Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have decided to tell their “full story” in a Netflix documentary, but one royal expert says they are portraying themselves as “royal-based Kardashians”.
The streaming giant released the first three hour-long episodes of “Harry and Meghan” on Thursday, with three more due out on December 15. The program features new interviews with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, as well as their friends and experts. about race and the media. It also featured never-before-seen photos of the couple, as well as video diaries they recorded on their phones from March 2020, during their acrimonious split from the British royal family.
“I think this is the biggest self-serving set of twaddle I’ve seen in a long time,” Nick Bullen, co-founder. Real Royal TV, said. “Please, I mean, how much have we heard about this? I think Netflix might be pissed off about the conversation with Oprah. [from March 2021] because he got all the really juicy stuff. It’s a repeat of a lot of things we’ve heard, like Harry getting angry at the press. We have heard of something called institutional racism in Britain. We’ve heard about the formality of the British royal family, Meghan’s first breath of fresh air – we’ve heard it before.
Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, released the first installment of their Netflix documentary on Thursday.
(Netflix)
“What’s most surprising to me is the couple who left for privacy,” Bullen said. “They were fed up with the aggression of the press and wanted their private life. And in this series, they not only opened their homes, but also disclosed SMS messages, they showed photos of their most private moments – there It was even Harry getting married photos of when they got down on one knee to propose It’s hypocritical that they want privacy and now they reveal every aspect of their lives.
PRINCE HARRY AND MEGHAN MARKLE DIVIDE INTIMATE DETAILS ABOUT THEIR FIRST COSTUME IN THE DOCUMENTARY ‘HARRY AND MEGAN’
Bullen has been making award-winning documentaries about the British Royal Family for 20 years. He also worked closely with Harry’s father, King Charles III, for nearly a decade.
As a filmmaker, Bullen says the program is more like a “reality show” than a documentary, covering all sides of the royal saga. He also wondered why the Sussexes opened their lives up for public consumption after choosing to step down from their roles as royals and move to California. The couple lives in the coastal town of Montecito, where they raise their two children.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle live in Montecito, California with their son Archie and daughter Lilibet.
(Netflix)
“It’s great for the audience in terms of a reality show, but why would they feel the need to share that with us if they want to keep privacy in their lives?” he was surprised. “The thing that surprised me the most was how surprising it was. I was also surprised that it was billed as a documentary. It’s not a documentary. It’s a reality show. It’s the Kardashians. The documentary has some kind of editorial balance and questions are asked. . Opinions are expressed. But there are no questions. There are no opinions. There is only one truth in this series and that is the truth of Harry and Meghan.”
“I think the main shock and surprise is the use of intimate moments,” Bullen continued. “You know, the royal family — and Harry and Meghan — have been very open about it, you know, exposed a lot of their lives. So they’re very careful to protect what they can. And these private moments are for them. Harry and Meghan told us about their trip to Africa. [a] when they left to be just the two of them. No one needs to know what happened there, but they are revealing photos from there. They reveal that they didn’t even know how to greet each other the first few minutes they got off the plane. And then they had a stolen kiss in the back of a Land Rover.
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The series began by telling the story of Harry and Markle’s meeting and the initial passion that greeted their relationship. In what was supposed to be a fairytale romance between a British prince and an American actress, Markle, 41, has taken a dark turn under intense media scrutiny. It reminded Harry, 38, of how his mother, Princess Diana, was treated before her death. a car accident being chased by the paparazzi.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle pose after announcing their engagement in the sunken garden at Kensington Palace on November 27, 2017 in London.
(Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images)
The former Suits star once compared her engagement interview to an “orchestrated reality show.” However, Bullen claims that the Sussexes were only following royal protocol.
“I think the engagement and the wedding followed all the normal royal protocols. “I don’t think anyone would describe those engaging interviews as ‘reality shows.’ They’re very choreographed news programs [outlet]. Weddings are not state events in many ways, but rather national events associated with a royal wedding. So I think Meghan is a bit confused. It’s a little surprising to call it a reality show and not realize that she’s creating her own reality show right now.”
In the documentaries, the Sussexes initially tried to follow palace advice and try to keep quiet about press coverage. The couple said members of the royal family said it was a rite of passage that everyone should go through. But the couple said they felt compelled to tell their story because there was something different about Markle, who is biracial.
PRINCE HARRY’S MEMOIR WILL BE FEARLESS, WILL NOT DESTROY THE INSTITUTION: MALZA DIANA’S BIOGRAPHY
Prince Harry has reflected on his mother Princess Diana’s struggles with the paparazzi. The Princess of Wales died in 1997 from injuries sustained in a car accident in Paris. He was 36 years old. At the time of the incident, Diana was followed by photographers.
(AP Photo/Jim Bourdier)
“I said, ‘The difference here is the race element,'” Harry said.
This conflict has deep roots in the history of the British Empire, enriched by the enslavement of blacks and the extraction of wealth from colonies in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, historian and author David Olusoga told the program. It was only after the Second World War that large numbers of black and Asian people immigrated to Britain and this changed the face of the nation.
At one point, Harry deeply regretted wearing a Nazi uniform to a friend’s costume party in 2005 when he was 20. He called it “one of the biggest mistakes of my life” and noted that he was “embarrassed afterwards”.
Prince Harry says he regrets dressing up as a Nazi at his friend’s costume party. He called it “one of the biggest mistakes of my life.”
(Steven Chernin/Getty Images)
“I sat down and talked with the chief rabbi in London, and it had a profound effect on me,” he recalls in the series. “I went to Berlin and talked to a Holocaust survivor.”
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Bullen said she was not surprised by Harry’s decision to look into the controversy as the couple wanted to talk about “all the moments they wanted to deal with”.
“If they ever tried to close the department, it would have to be considered,” Bullen said. “Otherwise, there would always be questions like that. But there’s a lot of things left hanging, a lot of places that aren’t explored because I don’t think they’re necessarily relevant to the story. But who knows, maybe they will be.” lad. Come on in the next three episodes… They seem to be bent on discussing themselves to their heart’s content.”
Nick Bullen says Duke and Duchess of Sussex should stop using royal titles after Netflix documentary
(Netflix)
In Great Britain, critics have called for the 74-year-old Charles of Sussex to be stripped of his royal titles. Bullen said that while he does not believe the king would choose to do so to his own son, he believes the Sussexes should stop using royal titles altogether.
“If they don’t want to be part of the royal family, if they feel that their royalty has harmed them in many ways, if they feel that the formality of the institution is against their principles, then … it’s a bit hypocritical.” it seems. to preserve the trappings of royalty,” he said. “Why do they need titles?”
Charles was asked if he had watched the series during his engagement in London on Thursday. He didn’t answer.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.