Royals didn’t understand need to protect Meghan, says Harryon December 8, 2022 at 12:43 pm

The Duke of Sussex has described how he sacrificed “everything that I know” to join Meghan “in her world”, in his and the duchess’s new Netflix documentary.

Prince Harry said Meghan “sacrificed everything she ever knew, the freedom that she had, to join me in my world” – and then he went on to do the same.

The first three episodes of the six-part bombshell series titled “Harry & Meghan” were released on Thursday.

Buckingham Palace has not yet responded to the claims in the documentary.

During the first episode – which includes a sit-down interview with the couple as well as clips from a video diary – Harry is heard saying: “This is about duty and service, and I feel as though being part of this family, it is my duty to uncover this exploitation and bribery that happens within our media.

“My job is to keep my family safe. But the nature of being born into this position… and the level of hate that is being stirred up in the last three years especially against my wife and my son, I’m generally concerned for the safety of my family.”

Harry describes their relationship as a great love story, adding: “I think for so many people in the family, especially obviously the men, there can be a temptation or an urge to marry someone who would fit in the mould, as opposed to somebody who you are perhaps destined to be with.

“The difference between making decisions with your head, or your heart.”

He adds: “She sacrificed everything she ever knew, the freedom that she had, to join me in my world. And then pretty soon after that I ended up sacrificing everything that I know to join her in her world.”

The episodes released on Thursday cover a range of topics – including the couple’s difficult relationship with the press. Speaking in episode two, Harry says members of the Royal Family questioned why Meghan should be protected from negative press coverage.

“The direction from the Palace was don’t say anything,” says Harry. “But what people need to understand is, as far as a lot of the family were concerned, everything that she was being put through, they had been put through as well.

“So it was almost like a rite of passage, and some of the members of the family were like ‘my wife had to go through that, so why should your girlfriend be treated any differently? Why should you get special treatment? Why should she be protected?”‘

“I said ‘the difference here is the race element’.”

He says there is a “huge level of unconscious bias” in the Royal Family, adding: “It is actually no one’s fault. But once it has been pointed out, or identified within yourself you then need to make it right.”

In another part of the series, in episode three, Meghan calls the time around their engagement an “orchestrated reality show”, and that her interview with Mishal Husain was “rehearsed”.

The eagerly-anticipated docuseries faced controversy earlier this week when two trailers allegedly appeared to use footage and photos in misleading ways.

The trailers showed archive clips and pictures as Prince Harry and Meghan spoke about being sidelined by the Royal Family and hounded by the media – but it is thought at least three such images were taken from events that had nothing to do with the couple. Netflix and the Sussexes’ production company Archewell have not commented.

On Tuesday, Prince Harry and Meghan faced awkward questions from reporters including”Are you putting money before family?” and “Are you harming your family, Harry?” as they attended a New York event to receive a human rights award.

The royal couple stepped back as senior royals in March 2020 and now live in California with their two young children, Archie and Lilibet.

Since their exit, they have given several interviews about life in the Royal Family – including their famous Oprah interview last year when they accused an unnamed member of the family of racism, and Meghan said she had had suicidal thoughts.

The couple have also spoken about their relationship with the media – blaming racist coverage in the tabloid press as a reason why they decided to step back as senior royals.

They have gone on to secure interviews, produce podcasts and carry out campaigning work. In January, Prince Harry’s memoir – called Spare – will be published.

The Netflix series is being released in two sections of three episodes, on 8 and 15 December, at 08:00 GMT.