Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's life has drastically changed after bombshell Netflix documentary
It’s been a whole year since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s bombshell Netflix series came out. The former royals made some shocking revelations about their...It’s been a whole year since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s bombshell Netflix series came out. The former royals made some shocking revelations about their life in their docuseries. We take a look back at some of their stunning revelations, as well as where the couple is in their lives a year later.
The TV series Harry & Meghan was released on Netflix on December 8, 2022. Directed by Liz Garbus and Erica Sashin, the show featured six episodes where the Duke and Duchess of Sussex told their story from their perspective after years of intense media coverage about their lives as well as their past in The Firm. Celebrity Tidbit is taking a look back at the couple’s biggest revelations on the show, along with how their life has changed now.
Harry and Meghan tell Netflix cameras they met on Instagram
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry started dating in 2016. The media coverage of their relationship began at full throttle and has been intense ever since. However, in the series, we learned that they met on Instagram first and communicated there for a bit before meeting in person.
Their first date happened in London’s Soho House at 76 Dean Street. But Prince Harry was 30 minutes late on their first date after getting caught in the traffic. Fast-forward seven years, the couple is married with two kids and are living a seemingly peaceful life in their sunny Montecito mansion.
But as we look at what’s happened over the past 12 months, they’ve had to endure cruel rumors. The couple overcame separation rumors in 2023 by putting on a united front at the Invictus Games this year in Dusseldorf, Germany. It came after Meghan Markle was seen without her engagement ring. After, a former editor claimed their marriage would only last a few years. But they’ve come out stronger than ever. Especially as the couple were seen Trick or Treating with Archie and Lilibet in October.
Harry on how Meghan Markle was treated
One of the most controversial claims Prince Harry made in the Netflix series is that the royal family thought Meghan’s treatment online was ‘normal’. He claims that the media’s bullying of women marrying into the palace was a rite of passage. He said women marrying into the family were encouraged to essentially keep calm and move on.
However, the father-of-two claimed the media’s treatment of the Suits actress was motivated by racism. He says the royals could not wrap their heads around how a headline saying Meghan was “(almost) straight out of Compton” was different from the treatment other women received.
After years of bad press about Meghan and her mental health struggles, the royal couple ended up parting ways with the monarchy in 2020 right before the onset of COVID-19. The couple first moved to Canada’s Vancouver Island and finally settled in Los Angeles.
When they first moved to LA, they actually camped up in billionaire Tyler Perry’s house. The star reached out to them, saying Meghan ‘treated him like a therapist’, as she got everything off her chest.
Kate Middleton and Prince William’s awkward first meeting with Meghan
The Duchess told cameras the Prince and Princess of Wales found her warm nature uncomfortable.
“When Will and Kate came over and I had met her for the first time, they came over for dinner,” Meghan recalled in the series. She had ripped jeans on and was barefoot. Meghan notes how she has been a hugger and how she now realizes that it can be jarring for some Brits.
She added emphatically: “Like I was a hugger, always been a hugger! I didn’t realize that that is jarring for a lot of Brits … I guess I’d start to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside, carried through on the inside,” the 42-year-old said.
However, the Sussexes’ relationship with Prince William and Kate Middleton has completely become strained after the release of their Netflix show and Harry’s 2023 memoir.
In his recent claims, journalist Omid Scobie says Prince William has put Harry in his “rearview mirror.” The brothers have also not been on speaking terms with one another since Harry’s 2023 memoir was released.
Meghan found out her dad was not coming to their wedding through a tabloid
Meghan’s dad Thomas Markle made a lot of headlines before their wedding in 2018. Many were shocked to see his staged pictures before the royal wedding. The pictures were meant to create a media buzz about how he was preparing for his daughter’s big day.
However, around this time, the Duchess tried reaching out to her father via text and call. But in the Netflix series, she says she believes her father’s phone was compromised. She also claims she learned that her dad was not coming to her wedding via TMZ, not from her father himself.
The pair has had no contact with Meghan’s father ever since. In a desperate attempt to reach out to his daughter and grandkids, Thomas Markle gave another TV interview back in September 2023. He claimed there was “no excuse” why she could not fulfill his last wish of seeing his grandkids. However, the Sussexes have maintained a dignified silence on the subject and are going about their lives, attending high-profile events, showing up on red carpets, and more.
Prince Harry says the royals judged Meghan for being an American actress
The Duke shared his view about the royal family’s perception of Meghan. He shared how impressed everyone was by her.
“I think they were surprised. Maybe surprised that a ginger could land such a beautiful woman and such an intelligent woman,” he joked. However, he claims the fact that Meghan was an American actress “clouded their judgment.”
Talking about Meghan’s popularity in her early days as a working royal, Harry said that the senior members of the royal family were “threatened” by how good Meghan was at the job.
The Duke alleged: “The issue is, when someone who’s marrying in, who should be a supporting act, is then stealing the limelight or is doing the job better than the person who was born to do this, that upsets people.”
Meghan didn’t get to make her own choices
In a surprising moment in the documentary, Meghan revealed she was so desperate to blend into the royal eco system she often wore neutral and muted colors. She noted you were never allowed to wear the same color as Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. One could also not wear the same color as any other senior royal, like Kate or Queen Consort Camilla.
“So I was like, ‘Well, what’s a color that they’ll probably never wear?’ Camel, beige, white,” she said. “So I wore a lot of muted tones, but it was also so I could just blend in. I’m not trying to stand out here. There was no version of me joining this family and not doing everything I could to fit in. I don’t want to embarrass the family” she explained.
However, fast-forward a few years, Meghan is strutting down red carpets wearing the colors and silhouettes that please her. After her return to the United States, the Suits star has attended numerous red carpets. Most recently, she made an unexpected appearance at Variety’s Power of Women Gala event. She chose a beige outfit with a sleek and minimalistic look. But this time around it was out of choice rather than due to the lack of it.
At 2021’s Salute to the Freedom Gala, Meghan showed up in a stunning red dress that showed off her well-built shoulders. Then at the 2023 Woman of Vision Award, the mother of two wore a stunning Gold Strapless Gown.
It seems a lot has changed for Harry and Meghan since their Netflix documentary released last year.
