What: Harry and Meghan
Where to watch: Netflix
Premiere Date: Dec. 8 (Volume I) and Dec. 15 (Volume II)
It’s one of the most talked about releases of the year and it’s only just landed.
Netflix’s Harry and Meghan documentary, steered by the couple themselves as part of their major streaming deal, is here, to be released in two highly anticipated volumes. The series follows the Duke and Duchess of Sussex through their early relationship, their experience within the Royal Family, and their decision to step down as senior royals in 2020.
Here’s what you need to know.
How can I watch Harry and Meghan?
Harry and Meghan is streaming on Netflix in two volumes of a total six episodes, with the first three out now and the second on Dec. 15.
What is Harry and Meghan about?
Harry and Meghan enables the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to share their side of what’s been a highly publicised love story between two people who’ve truly been through it.
From What Happened Miss Simone? director Liz Garbus, the documentary series covers multiple elements of their relationship, beginning with their meeting and early courtship, through their marriage, and to the colossal decision the pair made to step back from their full-time roles as royals, otherwise referred to as “Megxit.”
Following on from their landmark interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, the documentary foregrounds Meghan and Harry’s perspective, including interviews with the couple themselves, alongside friends and family who witnessed their experiences, historians commenting on the Royal Family’s relationship with the press, and the hateful, racist coverage targeting Meghan in particular.
What do we know so far about Harry and Meghan?
Netflix has kept it watertight on details, with only clues from the teaser and the trailer, but now the first three episodes are out, we can tell you about the first half. Harry and Meghan features a huge amount of personal footage and photos from the couple’s own collection, as they were recommended by a friend to start filming moments during their decision to step down as senior royals. The documentary says all interviews were completed in August 2022, which is one month before the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Harry and Meghan runs through events you might have read about, but never really from Harry and Meghan’s perspective — and also features a huge amount of sweet, candid, personal snaps and videos, including a photo from their first date and a video from the night of Harry’s proposal. The first three episodes follow their relationship, from their meeting via Instagram to their first date at Soho House in London, the process of falling in love away from the public, and their horrendous experience once their relationship hit the press. Meghan and Harry speak at length about royal “protocol” and its power, whether real rules or those added by the press — for example, Meghan examines her intentionally muted wardrobe worn at royal events.
The British press is a major topic of the documentary, as first episode details Harry’s experience with the press growing up as a young prince, the paparazzi harassment and stalking endured by both his mother Princess Diana and then himself and Meghan, and his inability to grieve publicly after his mother’s death. Harry speaks about the Royal Family failing to protect his wife against racist attacks in the press, mentions a “hierarchy of the family” when it comes to press leaks and plants, and addresses unconscious bias within the royal family over race.
Notably, the series opens with a written statement saying, “Members of the royal family declined to comment on the content within this series.”
The documentary also spends ample time chronicling Meghan’s life, including her career as an actor, particularly on Suits, and her family and childhood, with her mother Doria Ragland interviewed for the first time ever. Episode 3 lets Meghan tell her own story about her relationship with her father, Thomas Markle, and finding out he would not attend their royal wedding through the tabloids.
The second volume looks to move through Harry and Meghan’s decision to step down as senior royals and leave the UK.
“When the stakes are this high, doesn’t it make more sense to hear the story from us?” Meghan asks.
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