Netflix documentary offers nothing new

One of the most curious things about “Harry and Meghan,” the new Netflix documentary about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex that broke away from the British monarchy, is how normal the couple appear to be. Harry chases after the kids in a stroller, Meghan feeds chickens in the backyard of their Santa Barbara home. She calls him “H” and he teases her about being late for their second date. First three episodes to premiere on Thursday look like to withdraw into the privacy of their lives for an honest glimpse into their world. But in reality, the first three episodes of the series feel like close-ups on previously seen footage.

In January 2020, three months before the worldwide COVID lockdown, Prince Harry Windsor and Meghan Muttbatten-Windsor (née Markle) separated themselves from the British monarchy. By September, when most of us were locked in our homes in pursuit of TikTok, the couple quietly signed consecutive multimillion-dollar deals with both Netflix and Spotify. Among the latter is Meghan’s award-winning podcast “Archetypes”. The former gave birth to their new production company archwellWhich produced “Harry & Meghan,” a six-episode documentary produced by the couple about their life together.

Directed by Oscar-nominated director Liz Garbus (“What Happened Miss Simone?”), the series is a montage of captured FaceTime videos, text, stills and sit-down interviews. The first three episodes of the series take a myopic look at their relationship. Everything from their secret trip to Botswana after their second date, to their long distance relationship, to their wedding day.

There are no harsh accusations or tough questions like in the couple’s previous Oprah interview. Instead, the press is the villain in this first part of his story. Prince Harry has blamed the paparazzi and his relentless pursuit of his family as both the death of his mother, Princess Diana, and the cause of stress for his wife and their children. Although we’ve heard these stories before, what “Harry and Megan” provides is a little more context.

For example, Harry warned his then-girlfriend Meghan not to talk to any paparazzi after an accidental greeting of a photographer made headlines that she was seeking attention. Friends and former cast members of the USA Network series “Suits,” on which Markle starred for seven seasons, recall the boldness of the royal paparazzi, who changed on-set security for Meghan from standard Canadian police to a personal security detachment. Gaya, usually reserved for high-ranking officers.

The series also reveals that Meghan’s father, retired Hollywood lighting designer Thomas Markle, was caught up in a paparazzi scandal. They mysteriously decided not to walk their daughter down the aisle because the salacious photos sold to the tabloids. The pair said the paparazzi stole her phone even after they received a series of nonsensical texts from her number.

Although most fans of the Royal Family are familiar with the elite press corps known as the “Royal Rota,” The Doctor has a section devoted entirely to the 40-year-old institution. The Rota is a small group of British press publications that cover exclusively royal events by rotation. And according to Harry, apart from “The Telegraph”, this includes all the British tabloids.

Of course, this insinuates that the tabloids have some degree of leeway from the royal family to make up stories about them, but this fact has not been fully confirmed. Instead, it turns out that both Prince Harry and Prince William are the first grown-ups to be under this contractual obligation with the media. One that Meghan inadvertently married. David Olusoga, author of the “Black and British” featured in the series, says, “Anybody who steps into the public eye, especially … female and black, is fair game in their mind.”

Harry was unprepared to subject Meghan to the multi-generational mistreatment and press barrage that is an apparent “rite of passage” for women in the royal family. Nor were they prepared for the racist slurs of social media and the press.

It’s hard to say what message “Harry and Meghan” wants to convey in these first three episodes. Take for example the issue of casteism. On the one hand, we get a mini-history lesson of the black experience in Britain starting with the slave trade and even death of stephen lawrence From academics and journalists like Olusoga.

On the other hand, we see snippets of Meghan’s carefully reconstructed childhood as a racially ambiguous girl in the States. “When I moved to the UK they made it such an issue,” Markle says of her ancestry, “but before that … most people didn’t think of me as a ‘Black woman'” (her quote). It seems that the princess’s sheltered upbringing left her navigating the microaggressions reserved for dark-skinned black women in America completely unprepared for the onslaught that was to come.

Is the point that Markle was naive to think that an institution built on slavery would accept her? Or did the Brexit-fuelled climate in which the couple’s engagement was announced make her an easy target? Harry also admits that he was less knowledgeable than he thought. “I thought I had awareness of the issues, to be unwittingly partisan,” he laments.

Made for an American audience, “Harry and Meghan” offers nothing new to “royal superfans”. Still, for those not familiar with the grandeur and circumstances of Windsor Palace, it is fascinating. In the same way that Beyoncé controlled her narrative in “Beyoncé: Homecoming,” it’s clear that Harry and Meghan are attempting to do the same. “Books are written about our story by people I don’t know,” Markle said at the top of the series, “doesn’t it make more sense to hear our story from us?”

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are to be commended for taking control of their own lives, but that control also means they get to write and edit their own story as they see fit. We can only hope that the next three episodes of “Harry & Meghan” will reveal new chapters rather than rehash the old ones.

The first three episodes of “Harry & Meghan” are streaming now on Netflix, with the final three episodes set to debut on December 15.