LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 14: Prince William, Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex leave after escorting the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II to Westminster Hall from Buckingham Palace for her lying in state, on September 14, 2022 in London, United Kingdom. Queen Elizabeth II's coffin is taken in procession on a Gun Carriage of The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall where she will lay in state until the early morning of her funeral. Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on September 8, 2022, and is succeeded by her eldest son, King Charles III. (Photo by Emilio Morenatti - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Even though Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are expected to air more grievances against the British royal family in their highly anticipated Netflix docuseries and in Harry’s memoir, they still hope they can repair their relationships with his estranged relatives after “the furor” dies down, a report says.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex hold this belief even after they’ve been accused of releasing the trailer for their docuseries on Thursday, to deliberately “sabotage” Prince William and Kate Middleton’s highly consequential three-day visit to Boston, their first U.S. trip in more than three years, as the Times UK reported.
Sources told the Daily Mail that the Sussexes, who have lived in California since their acrimonious departure from royal life in 2020, have spoken about “reaching out” to William, Kate and King Charles III after the “inevitable furor” around their various media projects dies down.
But royal insiders are calling the Netflix series and Harry’s book “revenge projects,” which could end any chance of a rapprochement, the Daily Mail said. “The trouble is when it comes to the Sussexes and these revenge projects that they are so hell-bent on, people are asking when will enough be enough?” one insider said. “It’s not unreasonable in the circumstances to ask whether they are even interested in repairing their relationships with the family.”
Supporters of the Sussexes see their projects differently, with their friendly biographer Omid Scobie writing that the six-episode Netflix show, “Harry and Meghan,” will tell the story of their courtship and royal life through the lens of the difficulties they faced, including racism and racial bias in the media and the monarchy.
Nonetheless, Times royal reporter Valentine Low said that the trailer and the timing of its release shows that the couple are “on the warpath”
From “saccharine images” of the couple kissing in their kitchen or staring into each other’s eyes to the portentous quote from Prince Harry — about needing to leave royal life to protect his family — it is clear that “this is going to be a highly partisan bit of film-making,” Low said. “The heroes are Harry and Meghan, who come across as righteous, and wronged. And the villains are not hard to spot: the media, and the rest of the royal family.”
The timing of the trailer’s release was “significant,” coming the day before the Prince and Princess of Wales presided over a star-studded awards ceremony with Caroline Kennedy, the late John F. Kennedy’s daughter, to hand out William’s prestigious Earthshot 2022 environmental award. As of Friday evening, the ceremony had started to get underway with William and Kate arriving on the “green carpet” at MGM Music Hall at Fenway in Boston, where they greeted other high-profile attendees, including former Secretary of State John Kerry, Shailene Woodley and David Beckham.
Prince William and Kate, who are hosting The Earthshot Prize awards, have arrived on the "green carpet." Kate is wearing a green column gown, a rental(!). And her diamond choker necklace? It once belonged to the late Princess Diana. https://t.co/4OvS7PpFSJ pic.twitter.com/nsHKKZecmI
— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) December 2, 2022
As the Harry and Meghan’s trailer, the timing also was unfortunate for William and Kate because it started the day after Lady Susan Hussey, a longstanding member of the royal household and William’s godmother, made “racist” and “unacceptable and deeply regrettable comments” to a Black domestic abuse campaigner at a Buckingham Palace reception.
In some ways, the mood in the Waleses’ camp over the trailer’s release is said to be one of “resignation, even amusement, rather than anger,” the Times said. An insider also joked that the Sussexes have been been nicknamed the Kardashians because “they want all the attention they can possibly get.”
The one-minute trailer shared by Netflix suggests the Sussexes “will pull no punches” in the series, which is titled “Harry and Meghan” and reportedly due to begin airing Dec. 8, the Times said. A brief clip shows Harry being asked why he wanted to make the series. “No one sees what’s happening behind closed doors,” he answers. “I had to do everything I could to protect my family.” In another clip Meghan says, “When the stakes are this high, doesn’t it make more sense to hear our story from us?”
In addition to the Netflix series, senior royals are also preparing for Harry and Meghan’s appearance next week at another awards ceremony in New York City. A week after controversy erupted over Susan Hussey’s racist comments, the Sussexes will receive a prize from another branch of the Kennedy family for taking a “heroic” stand against “structural racism” in the monarchy.
Kerry Kennedy, president of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, a nonprofit named in honor of her late father, said in an interview earlier this month that Harry and Meghan will receive the nonprofit’s annual Ripple of Hope award at a gala in New York because they had the courage to challenge the royal family’s “power structure.”
Kerry Kennedy didn’t clarify how she believes Harry and Meghan took this “heroic” stand, but she could be referring to the couple’s blockbuster March 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey. That’s when they made the incendiary allegation that a member of the royal family asked about the skin color of their future children.
The royal establishment also is bracing for the publication of Harry’s memoir “Spare” in January, the Daily Mail said. The title is a pointed reference to Harry’s position as William’s younger brother as the “spare to the heir.” The title also suggests that Harry is likely to address his belief that he was long sidelined by the establishment in favor of William, who now first in line to the throne.
Sources told the Daily Mail that he royal family is “unlikely” to publicly react to any negative claims made by Harry and Meghan, but will consider their position carefully after they see what the couple have to say.
Originally published at Martha Ross