Here's episode one, two parts for length. There was a lot in this one that will be discussed even if not much new was actually said.
List of those interviewed in Episode 3 (aside from Harry and Meghan): Clare Waight Keller, Meghan's wedding dress designer. Heather Dorak, Meghan's friend. Vicky Tsai, Meghan's friend.
Serena Williams, Meghan's friend. Dhou Purohit, Meghan's friend. Lucy Fraser, Meghan's Friend. Silver Tree, Meghan's friend. James Holt, executive director of Archewell. Munira Mahmud, Grenfell survivor. Afua Hirsch, Journalist and Author. David Olusoga, author. Abigail Spencer, Meghan's friend and Suits co-star. Lucy Fraser, Meghans' friend. Kehinde Andrews, Author The New Age of Empire. Doria Ragland, Meghan's mother. Lorren Khumalo, their former nanny in the UK.
Not So Brief Recap: The documentary opens with footage of Queen Elizabeth II's wedding to Prince Phillip, footage of Diana and Charles, and other royal wedding including William and Kate's. Meghan says that there's a moment when their private secretary who had worked for the Queen for twenty years (clearly Samantha Cohen) compared the Royal family to fish swimming perfectly with the current until a foreign organism arrived (her) and this is over negative tabloid headlines about her. She continues that Cohen (not named) said that after a period of adjustment, she'd be recognized as an asset to the family. This is accompanied by positive headlines about her being the one to change the face of the Royal Family and Meghan says she was hopeful that would be true.
Then the theme plays.
It shows Windsor Castle preparing for their wedding. Meghan says she was very calm going into their wedding and she doesn't know how. All she wanted was a mimosa and a croissant and she played "Chapel of Love" as she got ready. Images of their wedding crowds are shown. Meghan's dress designer, Clare Waight Keller, compares the crowd to being in a massive football stadium. Crowd estimates are shared. Images of famous guests arriving and William and Harry walking around are shown as Chapel of Love plays. Meghan said she didn't know that for the 15 minute drive to Windsor, crowds would line the streets. Harry says there was an expectation "Diana's Boy" would have a public wedding and that people wanted to see him married like William. The first glimpse of the dress is shown. The dress designer says they had many conversations about how Meghan wanted to present herself to the world, since billions would be watching, and the pressure to make it flawless and perfect. More wedding photos shown. Meghan says she remembers thinking "take a deep breath and keep going." Meghan says Harry chose the song she walked down the aisle to and it was beautiful. Harry says Charles helped them choose an orchestra which made all the difference. Meghan says "Harry's dad is very charming. And, I said to him like I've lost my dad in this. So him as my father in law was really important to me. So I asked him to walk me down the aisle and he said yes. The whole thing was surreal because at that moment I could also see H." Harry is asked what was going through his head when he saw her coming. He says "Look at me, look what I got" which Meghan laughs at. Then he says "oh my gosh, look what I found." He says though the world was watching, as far as he was concerned at the altar it was just the two of them. She says "H and I are very good at finding each other in the chaos. When we find each other we reconnect like oh its you, its you. It's not that the rest of it doesn't matter but the rest of it feels temporary.
Vicky Tsai, Meghan's friend, says it felt like a moment where the world paused and celebrated love. She shares more reflections about her impressions and how it almost made her cry. The choir singing Stand By Me is show. Waight Keller mentions that the wedding felt very new and different and that there was no pushback on their desire for a gospel choir- in fact Charles helped out it together by piecing together the best people from different gospel choirs. Serena Williams says it was amazing to see Meghan's culture represented at the wedding and it broke boundaries without trying to. Dhou Purohit, Meghan's friend, says there with a moment where he, Oprah, Idris Elba and his partner, all looked at each other and had a chuckle and no one needed to say anything because they were all aware of the symbolism taking place. More wedding footage.
Meghan says they had the reception at St. George's Hall, cut cake with a sword (Harry's contribution) and she says it was great, it's so over the top, Elton John was performing. She said her mom was so excited to see Elton sing. Their wedding song was Song of a Thousand Dances which she sings a bit of. She says their first dance was so fun, and never before seen wedding receptions are shown. Lucy Fraser and Silver Tree talk about how it was a perfect wedding and Meg was madly in love.
James Holt says that if you were writing the royal family as a novel, this is the moment you'd want to introduce a new character like Meghan who can speak to a modernization and a new generation of people. A video of Meghan dancing in the door way at Nottingham Cottage is shown and Harry says its his favorite video. They say that as far as people were aware they were living in a palace, but they were living in a cottage on palace grounds. Meghan says "Kensington Palace sounds very regal. Of course it does, but she says Nottingham Cottage was so small. Harry says the whole thing is on a lean and the ceilings are short and he was always hitting his head. Meghan says no one could believe what it was like then, but Oprah came for tea and saw it and said "no one would ever believe it."
Meghan says her first official engagement with Her Majesty was early on, they took the royal train, Meghan says she had a really great time with her. Footage of the engagement is shown. She's asked what you talk about with the Queen of England and she says she treated her like her husband's grandma. Knowing that there needed to be propriety in public but that at breakfast they could just talk. Her Majesty shared her blanket and Meghan said she respected her as the Queen but saw her as a grandmother figure and that felt like family. Meghan says she was very close to her grandmother and took care of her during her final years so it meant a lot to her. Meghan says it was the anniversary of Grenfell and she'd become close to the women survivors even though no one knew that at the time. Footage of the fire is shown. Meghan talks about watching it on the news at Nottingham Cottage.
James Holt talks about the immigrant population of Grenfell and the wealth disparity between it and Kensington. Meghan says she wanted to go down there and do something, and she connected with the mosque. A survivor, Munira Mahmud, is interviewed about how she started the community kitchen to try to help everyone feel normal again. She says they did it twice a week until the Duchess came. Meghan is shown with the women there, and she wanted to help in the kitchen. Meghan said she kept going back to visit and she loved the women, so Meghan came up with the cook book idea to help fund the kitchen operating every day instead of just twice a week. Meghan says the cookbook launch was the first speech she made as a member of the royal family and it is shown. Natalie Campbell, former director of the Sussex Royal Foundation is shown in the past talking about how brilliant the sales were. Positive commentary that says Meghan was changing the way the royal family is seen is shown. Afua Hirsch agrees and talks about it.
