For years, the public has watched as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have attempted to untangle themselves from the royal family—and the pressures, attacks, and criticism that came with their roles. Now, in the latest installment of the new Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are sharing everything that happened behind the scenes, including how their decision to leave impacted all of their relationships.
After Harry and Meghan announced they would be stepping back from their roles in January 2020, Harry, his father then-Prince Charles, his brother Prince William, and his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II all met at Sandringham, a royal estate, to discuss how they would proceed. In episode 5 of the series, Harry recounts the meeting, saying: “It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me, and my father say things that just simply weren’t true, and my grandmother, you know, quietly sit there and sort of take it all in.”
He also commented on how the entire ordeal has affected him and his brother, who he has been famously close with since the two were children. “The saddest part of it was this wedge created between myself and my brother, so that he’s now on the institution’s side,” Harry said. “And part of that I get, I understand, right? That’s his inheritance. So to some extent, it’s already ingrained in him that part of his responsibility is the survivability and the continuation of this institution.”
It was then soon after the meeting, that Harry realized he and Meghan would have to leave for good. “That day a story came out that said part of the reason Meghan and I were leaving was because William had bullied us out,” he recalled. “Once I got in the car after the [Sandringham] meeting, I was told about a joint statement that had been put out in my name and my brother’s name squashing the story about him bullying us out of the family.”
“I couldn’t believe it,” he continued. “No one had asked me. No one had asked me permission to put my name to a statement like that. And I rang M, and I told her, and she burst into floods of tears, because within four hours they were happy to lie to protect my brother, and yet for three years, they were never willing to tell the truth to protect us.”
For Harry, this was the final straw. “So there was no other option at this point,” Harry said. “I said, ‘We need to get out of here.’”
You can watch the full series here on Netflix.
Madison is a senior writer/editor at ELLE.com, covering news, politics, and culture. When she’s not on the internet, you can most likely find her taking a nap or eating banana bread.
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