling. We were both struggling, but I never thought that it would get to that stage, and the fact that it got to that stage, I felt angry and ashamed.
“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.
“I had been trained to worry more about ‘What are people going to think if we don’t go to this event, we’re going to be late’, and looking back on it now, I hate myself for it.
“What she needed from me was so much more than what I was able to give.”
Read more HERE.
Doria Ragland became emotional as she discussed Meghan’s mental health (Image: NETFLIX)
Katie Harris
Harry says ‘expectation’ to have royal wedding
Speaking in episode four about having a royal wedding, Harry said: “There was an expectation right? Diana’s boy. There was an expectation to have a public wedding.
“It was like, ‘Mission complete with William. Now let’s see if this goes the distance with Harry and then we can literally go – job done’.”
Read more HERE.
The Duke discusses his and Meghan’s royal wedding (Image: NETFLIX)
Katie Harris
Tyler Perry is first person to appear in final episode
Asked how he first got in touch with Meghan, the Hollywood mogul – who lent the Sussexes his California home when they first moved to the US – said he was not a “royal watcher” but that he “saw something about her father” and sent her a note before her wedding.
Meghan said: “That’s where Tyler came into the picture. I’d never met him before. He sent me a letter before the wedding just saying he was praying for me, and that if I ever need anything he would be there.
“Months and months and months went by and then one day when we were in Canada I called him. Finally, after years at that point, first time we ever spoke, and I was just a wreck.
“I was just crying and crying. Sometimes it’s easier to just open up to someone who knows nothing at all. And that was that moment with me and Tyler.”
Katie Harris
Meghan says she was being ‘fed to the wolves’
The Duchess of Sussex said she was being “fed to the wolves” during the opening of episode five.
Speaking about wanting her son Archie to have a big family in the way she had not, Meghan says: “I was just so excited that we were going to be able to create for him that thing that I had always wanted. So I just did everything I could to make them proud and to really be a part of the family.”
“And then the bubble burst,” she says while the voices of news presenters can be heard saying: “Duchess difficult” and “American”.
The Duke of Sussex then says: “It was already clear to the media that the Palace was not going to protect her. Once that happens then the flood gates open.”
Meghan then says: “I realised that I wasn’t just being thrown to the wolves, I was being fed to the wolves.”
Katie Harris
Meghan claims private secretary compared her to ‘foreign organism’
Speaking in episode four, Meghan claims her private secretary, who worked for the Queen for 20 years, had told her: “It is like a fish that is swimming perfectly. It is powerful, it is on the right current. Then one day this little organism comes in.
“This foreign organism. And the entire thing goes… What is that? What is it doing here? It doesn’t look like us. It doesn’t move like us. We don’t like it. Get it off of us.
“And she just explained that, you know, they’ll soon see, that it’s stronger, faster, even better with this organism as part of it.
“It will be hard at the beginning for them to adjust to this new thing but then it’ll be amazing.”
Katie Harris
Majority say Sussexes’ show was bad idea
The majority of Brits do not back Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s documentary, according to new polling released to coincide with the final episodes.
The survey by Savanta of 2,250 UK adults from December 9 to 11 found six in 10 – 59 percent – say it was a bad idea, while a third – 33 percent – say it was a good idea.
Chris Hopkins, political research director at Savanta, said: “Although the series has garnered a massive amount of attention, it appears the public are not convinced the Sussexes version of events portrayed by Netflix will be accurate.
“Despite their best efforts, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are viewed as two of the most unfavourable members of the Royal Family. The series is an effort by them to show that this view held by the public is due to media attacks, perhaps even directed by the Palace.
“Time will tell who will get more public support, but it doesn’t appear from this polling that it will give the Sussexes the result they were hoping for.”
Katie Harris
Volume II of Harry & Meghan drops
The final part of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s controversial documentary has aired on Netflix.
The last three episodes of the six-part Harry & Meghan series streamed at 8am on Thursday.
The opening scenes of episode four feature black and white footage from the late Queen’s wedding to Prince Philip.
Read more HERE.
Katie Harris
Charles ponders punishment plan for Harry and Meghan
King Charles is facing a “real dilemma” over his Coronation ceremony next year in the light of claims in Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Netflix show and may even opt to exclude them completely, a royal commentator has said.
Jonathan Sacerdoti, whose television appearances include the BBC, Sky News and Fox News, acknowledged there were no simple solutions for the new monarch.
He told Express.co.uk: “Regarding the Coronation, I think it’s a real dilemma. It might seem very aggressive not to invite Megan and Harry though most people would understand exactly why that decision would have been made.”
Read more HERE.
The King’s coronation takes place next May (Image: GETTY)
Katie Harris
Final part of Harry & Meghan out this morning
The last three episodes of the Sussexes’ Netflix documentary air at 8am today.
The Royal Family and Palace aides will be steeling themselves for bombshells in Volume II of the Harry & Meghan series after the royal household faced accusations it leaked negative stories to deflect attention from less favourable coverage of other royals.
Meghan’s lawyer Jenny Afia, in a trailer released yesterday, alleged she had seen evidence of briefing from the Palace against the couple to suit other people’s agenda.
The Duchess herself was seen saying: “You would just see it play out, like a story about someone in the family would pop up for a minute and they’d go ‘We’ve got to make that go away’.”
Her friend Lucy Fraser added: “Meg became this scapegoat for the Palace. And so they would feed stories on her whether they were true or not to avoid other less favourable stories being printed.”
Ms Afia said: “There was a real kind of war against Meghan and I’ve certainly seen evidence that there was negative briefing from the Palace against Harry and Meghan to suit other people’s agendas.”
