Key Points
- The first three parts of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's docuseries have begun airing on Netflix.
- The series examines at what prompted the couple to leave the royal family and move to the US.
- The final three episodes are due to be released on 15 December.
The first three episodes of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s six-part Netflix docuseries have been released.
The series is lifting the lid on events that prompted the pair to quit royal life and move to the United States in 2020.
Marry someone who 'fits the mould'
The first parts of the docuseries trace and their attempts to keep it a secret.
"When I got to meet 'M' I was terrified of her being driven away by the media, the same media that had driven so many other people away from me," Harry said.
"I knew that the only way that this could possibly work is by keeping it quiet for as long as possible."
The series features a lot of never-before-seen photos of the couple. Credit: Prince Harry and Meghan/Netflix
"I think, for so many people in the family, especially obviously the men, there can be a temptation or an urge to marry someone who would fit the mould, as opposed to somebody who you perhaps are destined to be with," he said.
"The fact that I was dating an American actress was probably what clouded their judgment more than anything else at the beginning, 'oh she's an American actress; this won't last'."
Meghan also described her first meeting with the Prince and Princess of Wales, saying she was surprised at the "formality" of the royal family behind closed doors.
"I've always been a hugger, I didn't realise that that is really jarring for a lot of Brits," the 41-year-old said, revealing she was dressed down in ripped jeans and barefoot.
'The hunter versus the prey'
Harry also criticised the royal family for failing to protect Meghan or his mother Diana after her 1992 separation from Harry's father Charles, who is now king.
"The moment that she divorced, the moment she left the institution, then she was by herself... she was completely exposed to this," he said of his mother, .
"To see another woman in my life who I love go through this feeding frenzy, that's hard.
"It is basically the hunter versus the prey."
Harry said he was terrified of Meghan being driven away by the media and referred to "the pain and suffering of women marrying into this institution".
"I accept that there will be people around the world who will fundamentally disagree with what I've done and how I've done it but I knew that I had to do everything I could to protect my family - especially after what happened to my mum," he said.
Meghan also took aim at the family for failing to counter negative press reports about her, saying "it was horrible, but I continued to hold the line, like say nothing".
The 'race element'
"What people need to understand is as far as a lot of the family were concerned, everything she was being put through, they had been put through as well, so it was almost like a rite of passage," he said.
"Some of the members of the family were like 'my wife had to go through that so why should your girlfriend be treated any differently - why should you get special treatment, why should she be protected?' I said the difference here is the race element."
Harry went on to claim there was a "huge level of unconscious bias" within the family, with the documentary referencing a racist brooch worn by Princess Michael of Kent to an event that Meghan attended in 2017, for which she later apologised.
"In this family, sometimes you are part of the problem rather than part of the solution. There is a huge level of unconscious bias," he said.
"The thing with unconscious bias, it is actually no one's fault. But once it has been pointed out, or identified within yourself you then need to make it right."
'One of the biggest mistakes of my life'
The early episodes also focus on Harry's childhood and difficult teen years, often with paparazzi in tow.
On the aftermath of Diana's death, he said: "I was trying to balance the whole experience of being a young boy who was trying to deal with the loss of his mum without much support or help or guidance. It didn't seem right. It didn't seem fair."
Harry described how he found refuge in frequent trips to Africa, and in an apparent barb at his blood family, said: "I have a second family out there, a group of friends that literally brought me up."
Prince Harry said he found refuge in frequent trips to Africa after his mother's death. Source: Press Association / John Stillwell
The docuseries airs three months exactly since , and a month before the long-awaited publication of his memoirs, "Spare".
A Netflix source said that "communications offices for King Charles and the Prince of Wales were contacted in advance and given the right to reply to claims within the series".
The final three parts are due to be released on 15 December.
