Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have finally released the first three episodes of the Netflix documentary series.
The Sussexes didn’t waste any time trying to repair the rift with the Royal Family. Instead, they yet again attacked them in several ways regarding the past. As the couple gave viewers an insight into their love story and upbringing, they also fast forwarded to the period wherein Meghan first became a fixture of the Firm.
Amongst other things, Meghan spoke candidly on her relationship with Kate Middleton, recalling one incident during their first dinner together. Suffice to say the claws are out, and they look set to stay that way.
Harry and Meghan Markle had millions of royal fans holding their breaths before their documentary series was released last Thursday on Netflix. The Royal Family were likely anticipating it too; eagerly waiting to see what Harry and Meghan would reveal about them. However, the Sussexes focused more on their history – at least to begin with.
Harry & Meghan Markle – Netflix documentary series released
The first three episodes of the documentary mainly explore Harry and Meghan’s childhood years. Moreover, the couple give us insight into the early days of their relationship, and even a sneak peek at the messages the two sent each other during that initial phase.
The episodes included new intimate interviews and never-before-seen footage of the Sussexes. Prince Harry laid out the story of how the couple met in full, revealing that Meghan first caught his eye on Instagram when she had appeared in a mutual friend’s video.
Meghan appeared in said video wearing a filter that gave her dog ears. It was apparently enough to peak Harry’s interest.
“I was like, who is that?” Harry said in the documentary.
One of their mutual friends thereafter introduced Meghan to Harry – and the rest, as they say, is history.
Harry was over the moon when he started dating Meghan. A friend of his who appeared in the documentary explained just how happy and excited the prince was.
“Guys, I met a girl,” the friend recalled Harry saying. “We just met, but I think she’s the one.”
“We’d talk for hours”
Meghan, meanwhile, explained how she and Harry shared a special connection from the beginning. Even though their relationship was long-distance in the beginning – and a secret to the world – it never stopped them.
“Everything was text and FaceTime, we’d talk for hours. It felt exciting but not in the way people would assume it would be,” Meghan said. “It was just relaxed and easy.”
Harry and Meghan managed to battle through their long-distance relationship. They married in 2018, before leaving the Royal Family around two years later.
Meghan has previously spoken out about the treatment she received from the royals. In the documentary she reveals new details, including the initial reception she got in the UK.
Some of the media coverage was flat-out racist, though Meghan also received plenty of public adoration.
Harry knew that the press would judge his partner down to her finest detail. He explained in the documentary that he didn’t know if he would ever find a love interest “capable” and “willing” to go through with it to live a royal life.
“Every relationship I had within a matter of weeks or months was splattered all over the newspapers, and that person’s family harassed, and their lives turned upside down,” Harry said.
“After one or two girlfriends, the third or fourth girlfriend would say, ‘Hand on a second. I don’t know if I want this.”
Meghan Markle recalls being introduced to the royals
Only, when Meghan came to the UK, she felt that the Royal Family weren’t altogether welcoming. Of course, certain senior royals would argue the opposite, but if we’re to believe what Harry and Meghan claim in their documentary, the Firm family members didn’t seem to care too much at the time.
At the beginning of the documentary, a statement reads: “Members of the Royal Family declined to comment on the content within this series.”
As mentioned, Meghan had a tough time once she became a part of the Royal Family. Upon meeting Prince William and Kate Middleton for the first time, the former actress realized that she was heading into unknown territory.
Though Meghan and Kate reportedly got along pretty well initially, their relationship today is not what it once was.
We’re all aware that the royals have a particular way of behaving in public, and that they have traditions and protocols they’re expected to follow.
Meghan Markle takes aim at Kate Middleton in documentary
Meghan was probably aware of this as well. However, when she met Kate for the first time, she was taken by surprise. Meghan, Harry, William, and Kate are said to have met for a couples’ dinner. Yet even though it was an intimate gathering, Kate showed less outward affection than Meghan would’ve liked.
In the documentary series, Meghan took a swing at Kate for being reserved and not as welcoming as the former actress expected her to be.
Even behind the scenes, formality seems to be key for the Royal Family’s most senior members.
“When Will and Kate came over, and I met her for the first time, they came over for dinner, I remember I was in ripped jeans, and I was barefoot,” Meghan recalled.
“I was a hugger. I’ve always been a hugger, I didn’t realize that that is really jarring for a lot of Brits.”
She continued: “I guess I started to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside. There is a forward-facing way of being, and then you close the door and go ‘You can relax now’, but that formality carries over on both sides. And that was surprising to me.”
Now, while Meghan and Kate weren’t the best of friends in the beginning, they were far from enemies.
According to authors Finding Freedom authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, the reason for Meghan and Kate’s strained relationship was that they didn’t know each other well enough.
Meghan and Kate’s troubled relationship
“Meghan would agree with the assessment that the duchesses were not the best of friends,” they wrote. “Their relationship hadn’t progressed much since [Markle] was Harry’s girlfriend.”
Moreover, Durand and Scobie add that Kate didn’t make a significant effort to welcome Markle into the family, at least not in the way people might have expected.
Meghan had hoped that Kate would take her under her wing and guide her through all the new things that someone coming from “outside to the Firm” should know about.
That, the authors claim, never happened.
“Meghan was disappointed that she and Kate hadn’t bonded over the position they shared, but she wasn’t losing sleep over it,” Durand and Scobie wrote in Finding Freedom, adding that “Meghan would far rather have had Kate check in on her during the most difficult times with the press.”
Before Harry and Meghan’s wedding, things got heated between Kate and the former Suits star. Meghan claimed that Kate had made her cry over the flower-girl dresses on her wedding day – a notion that directly contradicted earlier claims by the tabloids.
“It really hurt my feelings. It was a really hard week of the wedding. And she was upset about something, but she owned it, and she apologized. And she brought me flowers and a note, apologizing,” Meghan said.
Royal aide told Meghan Markle she’d never be “in the first division”
“I think so much of what I have seen play out [in the media] is this idea of polarity, where if you love me, you don’t have to hate her. And if you love her, you don’t need to hate me,” she added.
Following their royal marriage, Harry and Meghan lived at Kensington Palace for a short while. The residence was Prince William and Kate Middleton’s home at the time. Then, the couple moved into their private residence. Though this was supposed to be a happy period, things turned ugly quickly.
Harry and Meghan moved into Nottingham Cottage, not far from William and Kate. It was then that the relationship between the two couples soured. According to Tom Quinn, this happened for several reasons.
Meghan reportedly had difficulty reconciling with the fact that Kensington Palace was reserved solely for William and Kate. At the same time, a senior royal aide told her she’d never be “in the first division.”
“It was being pointed out to them in no uncertain terms that they weren’t in the first division because that place is held by William and Kate. Inevitably that led to friction,” Quinn claims.
“In Meghan’s world, if you’re determined enough, you can get to the top. But Meghan can’t, she can’t get to the top whatever she does.”
Kate Middleton offered to take the first official photo of Archie
After a short stay, Harry and Meghan Markle moved into Frogmore Cottage in Windsor, where they lived until deciding to step back from life as working royals.
Harry and Meghan’s royal duties officially ended on March 31, 2020. By then, the Sussexes’ had already welcomed their firstborn child, Archie. As of today, the family of three has become four after the arrival of their daughter, Lilibet.
When Archie was born, the Royal Family was, of course, delighted for Harry and Meghan. That also went for Harry’s brother, William, and Kate Middleton, and the now-Princess of Wales reportedly wanted to show her appreciation by asking about a very special assignment.
Royal expert Neil Sean revealed that Kate offered to take the first newborn pictures of Archie. However, he claims that Meghan turned it down, instead wanting to “hire a photographer” for the job.
“This was a very special gesture from the now-Princess of Wales to Meghan Markle when she had her first child, Archie,” Sean said in a Youtube video, as reported by Express. He added that Kate offered to “take the personal picture of baby Archie” after other professional photographers had “commended” her portfolio.
“According to that good source, apparently, Meghan turned that opportunity down flat,” Sean continued. “And as ever, we have to say allegedly [but] we’re not quite sure why [Meghan turned Kate’s offer down].
“You didn’t need to hire a photographer, as Harry and Meghan did.”
Kate sent Meghan Markle gifts to “build up” relationship”
Years later, it’s fair to say that Meghan and Kate’s relationship is as its lowest point.
If insiders are to be believed, the pair didn’t share a single word with one another during the Queen’s funeral.
And yet, other reports suggest that Kate tried to mend the relationship before the funeral. A US Weekly source said that Kate felt that there was a “misunderstanding” regarding her and Meghan’s relationship. After Lilibet was born in 2021, she tried her best to make things work.
“Kate has been reaching out to Meghan a lot more sense [Lilibet] was born. She’s sending [notes and] gifts and trying to build up a relationship,” the source said.
Though Harry and Meghan revealed many things in the first three episodes of their Netflix documentary series, more is still to come. Royal fans, though, will have to wait until the second half of the series is released on December 15.
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