Julie Jay: 'Harry & Meghan had me ducking for cover with revelations in final episodes'
Meghan and Harry in 2019 with their baby son, Archie. The latest episodes of the Netflix documentary describe how unhappy they were with palace life. (Picture: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire)
As much as I love them, the first three episodes of the Harry & Meghan documentary on Netflix were a slog at times. Getting on board with the nicknames of H and M was hard enough, but the criticism of Kate not being a hugger fell flat given that most of my generation haven’t hugged our dads since Italia 90.
The final three episodes really took it up a notch, so much so I actually sat up in my bed while watching - which I do for high drama only.
As we open with the arrival of Harry and Meghan’s firstborn, it is impossible not to be genuinely moved by the sheer elation of Ian Wright in the wake of the birth of Archie, and the significance of a mixed-race family at the very helm of what is a mostly non-white Commonwealth.
Such joy in response to a changing monarchy only serves to highlight how much of an opportunity this marriage was for the royal family, and how much their union meant to so many Britons.
That said, these final three episodes, had me repeatedly ducking for cover as the grenades kept falling: and my, how explosive they were. The explicit assertion that stories were planted “to suit other people’s agendas”, the barely guised accusation that Kensington Palace were not alone facilitating the couple being “thrown to the wolves”, but as Meghan states, being “fed” to them.
By the time Harry states that Meghan, in her supportive role was “doing the job better than the person who is born to do this”, I was biting my pillow to stop from literally squealing.
Palpable throughout is Harry’s clear anger at both his family for what he feels is a continual breach of trust and a total misrepresentation at what actually happened when they chose to step back from their royal roles.
In Episode 5, Harry claims his name was added to a statement shutting down a story about William bullying them out of the family, which, we are told, was an example of The Firm (as insiders call the royal establishment) being willing to lie. The inference of course being, that Harry did indeed feel bullied by his brother, which is surely another blow to what is already an obviously fractured relationship.
One of the nice things to come out of this documentary, surely, will be the people insisting Harry is being held hostage will no longer be asking him to blink twice if he needs help. He is quite clearly a man making his own decisions, and as in love with his wife as she is with him.
Another yeesh moment comes after Harry and Meghan have announced their official stepping back from duty. We are told that the first time they see the other members of the Royal Family is in public, at Westminster Abbey, an encounter which Harry himself describes as ‘cold’, which in Irish family reunion terms we would probably describe as positively baltic.
Without a doubt the most frustrating moment in the show is when Harry gets a text from William following their Oprah interview. “I wish I knew what to do,” Harry says, and we immediately cut to an Easter Egg hunt. Forget the eggs Harry, we need receipts!
Prince Philip’s funeral, it would appear, did nothing to bring Harry closer to reconciliation with his estranged family, for whom Harry says there are no “accountability or apologies” forthcoming, but also you can’t just declare Philip the “King of the Barbecue” and not give us a rundown of the menu. Were there chicken skewers? We need more information here.
My takeaways? Everyone needs a friend like Tyler Perry, who has really upped the godparent game, and unless both Harry and Meghan are Daniel Day Lewis-level character actors, these two are quite clearly weak for each other. And they look like amazing parents, which will surprise nobody who recalls how happy Harry looked plonked in the kids’ carriage at William and Kate’s wedding.
Of course, as much as it is okay, healthy, even, to grow and move on and move forward, it is always tinged with sadness when it means leaving so much that you once held dear in the past.
When asked if he misses anything, Harry mentions “weird family gatherings” and his friends (one of whom is called Nacho - forget H and M, he definitely wins Best Nickname). By omission, this sentiment from Harry says so much, and it is hard not to come away feeling a sadness for two brothers, for whom it is hard to see there being any coming back from this.
