It’s an open secret that nobody does weird family drama quite like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Depending on who you talk to, Prince Harry has been squabbling with his brother, Prince William, ever since he decided to get serious with Meghan. Things got worse with William and the rest of the Royal Family after Harry and Meghan stepped back from most royal responsibilities and left the country. Since then, the two have only made the family angrier thanks to things like their bombshell interview with Oprah.
Just when it seemed like there was no dirty family laundry left to air out, Harry and Meghan began promoting their new documentary series on Netflix. On every level, this show is making the family drama worse. In one explosive trailer, Harry outright accuses the Royal Family of giving William preferential treatment over him.
What did Harry say, exactly, and what does this mean for his relationship with his family? Keep reading to find out!
Harry’s original claim about Megxit
As you might expect, most of this drama can be traced back to “Megxit,” the cheeky nickname for Harry and Meghan’s decision to leave the country. At the time, Harry in particular made a lot of noise about how he still wanted to stay involved with the Royal Family. As Time reports, he said, “What I want to make clear is, we’re not walking away.” Furthermore, “I’ve accepted this knowing that it doesn’t change who I am or how committed I am.”
At the time, Harry seemed very interested in reassuring people that things wouldn’t change that much. Sure, he and Meghan wouldn’t be in England any longer, and they wouldn’t be making nearly as many appearances with the rest of the Royal Family. Still, he was “committed” to making their new lives fit in with their old lives as much as he could.
Even at the time, there were cracks in Harry’s claim about staying committed to the rest of the Royal Family. And once he and Meghan gave an interview with Oprah, those cracks only deepened.
Meghan opens a can of worms in an interview with Oprah
The most shocking claim that came from the Oprah interview was that an unnamed senior member of the Royal Family made racist remarks regarding Archie, Meghan and Harry’s then-unborn child. At the time, this left everyone in a tizzy trying to figure out who they were talking about.
However, the couple made other major claims during that interview, and we’re now starting to see the relevance of some of these claims. For example, Page Six reports that Meghan told Oprah “It was only once we were married, everything started to worsen, that I came to understand that not only was I not being protected.” Additionally, “They were willing to lie to protect other members of the family.”
As with the claims about alleged racism within the Royal Family, neither Harry nor Meghan named any names regarding this willingness to lie. And while we still don’t know who told which lies, we do now know who some of these lies were allegedly protecting: Prince William, the future King of England.
Prince Harry accuses his family of ‘gaslighting’ him
In a recent trailer for Harry & Meghan, the Netflix documentary focusing on the lives of the Sussexes, neither Harry nor Meghan holds back about why they really left England. In describing the actions of the Royal Family, Harry claims that “They were happy to lie to protect my brother, but they were never willing to tell the truth to protect us.” And he boldly proclaimed what the royals did to him and Meghan amounts to “institutional gaslighting.”
Meghan adds that it always seemed like both she and her marriage to Harry were at the center of this family drama, making both of them feel increasingly restrained. Eventually, it felt like a fight against their own family, and Harry claims that “I’ve always felt as though this was a fight worth fighting for.”
Some of this is undoubtedly an attempt to drum up drama and, therefore, attention for the new Netflix docuseries. However, Harry’s willingness to specifically throw his brother under the bus and accuse his entire family of “gaslighting” may speak to a more personal motivation behind his claims.
For example, many felt that Harry fled England with Meghan as a way of establishing his independence. He grew up in the shadow of an older brother who was destined to rule the country. One might think that stepping back from most royal responsibilities and leaving England altogether would help Harry distinguish himself from his brother. But considering that Harry is now making claims about his family lying to protect his brother, it looks like this ongoing sibling rivalry isn’t going to end anytime soon.