Prince Harry stoked jealousy by saying on his Netflix show that Meghan Markle was “doing better” than his family, but there were major issues with the way the specific anecdote was presented as evidence.
The fourth episode of the couple’s documentary, harry and meghancharting their rise from a public relations peak during the royal tour of Australia in October 2018 to a series of negative press reports in November and December of that year.
megan’s friends and Suit Co-star Abigail Spencer told the show: “It looked amazing but I didn’t understand what happened after that.”
The show appears to provide an answer to the question, which is that, according to an aide, those at the agency wanted to put Harry and Meghan in a box because they felt threatened.
Harry seems to believe the reason is that the royal family is jealous of Meghan’s performance at work.To illustrate the point, he cited the moment she beat all senior royals to the front page of a British newspaper sunday telegraph.
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However, the version depicted in the show was actually published a year later, in 2019. That means it’s unlikely to have played any role in the sudden shift in press coverage of Meghan from positive to negative in late 2018.
This flaw is particularly glaring because the documentary fails to acknowledge the toxic environment that existed at Kensington Palace ahead of the Australian tour.
In fact, the Sussexes’ relationship with Prince William and Kate Middleton had soured months earlier, with the two couples having explicit talks by June 2018.
In his book, freeHarry described finding employees sobbing at their desks that summer, before the toxic atmosphere took hold. telegraph Front Page and ahead of Australia tour in October 2018.
how harry and meghan Documentaries tell stories
Lucy Fraser, a friend of Harry and Meghan, told the show: “I think Australia was a real turning point because they were so popular with the public that there was an incredible threat to the interior of the palace.”
Harry continued: “The thing is, it’s unsettling when someone who’s supposed to be a supporting actor steals the show or does a better job than someone who was born to do it. It shifts the balance.
“Because you’re led to believe that the only way your philanthropy can succeed, and the only way your reputation can grow or improve, is if you get on the front page of these newspapers. But the media are the ones who choose who to put on the front page .
“The first time she paid for it, M and I spent an evening in a room at Buckingham Palace after an event attended by all members of the family, including the Queen, senior members of the family.
“The next morning they had breakfast for Harry and me,” Meghan said, before Harry added: “On the front page of the Daily Mail telegraph, Megan. “
“I said, ‘Oh my God,'” Meghan said. Harry added: “She said, ‘But, it’s not my fault,’ and I said, ‘I know. My mom feels the same way.'”
Harry’s words appear to be taken from two separate interviews, for which he did not give any dates, however, Front Page sunday telegraph has been shown to clearly match the 2019 version rather than the previous year’s version.
However, the report is sandwiched between two parts, both of which focus on 2018, creating the appearance that it also took place that year.
Immediately afterwards, a clip from Princess Diana’s famous 1995 BBC show news night The interview described how King Charles III was jealous of fans who wanted to see her instead of him.
Diana said: “For example, we were going around Australia and all you could hear was, oh, she’s on the other side. Now, if you were a man, like my husband, a proud man, would you mind If you hear it every day for four weeks. You’re going to get frustrated with it instead of being happy about it and sharing it.”
The show then turned to negative stories published in the media in November and December 2018, including an interview with the couple’s assistant, James Holt, who said: “When some of the concerns surrounding the family in the institution When one begins to see the potential for this new couple to destabilize power, the dynamic, whether actively talked about or not, is designed to put them in a box or render them irrelevant.”
“All of a sudden these tabloids started showing up criticizing Meghan for every little thing,” he added.
In the end what happened
No casual viewer would be able to deduce telegraph The front page Harry refers to appeared a year after the breakdown in royal relations, so could not have sparked the tabloid story Holt mentioned.
When it was actually printed, Harry and Meghan were actually just days away from leaving the UK to spend Thanksgiving in Canada, and they have never moved back to the UK since
Harry and Meghan also left the private offices they previously shared with William and Kate and moved to Windsor, marking the end of an era for the four royals to work together.
In fact, a month ago, Prince Harry publicly acknowledged his differences with Prince William for the first time in an October 2019 interview with ITV, in which he said: “We’re definitely on different paths at the moment.”
sunday telegraph The November 9, 2019 issue featured a front-page image referencing the split with the headline “United in remembrance.”
Its brief post read: “Last night, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made their first appearance together with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge since a polo match in July, with the two couples attending the Royal Albert Hall in London. Festival of Remembrance at the Music Hall.”
The event came a day before the country’s main Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph in London, which was also widely attended by members of the royal family.
Queen Elizabeth II beats Harry and Meghan to front page of UK magazine daily telegraph On Monday, she posted a photo in which she appeared emotional at a funeral for the fallen.
keep away sunday telegraph coverage that caused the rift, it appears that the rift played at least some role in causing the rift sunday telegraph The article points out that they have not been seen with William and Kate for several months.
Meghan not on the front page sunday telegraph Following the November 2018 Memorial Day.
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The flaw isn’t the first time errors have been made in royal documentaries or books, with Harry’s own memoir also containing many.
What makes this incident even more important, however, is the overall lack of evidence to support Harry’s contention that the leaks that resulted in negative press coverage were the product of jealousy.
Apparently, negative reports about Meghan began to appear in the British media in November and December 2018, and the details provided could only ultimately come from the royal family.
In terms of motivation, however, there is another possible explanation, which can be found in former royal staff’s pushback against Harry and Meghan’s narrative.
Allegations of Meghan bullying staff appeared first on UK major newspapers era March 2021 While another key version of the Palace Narrative can be found in paperback war of brothers Later that year, Robert Lacey wrote.
The book reads: “As Harry explained to Oprah [Winfrey]The success of Meghan’s Australian tour sowed the seeds of jealousy, leading to a “change” in relationships.
“According to the situation, William and Kate were unhappy with the Diana-like popularity generated by Harry’s wife. But William has different memories.
“We now know that Prince William and Prince Harry stopped speaking before the Sussexes departed for Australia on October 16, 2018.
“As Harry said, relationships had ‘changed’ – and radically. The brothers’ split came on extremely bad terms, with issues centering around Meghan’s harsh treatment and staff who allegedly bullied her.”
Awkwardly for Harry, elements of Lacey’s version actually fit the timeline of his own memoir better than Winfrey’s interview or the Netflix documentary, even though the historian’s book predates Prince’s Published in approximately 18 months.
in a paragraph free Focusing on the summer of 2018, Harry writes: “Nerves were shattered and people were sarcastic and sarcastic. In such an atmosphere, there was no such thing as constructive criticism.”
“All feedback was taken as an offense, an insult. On more than one occasion, a staff member fell on his desk crying. For it all, Willie blamed one person. Meg.
“He’s told me several times and he gets angry when I tell him what he’s doing is overstepping a line. He’s just repeating the media’s narrative, spouting false stories that he’s read or heard.”
Regarding that October tour of Australia, Harry admitted his skepticism sounded paranoid: “She was so good that on tour I felt the need to… warn
she.
“‘You did so well, my love. So good. You made it look so easy. This is where it all started… with my mother.’
“Maybe I sound angry and paranoid. But everyone knows that as Mom showed the world, showed her family that she was better at touring, better at communicating with people, better at ‘royalty,’ things got worse and worse for her. Oops.” She had every right to do that. “
However, Harry did not consider the possibility that the leaks and animosity that followed were not motivated by jealousy but rather by a genuine rift caused by the dispute over whether Meghan mistreated staff.
The key problem with Harry’s royal jealousy narrative is the lack of evidence to support his motives when there are perfectly reasonable alternative explanations.
No matter how other cards drop, presentation will be extremely disruptive sunday telegraph Covering up as supporting evidence while using it so widely out of context.
Jack Royston is Weekly newspaperChief royal correspondent in London. You can find him on Twitter: @jackroyston and read his story newsweek’s Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their families that you’d like our experienced royal reporters to answer? Send an email to Royals@newsweek.com. We’d love to hear from you.
