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

[Claire]

I honestly am mind boggle and have no idea what to make of it.
Either way - glad it is over. See you all again when we have the book to contend with. No doubt Harry (& Meghan) will be doing some revisionism there as well. At least we can expect it to be written better.

Speaking to the people at work, people coming home and in general overall. People seems to think Harry needs a better therapist (to put it mildly) and that Meghan is a master manipulator. My husband is under the idea that Harry and William need to punch it out. My kyudo sensei thinks that a penis measurement competition is all that is needed. (I kid you not)

Ratings and views were all Netflix wanted here and that is all they got. Whatever Meghan and Harry wanted - there message was as murky as cloudy apple cider. Where do people turn when they have alienated their families and cornered themselves against a wall? It is clear that this is a battle of ego and pride and no one wins here.

 

[HighGoalHighDreams]

Thank you to both Alisa and HRHHermione who graciously corrected me.

 

[Erin9]

It was Meghan's speech during the wedding, so I'd imagine she is the author.

That explains so much.

Unbelievable.

 

[Durham]

Thank you to HRH Hermione!

“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."

There are thousands of homeless people in London & many more living in sub-standard accommodation. Recently a child died in this country from mold in his rented accommodation. A national scandal. The lack of self-awareness here is staggering.

On a lighter note the presenter on Radio 4’s Today programme introduced the 8am news by saying that the BBC’s royal correspondent would be watching the next three episodes “so that you don’t have to”. When even the normally staid BBC Today programme starts to take the mickey......

And this has to be the best line in all of the episodes:
“You know, my wife and I, we're moving on”

 

[Curbside]

Wishful thinking probably but perhaps now the investigation into Meghan's bullying will come out? The Palace was said to have made it a private matter in order to protect Meghan but I think a sharp stick has been poked and the hornets should be released for all to view.

I think the Palace doesn’t have anything substantive to report on these allegations. If they had, the particulars would have been leaked and/or reported by now. Until any of it comes into the public sphere, we should assume it’s gossip.

 

[Curryong]

JMHO but this is throwing Granny under the bus and making her sound cold and distant.

It does not ‘throw Granny under the bus’. Harry said she sat silent. He did not say that the Queen shouted or screamed or berated or ignored him. What is more, there were reports that they had lunch together that day.


And to take one sentence from a documentary of six episodes lasting hours and state that shows Harry doing that is misinterpretation in my view.

And a apparently the TV ratings here in Australia and Britain were high. So maybe BBC 4 were taking the mickey for their own reasons.


BTW, I’ve watched all the episodes.

 

[Erin9]

I have only been reading recaps. For the first time I can see both sides of the argument from the point of view of everyone.



It's all so very sad, really. The idea of William screaming verbal abuse at his brother is so troubling to me , as is the idea of Harry's family planting stories in the press against him.



But I was also hoping in vain that they (Sussexes) would address the issue of the mass exodus of their staff.



There is no way to plant or spin it. It happened. And H/M's silence on the issue is deafening.



Anyway....just as I will never regain my respect and regard for Harry, my image of the BRF as an institution has taken quite a bruising.



I clearly remember the births of both William and Harry. It was so sweet watching them grow up together.



I've rarely felt so sad and disillusioned by people I have never met.

We’ve only heard the Sussexes POV.

Maybe William yelled at Harry. Maybe Harry yelled at William too. Brothers have been known to argue. And Harry has- imo- behaved pretty badly. (He’d already behaved badly by the SS imo- publicly.)

Planting stories? All we have is their word. Which is pretty worthless imo.

They produced evidence of nothing. They didn’t bother to address the complaints against them. They change their stories from one interview to the next. A lot of what they say doesn’t even make sense.

 

[Heavs]

I think the claims that everyone was jealous of Meghan the best, most amazing Duchess to ever happen would have more merit if they'd actually DONE anything other than a mediocre children's book, a mediocre podcast and continually complain about his family. If they actually had some achievements to point to that were worthwhile (beyond what they were already doing with the BRF) I might agree a bit more. As it is, it rings hollow when both Kate and William have had big, successful projects in that time.

Also it continues to be strange that on one hand they insist she was nothing but a poor, little victim of everyone and everything and knew *absolutely nothing* about the BRF and no one told her anything but that she was still the best ever. That doesn't compute.

And yet again they never acknowledge that they could have done one single thing differently.

 

[HRHHermione]

I think the Palace doesn’t have anything substantive to report on these allegations. If they had, the particulars would have been leaked and/or reported by now. Until any of it comes into the public sphere, we should assume it’s gossip.

Many of them were. They were detailed in Valentine Low's book "Courtiers" which was published this year.

 

[Erin9]

Many of them were. They were detailed in Valentine Low's book "Courtiers" which was published this year.

I was about to say the same thing.

Just one thing to add: the Sussexes didn’t sue.

I think I’m pretty clear on their professional behavior: unacceptable. The kind that gets people fired.

 

[Durham]

And a apparently the TV ratings here in Australia and Britain were high. So maybe BBC 4 were taking the mickey for their own reasons.

Ratings reflect interest & these two are a car crash in real time. Hence the fascination. It's the same reason the Mail continues to publish so much about them.

And Auntie knows when public figures are laughing stocks.

 

[Nico]

It does not ‘throw Granny under the bus’. Harry said she sat silent. He did not say that the Queen shouted or screamed or berated or ignored him. What is more, there were reports that they had lunch together that day..

To imply , because that's Harry did, that the late Queen did nothing to defend him while being "bullied" by his own brother (and after openly mocking her with the "curtsy joke") is "throwing Granny under the bus". Period. And it was frankly disrespectful.

 

[Erin9]

To imply , because that's Harry did, that the late Queen did nothing to defend him while being "bullied" by his own brother (and after openly mocking her with the "curtsy joke") is "throwing Granny under the bus". Period. And it was frankly disrespectful.

Totally agree. Not to mention she supposedly just sat there while Charles was, according to poor Harry, lying.

He’s claiming all this supposed abuse and he’s saying Granny- the CEO- did nothing during this time.

That’s not complimentary to me.

 

[Durham]

To imply , because that's Harry did, that the late Queen did nothing to defend him while being "bullied" by his own brother (and after openly mocking her with the "curtsy joke") is "throwing Granny under the bus". Period. And it was frankly disrespectful.

Yes absolutely. It wouldn't surprise me if he put out a subsequent statement clarifying what he meant. In the same way that they panicked & let their friends at CBS know that "the racist" was not in fact either of his grandparents. Equally disgraceful.

 

[Nico]

Ratings reflect interest & these two are a car crash in real time. Hence the fascination. It's the same reason the Mail continues to publish so much about them.

And auntie knows when public figures are laughing stocks.

Exactly. Who can believe that high ratings mean approval ? They are entertaining , nothing more, and not in a good way ...

 

[Saragli]

I haven't watched it and I am not sure that I will. All I can say is that H&M are trying to do what Jackie O did with "Camelot". They are trying to reframe the narrative so it becomes established folklore. They only want their narrative to be the established one. Whether or not they are as successful as Jackie O was will only see with time and distance. From the recaps, its really just more of the same story rehashed once again. Whilst they are allowed to have their narrative and version of events I am utterly bored of the vague accusations and saccharine sweet love story. This isn't a fairy tale, this is real life, and many of the issues they have brought up affect countless people in the UK. Instead of being agents for change, as they wish to see themselves, they are just cashing it in for a big paycheck. Which is their wont to do I suppose.

 

[pkl]

Probably one of the most boring "documentaries" I have ever seen... They are not relevant. In some weeks, everything is forgotten. And when the coronation comes, they are not in focus at all. ?

 

[Curbside]

I was about to say the same thing.

Just one thing to add: the Sussexes didn’t sue.

I think I’m pretty clear on their professional behavior: unacceptable. The kind that gets people fired.

I’ll have to see if it’s available at my library.

 

[Curbside]

Exactly. Who can believe that high ratings mean approval ? They are entertaining , nothing more, and not in a good way ...

Apparently, there are a lot of folks out there hate-watching the docu series.

 

[Curryong]

CNN reporters discuss the last three episodes.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1603487349471600646

‘The prayer shouldn’t be ‘God let me marry into the Royal Family….it should be ‘God let me survive marrying into the royal family’. says one female panel member.


And, my own observation. Let’s remember three women in the last forty years who married senior royals have felt that way.

 

[Mbruno]

It starts to feel a lot like a true reality show by the end of Episode 5 and especially Episode 6, when we start seeing the sheer amount of private footage that the couple was producing no doubt to sell it later to a Netflix "docuseries" or similar.

The inconsistency in the narrative is also staggering. At first, it is all about race and the press being against the "girl outta Compton" because of institutional racism. Then comes the wedding and Meghan becomes a superstar, the most popular royal ever, and positive headlines are actually shown about her (apparently institutional racism was forgotten). Next, however, the papers turn against her again, instigated by the Palace because Meghan was upstaging the more senior royals, and upsetting the balance of power, and they were jealous of her. At this point, a connection with Diana is made with references to the Panorama interview and making an equivalence between Charles and Diana's tour of Australia and Harry and Meghan's own Oceania tour. If Charles was the jealous one in Diana's case and the one whose office leaked or planted negative stories about Harry's mother, fingers are now pointed at William as the source of the negative campaign against Meghan.

After a completely one-sided description of "half in, half out", what it really entailed, and why it was turned down by the Family and the Palace, the narrative moves back again, however, from jealousy and sibling rivalry to destroying a "social justice symbol" (Meghan, in the words of one of the guests) to discourage others to speak out for social justice.

By the way, many parts of Vol. II are clearly Meghan defending herself (about her dad, Samantha, the bullying accusations, etc.), while another big chunk of it is the insufferable self-praise of Meghan and her and her husband's delusions of grandeur. Harry's insistence in claiming the legacy of Diana and drawing comparisons between Meghan and Diana is also disturbing to say the least.

One thing that can be said is that, when Diana gave the Panorama interview, she was in a dark place in her life and she had been dishonestly manipulated into doing it. Harry and Meghan on the other hand are doing the Netflix docuseries, Spare, and whatever new content they may produce, mostly for money and in a deliberate and calculated way as the surprising amount of private footage conveniently recording moments of their life (including the most bizarre ones) seems again to suggest. Everything is scripted and (rather poorly) acted, which conveys a very negative image of the couple in my opinion.

As a final thought, it is sad that, at one point, Meghan says that she was lonely as a child and wanted Archie to experience a big family with cousins and all and, yet, she and Harry have literally robbed their children of that experience and forced them to resign themselves to a "family of friends" (as described in the program), maybe some of Meghan's celebrity friends whom she barely knows, but invites to her wedding or to be her kids' godparents.

 

[TLLK]

I’ll have to see if it’s available at my library.

Curbside-Here's the thread in which Valentine Low's book is discussed. I am sure that there are some excerpts in the thread as well. Note that it not only covers the Sussexes but other royals from the past and the present.


https://www.theroyalforums.com/foru...-the-crown-by-valentine-low-2022-a-49481.html

 

[Nico]

Apparently, there are a lot of folks out there hate-watching the docu series.

Well it's counterbalancing the fawning-watching

 

[HRHHermione]

After a few hours to process and read people's responses, I have a theory about Prince William and Prince Harry's relationship. I think as young men, the things that united them the most fiercely was their anger at what happened to their mother, their loss, and their rage at the media. This was demonstrated by both men through their teens and early twenties. I think that was genuine. However, I think William processed it. I think he got better. The trauma healed in a way that means it's not gone but it is manageable for him day to day in a way that allows him to do his job. I think Harry feels incredibly betrayed by that and that is part of what fueled the rift.





(Forgive my prolific posting on the topic. Staying up to recap means that the only way to correct my sleep schedule is to power through until 9PM and go to bed at a reasonable hour)

 

[soapstar]

Speaking of the bullying allegations against Meghan. The reporter who broke the story (Valentine Low) tweeted this yesterday. It was in reference to Jenny Afia’s claim that the bullying story had “massive inaccuracies.”

I wrote this just over a year ago. I still haven't heard anything from them. Will tomorrow be the day when I finally learn what the "massive inaccuracies" in my Meghan bullying story were?

Source

It’s interesting how the Sussexes didn’t directly address the bullying allegations against Meghan during the docuseries. They pretty much glossed over it. It’s also interesting how Harry and Meghan talked about how they’re standing up to the media, yet they still haven’t sued Valentine Low. I mean, they’ll sue over a letter and over a story about security, but they haven’t sued over one of the most damaging stories about Meghan.

 

[Nico]

And, my own observation. Let’s remember three women in the last forty years who married senior royals have felt that way.

And let's remember that three others didn't feel that way and managed to find their own voice, and with dignity with that.

 

[soapstar]

What three women marrying into the family felt that way? I know Diana is one and Meghan is the second. Who is the other one?

 

[HRHHermione]

What three women marrying into the family felt that way? I know Diana is one and Meghan is the second. Who is the other one?

Sarah Ferguson, presumably.

 

[Durham]

CNN reporters discuss the last three episodes.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1603487349471600646

‘The prayer shouldn’t be ‘God let me marry into the Royal Family….it should be ‘God let me survive marrying into the royal family’. says one female panel member.


And, my own observation. Let’s remember three women in the last forty years who married senior royals have felt that way.

The test of a good broadcaster is whether they air more than one point of view. So it will be interesting to see whether CNN invites those with a different perspective. Mainstream US news networks are far more partisan than those in the UK.

 

[Durham]

Sarah Ferguson, presumably.

The Countess of Wessex also married the son of a monarch.