Harry and Meghan Documentary: The Couple Gains Closure
Ever since they made headlines in January 2020, choosing to step back from their roles as senior royals, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have made it their mission to tell their own story, despite external powers that have tried to do it for them. This is precisely what their new Netflix documentary series, “Harry & Meghan,” which they released in three-episode installments from December 8 through December 15, 2022, aims to do.
The documentary begins by chronicling the early days of their courtship, from Harry seeing Meghan’s face via a dog filter on Instagram to their eventual meeting in London. From July through October 2016, they were largely able to keep their relationship private, with only certain close friends and family in the know. “Harry & Meghan” immediately shows their instant connection and the love they have for one another. Not taking into account the factors of racism and their public roles, it is immensely difficult to see how anyone could not approve of their otherwise picture-perfect union.
While the series begins on a positive note, things quickly take a downturn. Once news of their relationship is leaked in October 2016, the media immediately comes alive, picking apart nearly every piece of Meghan’s background and their relationship. While initial reports take a more exciting and curious tone, they quickly turn to harsh criticism and explicit racism. Not only does the media trash Meghan’s background, tabloids begin calling her out on each of the ways she accidentally breaks royal protocol. What viewers will find most shocking is that Meghan did not receive any royal training whatsoever upon entering her new role. She describes having to google the National Anthem and learning how to curtsy via YouTube.
Anyone who has been following the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, from their engagement announcement in 2017 to their historic royal wedding in 2018, knows that their union is anything but conventional for the British royal family. Meghan Markle, a former actress from Southern California, is a biracial African American woman who Prince Harry met over social media. This serves as a direct generational contradiction to King Charles III’s marriage to Princess Diana, which was the last royal union that the family explicitly approved of and occurred way before digital social platforms existed. Prince Harry and Meghan’s union even contrasts the marriage of Prince William and Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, who met in college, predating Instagram. Prince Harry, on the other hand, has been in the spotlight his entire life during some of his hardest moments, from the death of his mother, Princess Diana, to his relationship with Meghan. Other than the unorthodox meeting of their two backgrounds, Harry and Meghan’s marriage is also deeply symbolic. A Black American woman marrying into the family that is the world’s largest colonial power, a system that to this day is still deeply rooted in racism (as blatantly evidenced in this documentary), represents both a turning point and a lack thereof in the royal family.
“Harry and Meghan” does not shy away from the historically significant aspects of their union, and brings in experts such as David Olusoga, a Black British historian, Afua Hirsch, a Black British writer and broadcaster, and Kehinde Andrews, a British Black studies academic.The episodes are interspersed with their cultural and historical insights, as well as information from the former Head of Engagement and Communications for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, James Holt, who provides his own expertise on the monarchy’s relationship with the press.
However, one should not expect a tell-all from “Harry & Meghan.” While members of the royal family have certainly influenced the couple’s experiences, from relatives debating the effects of their son’s skin color to Prince William shouting at Prince Harry for the couple’s choice to step down from their roles, the series ultimately only centers around the two of them. Frankly, the documentary itself is rather unremarkable even if the story it tells is, which speaks to the importance of the couple’s needs rather than those of the audience. Some viewers may find this disappointing, and if so they should check out the Sussexes’ interview with Oprah that was released in March 2021, where they may find greater revelations. Even so, “Harry and Meghan” stays true to the couple’s goal, which is to tell their truth and close this chapter, as they enter a new one situated in the hills of Montecito, California.
