"Meghan's New Life: The Real Princess Diaries" (2018) - ABC Documentary

[Madame Verseau]

ABC network in the US is having a one hour special about Meghan's first six month as a royal. It airs tonight at 9 pm EST.

[Dalriada]

I do hope this TV special will entertain comment on Megg’s American family unlike the forums!

[O-H Anglophile]

Originally Posted by Dalriada

I do hope this TV special will entertain comment on Megg’s American family unlike the forums!

Some of her family is unworthy of any comment. The less said the better.

[Osipi]

I think they will basically stick to focusing on Meghan. Its only an hour's show and there's so much that Meghan has done in her first six months as a royal to fill the entire hour.

I will definitely stream it on ABC probably tomorrow morning sometime. We're pretty much set in our Thursday night TV viewing.

[Leopoldine]

I hope it is about her and not a prime-time vehicle for her family to denigrate her.

[Marlo]

The documentary was AWFUL. I thought this was a Meghan documentary. ABC used her name for ratings.

[MaiaMia_53]

The documentary was breezy and touched on the surface, yes, but I wouldn't describe it as awful. It's really just a compilation of what has happened since the wedding, with talking heads giving their opinions, with some observations frivolous and silly. We see lots of clips of the wedding and many of the public events since then. I don't think it's awful though. I think it's about what we'd expect by media outlets (particularly in America) who don't actually know what's happening behind palace walls. The documentary in some ways is just an extension of the types of conversations we have on TRF: lots of speculation and pronouncements based mostly on gossip or what's been reported, much of which is unconfirmed and in some cases completely inaccurate.

It almost seems like a lot of the royal commentators peruse TRF for some of their talking points. I take the documentary for what it is, and I found it cheesily engaging in some ways, and annoying in other ways. Of course there's not a lot of depth, but there are some interesting comments, many that we've seen here on TRF. So it does provide some food for thought in a way. The fact is, they don't know what Meghan's real life is like now. They can't get an interview. So in surface respects, they talk about Meghan in relation to Harry, to Kate, to Diana, to the royal firm, to the Queen, to the institution and royal traditions, to the expectant baby, and to the goals and projects Meghan is planning.

One glaring inaccuracy: ABC didn't get the memo apparently that the Sussexes are not automatically going to be moving into Apartment 1, which is the long time family home of the Gloucesters. Of course the documentary is for ratings, and ABC did not do in-depth homework. One thing in particular I enjoyed hearing confirmed by Omid Scobie in the documentary is that Meghan writes her own speeches, which I suspected.
https://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebr...nist-princess/

Anyway, I found the documentary breezy and fun. I take it with a grain of salt...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSgRDDS8FRQ

[Madame Verseau]

Originally Posted by O-H Anglophile

Some of her family is unworthy of any comment. The less said the better.

The family reference in the documentary was only Doria. I was bracing myself for the rest. I think as far as of that part of the family is concerned the American mainstream press see them as tabloid fodder aand national ebarrassments so the media here doesn't give them publicity.

Overall it was a frothy bubble and it went over things already known but still a fun watch.

[Osipi]

Thanks for the excellent synopsis of this documentary, MaiaMia. I don't think I'm going to be in any kind of a rush to watch it now. Makes me realize too that *the* place for information on Meghan or any other royal for that matter is right here on TRF. There's not too much new out there that we can find that hasn't been talked about on here.

[AdmirerUS]

Nice video and photo montages, not much content. All but no snark. Some realism about the impact of lingering racism in society. But then, moving quickly on.

The boldest statement IMO was about how quickly Harry and Meghan and family will lose the interest of the public as they are not headed for the throne. And as George and Char age and become interesting.

One thing for sure, Royal Commentators are making a pretty penny for work being done on royal coverage over here. Good for this retirement and children's college funds.

It will be interesting to see the ratings. The other major networks showed replays and football. But most people are selection watching shows off network, these days, anyway.

[Rudolph]

Prince Harry said as much in an interview a few years ago. He said he only has a relatively small window to do his thing before the focus shifts to George, Charlotte and Louis. It’s the way the monarchy has always worked.

[jacqui24]

Well, it depends on how one defines short amount of time, doesn’t it?

I will say this, had Harry married an English girl from Home Counties, we’d be over it by now. There won’t be specials after specials with regular coverage from all the morning shows and even evening news coverage in US still. The fact of matter is, US now will always be more interest in Sussexes than Cambridges. We wouldn’t have had daily coverage from the tour (literally every day) and we wouldn’t have coverage for regular engagements like visit for Hubb. We certainly don’t have that for Cambridges. The global interest in this marriage and eventually family just simply can’t be denied. The fact of matter is those that have been running blogs on royal women have said that Meghan brings a different audience in that was not previously interested in royal family. I think someone noted the dramatic increase on number social media followers KP in the last year. That alone should tell us a lot. The interest isn’t dying anytime soon.

[Rudolph]

America can hold a ticker tape parade for Meghan if it wants. But America isnt a monarchy. Meghan isn’t as popular in Britain as she is in the US. Meghan can be the most popular person in US history and it doesn’t impact the British monarchy.

But for people who have an issue with it can take it up with Harry and the makers of the documentary. It’s their words not mine.

[Heavs]

The US coverage might very well be over it if Meghan wasn't American but the British tabloids/TV/Newspapers and other international outlets would certainly cover things like their first tour as a couple and her first projects in detail.

[jacqui24]

The point is, it’s not just limited to US. Just look at how many countries sold out on Together. The British media will cover whoever generates the most interest. And the global audience is taken into consideration. This isn’t isolated times where paper sales rule the day. It’s an internet age where clicks are what drives advertising. That’s simply reality of the media right now. People can have whatever opinions, and I have no issues with it. My point is, I don’t believe traditional ways of thinking or doing things in the media hold true here. It’ll be another 15-20 years before the Cambridge and Sussex kids begin generating love interest stories, but that’s hardly a short amount of time.

[Terri Terri]

Originally Posted by Rudolph

Prince Harry said as much in an interview a few years ago. He said he only has a relatively small window to do his thing before the focus shifts to George, Charlotte and Louis. It’s the way the monarchy has always worked.

True, I remembered that he did say that! I think that when he was younger, Harry may have resented or envied William as the future king. Now, I think Harry could not be more relieved that he isn't the one who has that burden.

Unlike Prince Andrew (if the rumors are to be believed), Harry will have absolutely no problems with his family being less important.

if we are really honest..monarchies are about the King or Queen, their consorts and the heir apparent's family. That's the way it is with all monarchies.

Meghan will always attract attention in the American media as she's American...how long wil that last? We will have to wait and see.

[Marengo]

Can we please return to the topic of this thread? Which would be the television special.

The umpteenth analysis of the duchess and her future can be done in the British forum.

Thank you

[MaiaMia_53]

The documentary in part discusss the Duchess and her future with the British royals, but I get that you want people to refer directly to what the documentary discusses and not go off track spouting our opinions on Meghan and her popularity in Britain vs the U.S.

The documentary did in fact briefly mention how interest in Meghan and Harry will likely wane over the years, as the Cambridge children and their own offspring come of age. That's a naturally organic process and to be expected. Meanwhile, the documentary is indicative of the continued interest in the Meghan & Harry romance. This broadcast is far from an in-depth treatment, just as most of the tv documentaries in the lead-up to the wedding were also superficial.

As AdmirerUS said, it's worth watching for the colorful photos and montage of video clips, some of which we may have seen, but not compiled together in this way. The U.S. commentators on the broadcast tend to gush, while the British commentators clearly have more of an inside track due to their cultural knowledge and experience covering the royals. It all evens out, and it is what it is. Nothing more than that. One of the comments I did find interesting was the reference to Meghan being 'the feminist princess' of some women's dreams.

Meghan and Harry will shortly be celebrating the first anniversary of their engagement announcement. They've crammed quite a lot into their nearly two-and-a-half years of knowing each other. So, they and we need to allow more time for things to simply transpire. But of course the media needs the clicks and so they over-speculate and provide superficial coverage. Interest in Meghan in particular has been a moneymaker so that's another reason for various media outlets continuing to look for or to create stories. I'm sure ABC expects good ratings, and so this type of compilation will continue to be produced. Likely expect another feature after the beginning of the year when Meghan may announce her additional RF projects. And then more retrospectives when the baby is born.

The royals understand that they have to walk on eggshells with the media in order to preserve their privacy while maintaining a workable relationship. It's the tabloids and the extreme followers on both sides of the spectrum who create unnecessary drama, which causes the royals to pull back and to become even more protective of their privacy and their public images. Therefore, the royals rarely give full-on interviews unless it's attached to particular projects, events, or specific goals on their agenda. This documentary is the type of breezy coverage that superficially fills in the gap of available knowledge on the royals.