From the very beginning of Harry & Meghan, it is clear they are waging a war on the British press.
Whilst this is no royal revelation, the docuseries has shed light on just how the couple has struggled to cope in the years since their relationship became public, and the extreme lengths the paparazzi have gone to for photos of the pair.
From the very first episode, the focus is very much on the negative scrutiny and attention the press has on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s mental health.
The couple reveals that soon after stepping down from the royal family, they have decided to do ‘video diaries’ to document the experience and, in Harry’s words, “document all the mis-information”.
Harry and Meghan were visibly emotional when discussing their experience.
(Image: Netflix)
The opening episode also touches on Harry’s views on how his mother was treated by the press, plus his memories on growing up with every moment documented by the media.
Harry’s own memories of the late Princess Diana were overtaken by the intense attention the family received.
“The majority of my memories are of being swarmed by paparazzi,” he said.
Backtracking to the beginning of their relationship in 2016 when their love first became public knowledge, Meghan said she was “relieved” and enjoyed eight days of happiness, not needing to worry about “sneaking around” anymore.
That happiness was short-lived, and public joy soon turned into incredibly nasty discourse.
Harry hopes to raise his children away from the cameras.
(Image: Getty)“I feel like all of the UK media just descended upon Toronto, my house was surrounded. Just men sitting in their cars all the time, waiting for me to just do anything.”
Harry: “I just felt completely helpless.”
“It was scary,” says Meghan. “My face and my life were everywhere. Tabloids took over my life.”
Episode two opens in November 2021, as Harry and Meghan speak between themselves about the paps following their vehicle, visibly anxious, and counting down the moments until they feel ‘safe again’ with friends.
”Back in my mum’s days, it was physical harassment,” says Harry.
“They had cameras in your face, following you chasing you. Paparazzi still harass people, but the harassment exists more online now. Once the photographs are out and the story is then put next to it, then comes the social media harassment. To see another woman in my life go through this feeding frenzy, that’s hard.”
Harry then muses that instead of Harry & Meghan versus the press, their experience was better described as “hunter versus prey”.
Episode three continues with the trend as Harry and Meghan tell their documentary crew, directly into the camera lens, that the paparazzi ”are destroying us”.
Harry then reflects upon the UK press and their sense of entitlement, ”this family [the royal family] is ours to exploit, their trauma is our story and our narrative to control,” he says, placing himself in the shoes of the paparazzi that have hounded him so.
”I expect that there’ll be people around the world who 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 [Princess Diana]. I didn’t want history to repeat itself.”
This article originally appeared on our sister site, New Idea.
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