The feud goes on. Prince William’s response to Harry and Meghan’s documentary isn’t happy. According to some palace insiders, the Prince and Princess of Wales might retaliate if the Sussexes’ new Netflix documentary goes too far.
In the trailer for Harry & Meghan, the Sussexes explain the difficulties they had when they were still active in the royal family, including the issues they had with hierarchy and racism. “It’s really hard to look back on it now and go, ‘What on earth happened?’” Harry said in a voiceover. “There’s a hierarchy of the family. You know, there’s leaking, but there’s also planting of stories… It’s a dirty game,” he said. “The pain and suffering of women marrying into this institution—this feeding frenzy,” as footage shows his mother Princess Diana and Kate Middleton being followed by paparazzi. Meghan then says, “I realized, they’re never going to protect you.” Volume One of the documentary is was released December 8, 2022, while Volume Two of the documentary was released the following week, on December 15, 2022.
So what exactly was Prince William’s reaction? Read more about how he felt about his brother’s “declaration of war” below.
How did Prince William respond to Prince Harry & Meghan Markle’s documentary?
How did Prince William respond to Prince Harry & Meghan Markle’s documentary? Though the Prince and Princess of Wales have not made any official statements about the documentary, a royal insider told Express that “The Prince and Princesses’ team will wait to see what’s in the Netflix series before deciding what to do, but you can see the direction of travel.”
Courtesy of: Netflix
After Volume II of the Netflix documentary series was released, a source told Page Six that William is “done” with his brother. “I think that’s it,” the source said. In the doc, Harry disclosed what happened when he went up to his family to reveal that he and Meghan were leaving their Royal duties. “It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me, and my father [King Charles III] say things that just simply weren’t true, and my grandmother [Queen Elizabeth II] quietly sit there and just take it all in,” he recalled. The Duke of Sussex also revealed that the decision left a “wedge” in their relationship. The source claimed that the Prince and Princess of Wales were happy with their children for their holiday celebrations “while Harry and Meghan were distanced, sad and bitter back in Montecito.”
Another source told Us Weekly that William thought that the documentary was a “thorn” at his side. “He’s disappointed with Harry for portraying him and the [royal] family in a cynical light,” the insider adds. “William was hoping they could move on after the CBS interview [in March 2021], but Harry airing his dirty laundry has only heightened the conflict between the two brothers and resulted in them taking a step backwards.
Other sources claim that Harry and Meghan were planning to “sabotage” the Prince and Princess of Wales’s visit to the US. “This trip was to pay tribute to the people of Boston for their generous hospitality and celebrate them alongside the Earthshot Prize finalists for making such great strides in the race against climate change.” While another source told the Daily Mail UK that it was a direct attack. “I don’t see how anyone could view it as anything other than a declaration of war,” they said. Another source told Us Weekly that “Kate and William were left flummoxed when the Netflix trailer aired during their trip to Boston. It’s put a huge amount of strain on relationships that are already hanging by a thread.”
Prince William and Kate Middleton arrived in Boston on Wednesday, November 30, 2022. It was their first time in the US since 2014 and their first time internationally traveling as the Prince and Princess of Wales. The goal of the trip was to attend the Earthshot Prize Awards ceremony. It was launched by William and David Attenborough in 2020. $1.2 million in prize money was awarded to each of the winners in five separate categories: nature protection, clean air, ocean revival, waste elimination and climate change. The royal couple met up with President Biden on December 2, 2022 to talk about the awards and about climate change. Across the pond, senior aides were told to watch the six-part series like hawks and to issue swift rebuttals to any dubious claims in the documentary. According to The Mirror, William issued a “back-off” message to his brother and wife, and has ditched the long-standing royal mantra of “never complain, never explain”.
Courtesy of Netflix
Royal expert Christopher Anderson told Us Weekly that the Prince and Princess of Wales are waiting until the documentary debuts. “I think they’re still holding their breaths and waiting for the other shoe to drop,” the King: The Life of King Charles III author said. “Well, there are two shoes that are gonna drop because [after part one of the film premieres Thursday, December 8] … the [next one] is dropping next week.” He continued, “the sense of betrayal has shifted over to genuine combat mode because obviously, this is a war between the two.” He also noted, “I mean, he tries to hide [his anger], but it doesn’t work. I’m sure he is very, very angry at his brother and cannot understand what he’s doing.”
The news of the documentary and its contents also comes after the news that William’s godmother and royal aide, Lady Susan Hussey, was accused of making racist remarks at an event hosted by the Queen Consort, Camilla Parker Bowles. A spokesperson for Prince William responded: “Racism has no place in our society,” his Kensington Palace office said. “These comments were unacceptable, and it’s right that the individual has stepped aside with immediate effect,” according to Fortune.
A source told People that William and Kate aren’t watching the documentary, but are having their aides watch it for them. “It will take a long time before there is harmony between the brothers. There is a lot of anger there,” a royal source said.
The feud between the brothers was heightened after Harry and Meghan’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey where they discussed their issues with the institution. Meghan revealed to Oprah that while she was pregnant with Archie, various royal family members expressed “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he is born.” Meghan continued, “There are several conversations, potentially and what that would mean or look like.” Harry also revealed that the lack of support the royal family gave to Meghan when it came to racism and social media bullying was one of the main reasons the couple left. He added that it had the potential to get very scary. “I think the biggest turning point for me was this union, us, me having a girlfriend, was going to be a thing. Of course, it was,” he said. “[We left because of] lack of support and lack of understanding.”
Image: Scott Garfitt- WPA Pool/Getty Images
In response to the interview, a source told Us Weekly at the time that William was disappointed in his brother. “William feels that Harry has gotten too big for his boots since moving to California—that success and Hollywood have gone to his head,” the insider said. “He’s already accused [Harry] of putting fame over family after the big interview.”
Other than William and Harry, the whole royal family is ready to face whatever Harry and Meghan are going to talk about in the Netflix documentary. A source told The Mirror, “There is a completely united front from the King and his family concerning the numerous attempts to privately make peace with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, which sadly have once again resulted in the other side wishing to air their repeated grievances to the world.” They continued, “If there is a need to respond to anything in the upcoming series then you can be assured that response will be swift and robust.” The site also said that royal insiders called the Sussexes “The Kardashians” because “they want all the attention they can possibly get”.
The series was announced in 2020 when Harry and Meghan’s company Archewell Productions struck a deal with Netflix rumored to be worth around $100 million. According to the streaming company, “the series explores the clandestine days of their early courtship and the challenges that led to them feeling forced to step back from their full-time roles in the institution. With commentary from friends and family, most of whom have never spoken publicly before about what they witnessed, and historians who discuss the state of the British Commonwealth today and the royal family’s relationship with the press, the series does more than illuminate one couple’s love story, it paints a picture of our world and how we treat each other.”
Courtesy of: Random House
For more about Prince Harry, read his upcoming memoir, Spare. Told for the first time in his own words, the book takes readers through the Duke of Sussex’s life with the British royal family, from the death of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997 to how the moment led to his decision decades later to move to America with his wife, Meghan Markle, and leave Buckingham Palace for good in 2020. “With its raw, unflinching honesty, Spare is a landmark publication full of insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief,” the publisher’s description reads.
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