“There’s one important thing people don’t understand about me,” says Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. We’re in the second of the first three episodes of Netflix’s controversial documentary series, in which Prince Harry and Meghan tell their story about why they felt they had to leave royal life and move from the UK. What Meghan thinks people don’t understand is that she’s actually a geek. But it is a telling quote. It comes from someone who cares a lot about being understood. The first three episodes of the documentary series are now available on Netflix. Photo: Netflix/AP / AP But one of the tricks if you’re going to function as royalty is not to worry too much about whether people understand who you really are and what you’ve really said and done and meant. Because people will think something about you, often based on false premises, absolutely all the time. And if you live a luxurious life financed by public funds, it may not look so good to talk about how many people do not see the real you. A matter of timing There is a scene in which Meghan, in disbelief, talks about how she had to crouch down to avoid being seen by the photographers on her way from a palace via an airport to a film set, while a mournful piano plays in the background. One might wonder how well-timed that complaint is in a world where rents and electricity bills make many people wonder how they will survive the winter. Meghan and Harry would like to tell their story, on their own terms. But “Harry and Meghan”, which is part of the couple’s lucrative deal with streaming giant Netflix, can make anyone and everyone wonder if they are really their own best biographer. Glossy and lingering promo film There are many indications that a showdown with Harry’s family will come in the next episodes, but so far the documentary series appears largely as a glossy and lingering promo film for the couple, in dull colors and soft light, like a tree hours long Instagram feed. Interspersed with it all are some scenes of clownish school television about the royal family’s customs and dress codes, tailored for the show’s obviously American core audience — and the couple’s usual rants at the British press. There are many indications that a showdown with the royal family will come during the next three episodes. Photo: RUBA / Backgrid UK Having said that: Prince Harry has very good reasons to be angry with the British media. First and foremost, he is naturally strongly influenced by the role the paparazzi photographers played when his mother, Princess Diana, died in a car accident in Paris in 1997, while she was trying to escape the cameras. With the press as an enemy He has also been followed by photographers since he was a child, wherever he stood and went. When he describes how he might react to the sound of a flash, it’s like hearing someone describe post-traumatic stress disorder. British media have tapped his phone and placed tracking equipment in the car of one of his ex-girlfriends. There have been headlines and articles about Meghan with a clearly racist and hostile undertone. That the emotional, open-hearted prince has experienced it as something close to an abuse to be asked to perform for the same newspapers, and give them what they want, is not difficult to understand. It is also not difficult to understand that Harry did not feel protected, either by his own family or by the royal family’s communications departments. There it is simply a question of priority pyramids that do not fit together. From the court’s side, it will be seen as not a good idea for royals to complain too much – and that when complaints are to be made on behalf of the royals, it is the royal rank that governs who is entitled to the most protection. The “reserve” The most important is the monarch himself, then the heir to the throne, then the next in line who will one day get the crown on their head. Prince Harry, the “reserve”, which he has also chosen as a bitter title for his forthcoming autobiography, is not as important. From Harry and Meghan’s point of view, this would be profoundly unfair: they have felt particularly vulnerable, while at the same time feeling that the resources available to the rest of the family are not there for them. Behind the streak of bitterness lies a long story. Meghan and Harry believe they are being treated deeply unfairly. It comes out in the new documentary. Photo: Courtesy of Prince Harry and Meg / Courtesy of Prince Harry and Meghan; Courtesy of Prince Harry and MeghanThe Duke and Duchess of Sussex When Prince Harry was in his teens and had a drug problem, Prince Charles’ then-head of communications pitched stories to the media in which the heir to the throne was portrayed as a caring father who took care of the wobbly youngest son. Prince William’s party was kept out of the columns, Prince Harry’s was not. Considering that he was a young boy who had lost his mother in a terrible way, and was deeply affected by it, it is easy to see why he feels let down. Assumed negative At the same time, it is striking that Harry and Meghan are so intensely concerned with the part of the press coverage that was negative. Because, on the whole, the new member of the British royal family was welcomed with enthusiasm, as a sign of modernization of an old, white and run-down institution. It was the other members of the royal family who were mostly portrayed in condescending terms, and set up as a contrast to the worldly and glamorous new duchess. Large parts of the press were also positive about Meghan and Harry’s relationship from the start, cultural commentator Inger Merete Hobbelstad points out. Photo: Netflix In the documentary, Meghan’s exposure is explained by an ingrained and often accepted racism in British society, which has its roots in slavery and the colonial era. In the clearly most interesting scenes of the documentary, a historical perspective is offered, where black Britons tell about what it is like to be in British mansions and art museums and see one historical artwork after another in which black people are portrayed as submissive savages. A journey worth taking part in This is a journey well worth taking part in, even for those who don’t quite buy that this was the only reason the Sussex couple and the British press fell out. But then we’re back again, to a description of how ridiculous it is with royal “walkabouts”, where royals walk up and greet people who have turned up to see them, what dress codes apply and how inhibiting it was for Meghan to dress in beige, because the rules dictated that she could not dress in the same color as women of higher rank. One could be forgiven for thinking that it is a rather small violin playing for the Duchess just then. Although, on the Netlix soundtrack, the violin is pretty big, and there are a lot of them.
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A glossy promotional film for Harry and Meghan – Statement
