Netflix Docu-Series of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex (2022)

[Toledo]

11:14 PM and posting a late and short comment.

Here in the USA there's a say about being polite to people that are rude to you, "kill them with kindness" and instead of confrontation to"take the high road".

My take is that Charles should invite everyone in the spirit of Christmas from the Princes of Kent to the Dukes of York and Sussex and make it a tiara event to celebrate his first Christmas as King. Separate seats for working royals of course, but let Charles send a message he is above this mess created by Harry and as a father he is willing to move on from this. Maybe not forgive, but to move on.

If he is petty and doesn't invite the Duke of York or the Sussex couple the USA press will glorify H&M as victims despite of their lies in the documentary. And Harry needs to see his father the King face to face to be reminded that as a son he and his wife needs to show respect for him, and as a prince he needs to show respect for the King.

And Meghan better curtsies correctly without the clowning around or King Charles Christmas present will be give her a trip back to reality as simply Meghan, Harry's duke of nothing-ham's wife. She loves her title Duchess on every event she attends, despite being so ignorant and disrespectful of the UKs form of government. And without the royal title her TV street value would just be back to Meghan from that TV show suits that no one watched anyway.

 

[Zonk]

A perfect example of Harry taking things for granted instead of knowing/asking questions/learning about how things work.

Honestly for the last year or so, I am wondering if Harry actually knows how anything works. He didn't correct Meghan and/or Oprah about why Archie didn't have the HRH/Prince title while the Queen was alive, that the Archbishop didn't marry them before the actual ceremony, he doesn't acknowledge that he didn't automatically lose his security (didn't they keep it for like 30 days afterwards), or that it wouldn't be fair for the British/Canadian/American taxpayers to pay for his security, while he was no longer a working royal.

He makes innuendos, he infers, he doesn't explain anything. His (their) story constantly changes. He comes across as just a mess (which is the nicest thing I can say). But as I said in a previous post, he is speaking to a "public" that don't question his inconsistent statements, lies, etc.

I don't want to speculate I just don't' see how he (they) can come back from this. Charles, will of course, invite him to the coronation. Harry is his son, and he loves him. William, on the hand. It might be some time before moves past this. He comes across more like the Queen Mother, mindful of the institution, legacy and possibly willing to forgive but not forget.

 

[Toledo]

Honestly for the last year or so, I am wondering if Harry actually knows how anything works. He didn't correct Meghan and/or Oprah about why Archie didn't have the HRH/Prince title while the Queen was alive, that the Archbishop didn't marry them before the actual ceremony, he doesn't acknowledge that he didn't automatically lose his security (didn't they keep it for like 30 days afterwards), or that it wouldn't be fair for the British/Canadian/American taxpayers to pay for his security, while he was no longer a working royal.

He makes innuendos, he infers, he doesn't explain anything. His (their) story constantly changes. He comes across as just a mess (which is the nicest thing I can say). But as I said in a previous post, he is speaking to a "public" that don't question his inconsistent statements, lies, etc.

I don't want to speculate I just don't' see how he (they) can come back from this. Charles, will of course, invite him to the coronation. Harry is his son, and he loves him. William, on the hand. It might be some time before moves past this. He comes across more like the Queen Mother, mindful of the institution, legacy and possibly willing to forgive but not forget.

Are we starting to think Harry is using Meghan as his megaphone? It's possible the moments he had the chance on the Netflix series to step in and correct her, or even show disapproval on the mockery and lack of respect she showed when speaking about his grandmother. He stayed silent like letting Meghan handle the whip for him on his own family problems that started before she entered the picture.

And as a final note on this series of Harry exposing the truth, he made no mention of his affair with an older woman before Meghan, Catherine Ommanney, from the Real Housewives of DC.

As expected, Harry presents himself as the victim but, when the people he had relations with start filling in the blanks, we understand why William or Charles lost their patience with him on that alleged incident in front of the Queen.

 

[HRHHermione]

Honestly for the last year or so, I am wondering if Harry actually knows how anything works. He didn't correct Meghan and/or Oprah about why Archie didn't have the HRH/Prince title while the Queen was alive, that the Archbishop didn't marry them before the actual ceremony, he doesn't acknowledge that he didn't automatically lose his security (didn't they keep it for like 30 days afterwards), or that it wouldn't be fair for the British/Canadian/American taxpayers to pay for his security, while he was no longer a working royal.



He makes innuendos, he infers, he doesn't explain anything. His (their) story constantly changes. He comes across as just a mess (which is the nicest thing I can say). But as I said in a previous post, he is speaking to a "public" that don't question his inconsistent statements, lies, etc.



I don't want to speculate I just don't' see how he (they) can come back from this. Charles, will of course, invite him to the coronation. Harry is his son, and he loves him. William, on the hand. It might be some time before moves past this. He comes across more like the Queen Mother, mindful of the institution, legacy and possibly willing to forgive but not forget.

Yes, they got notice on their security being withdrawn to give them time to put private arrangements in place. Those arrangements just hadn’t been budgeted for by a couple who assumed it would continue to be taxpayer paid.

Forget Meghan. It’s not at all a good reflection on Harry’s ability to think and reason that he didn’t ask any of these questions. There’s very little this couple has experienced that they didn’t bring on themselves.

Imagine if they’d listened while dating and chosen a more gradual introduction to public life. Perhaps Meghan could have carried on for two more seasons of Suits and Harry could have lived with her in Toronto. Maybe they could have lived in Scotland or England and Harry did royal duties while Meghan took a year’s graduate course on British history and government. He has a helicopter pilot background- maybe he could have looked for a way to serve the public with that skill like William did while Meghan worked on her citizenship.

So many options were presented, they ignored all that advice, then they blamed everyone but themselves when their lack of caution backfired.

 

[Toledo]

They seemed to be in a rush for everything, to get married and to become the new center of attention within the royal family. Plain and simple hubris from the party prince and the TV's B-list party girl wanting the glitz and glam with absolutely no responsibilities nor discretion from either one of them.

 

[RandyDrx]

Honestly for the last year or so, I am wondering if Harry actually knows how anything works. He didn't correct Meghan and/or Oprah about why Archie didn't have the HRH/Prince title while the Queen was alive, that the Archbishop didn't marry them before the actual ceremony, he doesn't acknowledge that he didn't automatically lose his security (didn't they keep it for like 30 days afterwards), or that it wouldn't be fair for the British/Canadian/American taxpayers to pay for his security, while he was no longer a working royal.

He makes innuendos, he infers, he doesn't explain anything. His (their) story constantly changes. He comes across as just a mess (which is the nicest thing I can say). But as I said in a previous post, he is speaking to a "public" that don't question his inconsistent statements, lies, etc.

I don't want to speculate I just don't' see how he (they) can come back from this. Charles, will of course, invite him to the coronation. Harry is his son, and he loves him. William, on the hand. It might be some time before moves past this. He comes across more like the Queen Mother, mindful of the institution, legacy and possibly willing to forgive but not forget.

Honestly, I don't expect much from a guy who cheated on his exams with the help from his teacher and wore a nazi uniform despite his family history.

 

[Leopoldine]

Neither of them came across as socially attractive in the series ... I mean if you were sitting next to them at a dinner table in a private situation at a private home.

 

[Curryong]

I’m sure we’ve all done plenty in our schooldays we aren’t too proud and happy about. However Harry was officially cleared of cheating in his exams in 2005.

As for the party to which he and William went where he wore a Nazi armband (Afrika Corps apparently) the then twenty year old Harry apologised for that at the time and apologised again for it in the documentary. The party theme by the way (hosted by the son of family friends) was Natives and Colonials, with spears and blackface involved on some of the guests, according to what I read at the time. What does that say about the hosts and the partygoers? None of the guests or host had ever apologised for holding that party or for being at such a gathering that I’ve heard.

 

[UglyAmerican]

My jaw hit the floor when he described the Nazi costume as "one of the biggest mistakes in my life," or something close to that. Yes, it was a big mistake. But was it bigger than doing this Netflix series, or the tell-all he's about to publish? Or the long list of other questionable things he's done in the past few years? The tone-deafness here is pretty amazing, even by Harry's standards.

 

[RandyDrx]

I’m sure we’ve all done plenty in our schooldays we aren’t too proud and happy about.

As for the party to which he and William went where he wore a Nazi armband (Afrika Corps apparently) The twenty year old Harry apologised for that at the time and apologised again for it in the documentary. The party theme by the way (hosted by the son of family friends) was Natives and Colonials, with spears and blackface involved on some of the guests, according to what I read at the time. What does that say about the hosts and the partygoers? None of the guests or host had ever apologised for holding that party or for being at such a gathering that I’ve heard.

My point was less about Harry's mistakes and more about Harry as a royal should know better. This is the same guy who just realised that there's a hierarchy in the royal family despite being a royal for 30+ years.

 

[EllieCat]

Invite them both to the coronation and have a large candle at the ready

 

[Lee-Z]

The thing I don't get with the security issue 'why would Harry think he would have 24/7 security for life' when the younger children of Queen Elizabeth didn't have that? Surely that was one of the things he would have realised - that as a younger sibling, in time, he would also lose that level of protection as he became less important to the family or did he think that being Diana's son meant he was somehow more special than QEII's daughter or younger sons?

My feeling is that, as farfetched as it seems, Harry doesn't consider his aunt and uncles' (and extended family) very much when thinking about the RF, he just seems to look at the ones 'higher up' in the hierarchy and resents them for being there (and them being mean and unfair to him).

 

[Iluvbertie]

My feeling is that, as farfetched as it seems, Harry doesn't consider his aunt and uncles' (and extended family) very much when thinking about the RF, he just seems to look at the ones 'higher up' in the hierarchy and resents them for being there (and them being mean and unfair to him).

Considering both Anne and Andrew were at some time higher in the line of succession than he ever was makes that even more surprising.

Anne was, like Harry, born 3rd but she spent 8 years as 2nd before Andrew was born and he spent 21 years as second before dropping to 3rd.

I know Harry isn't very bright but surely he must have realised that he was going to drop rather then be the next George VI who was the 2nd son and became King?

I just think somewhere along the line he became so jealous of his brother that it started to eat him up to the point of hatred for his entire family.

 

[Curryong]

Harry has known that there is a hierarchy in the British Royal Family for a long long time. It’s how you (and your wife) get treated when in that hierarchy that has been a problem.

 

[RandyDrx]

Harry has known that there is a hierarchy in the British Royal Family for a long long time. It’s how you (and your wife) get treated when in that hierarchy that has been a problem.

And how were they treated exactly?

 

[Heavs]

Harry has known that there is a hierarchy in the British Royal Family for a long long time. It’s how you (and your wife) get treated when in that hierarchy that has been a problem.

You mean as more important than all but 4/5 adults and the 0.05% of the world's population? Whilst also giving them the opportunities to go off and do their own thing because they *won't* cause a constitutional crisis by deciding California is their dream? They never complain that it's unfair that Princess Anne was once 2nd in line but supplanted by two much younger brothers and their kids. They're perfectly happy being above so many others.

I think it's absolutely the right thing to do to invite them to the coronation but I fully expect another round of complaints regarding uniforms, status, precedence, Archie's Birthday (and titles), events attended, transport used, people not wanting to talk to them ad infinitum as usual.

 

[Lee-Z]

Harry has known that there is a hierarchy in the British Royal Family for a long long time. It’s how you (and your wife) get treated when in that hierarchy that has been a problem.

It is clear they feel mistreated but i would like to hear the other side of the situation to find out if this isn't just the equivalent of middle management in a company complaining that the CEO gets more money than them (ignoring the difference in tasks and responsibilities) while not being interested in the difficulties their personnel 'below them' are facing..

(ps. as said before, the comments from some in the media like Jeremy Clarkson are, i'm sorry, despicable and if nothing else, not helping the situation at all..)

 

[Curryong]

9/10s of what has been discussed in that regard whenever the couple have attended any royal events in England, all the minutiae has been endlessly discussed, derided, criticised, ridiculed by the British media in an also very one sided and often untruthful fashion. And ad infinitum. In the meantime none of us know the full truth of what has occurred within the RF because none of us have been present. Nor were any media.

 

[Hallo girl]

9/10s of what has been discussed in that regard whenever the couple have attended any royal events in England has been endlessly discussed, derided, criticised, ridiculed by the British media in an also very one sided and often untruthful fashion. And ad infinitum.

Just like we have discussed it in circles here.

I know what the media is like , and I am not disputing that some of the headlines were pretty unpleasant.

I just want somebody to tell me what the family did to them that was so bad that they had to leave in the first place.

 

[Heavs]

The whole of the BRF should have had a clear strategy to deal with the new bride's press coverage, especially as she was very new, unlike Catherine who'd been around for 10 years before joining the BRF and starting royal duties. They'd have known Meghan would take the media's centre stage for all events so they should have exploited that for visits to factories in Wigan, hospices in Inverness and children's centres in Truro. No foreign tours and nothing arranged independently. Nothing high profile for at least two years to enable a slow, steady introduction to the work and the people. They'd also have benefitted from less 'advice' that they could ignore and more 'instruction' from Charles and QE2. Meghan would have disliked that and Harry would have kicked off but it would have given them more stability, less publicity and therefore a reduction in them (especially Meghan) taking the limelight off the heirs & wives.

Ultimately, Harry and Meghan had too much freedom to do their own thing and do it their way, which backfired on them. It might sound harsh but with the immense privileges of being the monarch's grandson and the next monarch's son comes a restrictive lane within which to operate. If you opt to accept the privileges, then you have to accept the restrictions too.

Given that even some seasoned royal journalists wrote articles on how "wrong" it was that HLM took "glamourous superstar" Meghan to open a bridge on Merseyside instead of somewhere more befitting her, (even though it was fine for the Queen to go!) I don't think sending them around the regions would have worked out. They'd have probably jumped sooner. In other people it may have given stability and used their popularity effectively whilst not being too gruelling but this is a couple who acknowledge that every possible option for Meghan to be eased in slowly was offered to them (keep working, do part time etc) but they manage to blame that on jealousy or "not understanding how awesome Meghan was" rather than long term planning and practicality.

If they'd done that then we'd be hearing that "we went to Inverness whilst the Cambridges went to Pakistan - racism!"

 

[Hallo girl]

Thank you for clarifying, I misunderstood.

I think it also shows how in our heads or mine to be specific when I talk about the family gathering together I just do not include Meghan and Harry.

I was referring to the King and the rest of the family all together at some point over Xmas and sorting out a few things. Did princess Anne not say at one time that is when they sorted out royal visits and patronages.

I personally think they will come if invited to state events, but not family occasions.

When you go back to the awkwardness at the top of the stairs at St Pauls that day, could you imagine behind closed doors with no cameras.

 

[tommy100]

Honestly reflecting on it more I think the docuseries just reinforces a few things about them both:

-Harry is not very bright and doesn't see being lower in seniority in the RF (the "spare" as puts it) as something to play to his advantage but something to moan about. He could have made a new role for himself in a different way Charles and William can. I still believe the reason their proposed "new way" was denied was because it included them doing things like this to make money and take endorsements.

-Meghan is indeed "tungsten" (as Charles reportedly called her) because she doesn't bend, she was never going to adapt to the ways of the RF. Mocking curtseying to the Queen underlines that she wasn't going to assimilate herself into the Royal, nor indeed British, way of doing things.

-Harry relies on Meghan like a mother, the way he holds out his phone with that text from William on it says it all to me. I've seen plenty of children do that but rarely ever any adults who would explain what they are showing someone. The way she soothes him after underlines how much she is mothering him.

-Harry thinks he is the first to experience the issues of being "spare" but actually he has two uncles and an auntie who have experienced the same. Why Harry didn't look at Anne and Edward and see that was the way forward for him is odd to me. I think it suggests he sees himself different from the rest of the RF in some way, maybe he has been made to feel special as Diana's son for too long or treated as an equal to William for too long but to me, and I would assume anyone in the RF, it would be pretty clear Harry was going to take up a role more like this auntie and uncles rather than William.

-Harry and Meghan are too focussed on the "unfairness" or it all to see the advantages their positions would have given them.

-It underlines to me that Meghan spent far too little time getting use to the UK and the Royal Family before marriage and in the early days of her "royal life". I don't disagree with some of what is said about the RF and the way it works to an extent, my surprise is that Meghan didn't know that already either through observations or from her husband.

-Harry is too weak to stand up to Meghan when needed, so her view of the RF it what permeates through them both and one he now goes along with as it plays into his own anxieties and upset at the RF and the monarchy. He failed her IMO by not better preparing her for life in the RF but now blames other people. If her husband couldn't do it why should he expect others to.

-A lot of their issues come from being jealous of William and Catherine and that comes across quite strongly at times. They try to justify it with "evidence" and reasoning but really it is just because they are jealous to me. Why. I'm not sure. Again, I'd see it as actually much better to be in Harry's position than William or Catherine's.

-They are both "perfect" for each other and yet also bad for each other IMO. They bring out the worst in each other.

- I don't see a way forward for them in the RF, William is too stubborn and too proud and protective of his wife to let them back in as before after the hurtful things that have been said. If it is true that Harry and Meghan now believe the RF should sit down with them and apologise then I think they are on a different track completely to the RF.

 

[Lilyflo]

What's needed is a team of highly skilled UK diplomats, experienced in high stakes negotiations to work through all the grievances on both sides and bring about a peaceful resolution. Everyone would need to be committed to the process, willing to learn and prepared to adjust their perspective. They can all afford to finance it and the only things that would prevent it happening would be a lack of imagination, courage and humility.

 

[Hallo girl]

What's needed is a team of highly skilled UK diplomats, experienced in high stakes negotiations to work through all the grievances on both sides and bring about a peaceful resolution. Everyone would need to be committed to the process, willing to learn and prepared to adjust their perspective. They can all afford to finance it and the only things that would prevent it happening would be a lack of imagination, courage and humility.

The irony is that a great deal of the aides are from the civil service and specifically the diplomatic world.

The problem as I see it is that in some peoples eyes the only solution is that they get their own way.

 

[Alison H]

What's needed is a team of highly skilled UK diplomats, experienced in high stakes negotiations to work through all the grievances on both sides and bring about a peaceful resolution. Everyone would need to be committed to the process, willing to learn and prepared to adjust their perspective. They can all afford to finance it and the only things that would prevent it happening would be a lack of imagination, courage and humility.

I don't think Harry and Meghan want a resolution. They are making money and getting publicity out of whingeing and lying. Without the whingeing and lying, what would they be?

 

[Lee-Z]

What's needed is a team of highly skilled UK diplomats, experienced in high stakes negotiations to work through all the grievances on both sides and bring about a peaceful resolution. Everyone would need to be committed to the process, willing to learn and prepared to adjust their perspective. They can all afford to finance it and the only things that would prevent it happening would be a lack of imagination, courage and humility.

in other words, a mediator, and i think eventually that is what will happen (although o hope it's behind closed doors and without cameras.) but for that to work, like you said, requires both sides to be willing to learn and take accountability for actions done and words spoken,

i think i read somewhere that Harry suggested a mediator and that Camilla 'spluttered her tea' (or something to that extend) which suggested that she was opposed of the idea, but if we hear the other side of that story it might turn out that Camilla actually spluttered at the idea of Harry being able to see beyond his own reality..

 

[Denville]

Given that even some seasoned royal journalists wrote articles on how "wrong" it was that HLM took "glamourous superstar" Meghan to open a bridge on Merseyside instead of somewhere more befitting her, (even though it was fine for the Queen to go!) I don't think sending them around the regions would have worked out. They'd have probably jumped sooner. In other people it may have given stability and used their popularity effectively whilst not being too gruelling but this is a couple who acknowledge that every possible option for Meghan to be eased in slowly was offered to them (keep working, do part time etc) but they manage to blame that on jealousy or "not understanding how awesome Meghan was" rather than long term planning and practicality.

If they'd done that then we'd be hearing that "we went to Inverness whilst the Cambridges went to Pakistan - racism!"

What they wanted was high profile tours abroad, where they would be seen on TV in hte US and elsewhere, not mundane stuff like opening a baby clinic in a provincial city in the UK where they would not get that sort of publicity

 

[Moran]

The peaceful resolution would have to include Harry and Meghan accepting the hierarchy and being less important for life. Even if everything else aligned itself perfectly, this alone renders the mission impossible. They don't see it as the hierarchy, they see it as something aimed at them specifically because no other Duchess has ever duchessed as spectacularly as Meghan, except perhaps the late Duchess of Cornwall, Diana, who never used the style anyway. And no one has ever been made feel like not-the-king-to-be as Harry.

I find it ridiculous but I think they really believe it.

And for the smart woman Meghan repeats tirelessly that she is, it's rather puzzling how she keeps believing Harry's explanations re: all things royal when it's been made abundantly clear that he has no idea what he talks about. And now Catherine, Camilla, Sophie, etc. aren't going to explain so willingly, er? Even Cousin Eugenie might be busy lining up for a group photo with the rest of the family.

 

[Hallo girl]

I don't think Harry and Meghan want a resolution. They are making money and getting publicity out of whingeing and lying. Without the whingeing and lying, what would they be?

Now that this series is out everybody can now see how they filmed/ photographed situations. Now they either have cameras going 24/7 or they recreated certain events almost like making a film.

The Beyonce text was a piece of nonsense, how did Beyonce get her number other than she gave it to her. So cue acting all surprised.

How can the family trust them again, could you imagine a family round table then in a few months time a recreated scene appearing in a programme.

If I was considering a business deal with them I would be wondering what would appear in a programme in 6 months time.

 

[Curryong]

I don’t think there are too many royal tours that end up on US television or other media. A few minutes on the local news if a well known British royal is visiting some place of interest within the US perhaps, like the Twin Towers site, but that would be about it.