The highly anticipated Netflix docuseries dropped its final three episodes on Thursday.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are telling their side of the story. Netflix dropped volume II of the couple's docuseries, titled Harry & Meghan, on Thursday after volume I was released last week. In the series' final three episodes, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex open up for their first in-depth look at their exit from royal life, their lawsuit against the Mail on Sunday, Meghan's miscarriage and more.
From Harry claiming his brother, Prince William, screamed and shouted at him to Tyler Perry being named baby Lilibet's godfather, there were plenty of interesting tidbits.
Despite a disclaimer in the first episode of the series claiming that members of the royal family declined to comment on the content of the series, a source close to the royal family has since claimed, "That is incorrect. Neither Buckingham Palace nor Kensington Palace nor any members of the royal family were approached for comment on the content of the series," adding, "[The Palace] is not aware of any such approach for comment."
ET has reached out to Netflix for a response to these claims. Meanwhile, a Netflix source tells ET that communications offices for King Charles and Prince William were contacted in advance and given the right to reply to claims within the series.
Additionally, ET has learned that Kensington Palace did receive an email from a third-party production company about the Netflix docuseries. The email originated from an unknown organization's email address. The office contacted Archewell Productions and Netflix to attempt to verify the authenticity of the email and that it was genuine but received no reply. The email did not contain the substance of the allegations made in the Netflix program or address the entire series. In the absence of any verification or reply from Archewell or Netflix, there was not any reply.
Tensions between the Sussexes and the royals aside, here were the biggest revelations to come out of volumes I and II of the couple's docuseries:
Brotherly Rift
Harry opens up for the first time in depth about the rift between him and his brother, Prince William. He calls the wedge that the situation has driven between them "the saddest thing," saying that William let his communications team affect their relationship, which he calls "heartbreaking." He adds that while having a summit with the senior royals about his intended exit, it was "terrifying" to have William "scream and shout" at him.
Godfather Perry
The close relationship between Harry and Meghan and famed producer Tyler Perry is also documented in volume II of the series. They note that prior to moving into his Los Angeles mansion in 2020, they had never met Tyler in person.
"I immediately empathized with her," Tyler, who was interviewed for the series, says of Meghan. He compares what the duchess endured to the abuse his own mother faced, saying of Meghan, "This woman was abused."
Tyler later shares that Harry and Meghan asked him to be the godfather to their daughter, Lilibet, 1, which he quickly agreed to before noting that he did not want to go over to the U.K. for a christening.
William's Text
In footage of the couple the day after their Oprah Winfrey interview aired in 2021, Harry shows Meghan his phone as she asks, "What am I looking at?" before saying, "Wow." She shares that it is a text from Harry's estranged brother, William. He doesn't share the contents of the text, but he looks pretty upset and Meghan gives him a hug afterward, as he says, "I wish I knew what to do."
Queen Bey's Blessing
Also after the couple's Oprah interview airs, Meghan receives a different, much more exciting text from Beyoncé, with Harry jokingly gasping at the moment.
"She said she wants me to feel safe and protected," Meghan reads. "She admires and respects my bravery and vulnerability and thinks I was selected to break generational curses that need to be healed."
The Moment Things Changed
Harry cites an official event where all of the senior royals were present, noting that the papers chose to put Meghan on their covers. He says this is when "the penny dropped for her," and she noted that she hadn't done anything wrong. He says he told her that his mother, Princess Diana, felt the same way.
Harry Talks What He Misses Most
When asked if there's anything about the Institution he misses, Harry replies, "Yeah, I miss the weird family gatherings when we're all sort of brought together under one roof for certain times of the year. That I miss. A big part of the Institution was in the U.K. So I miss the U.K. I miss my friends. I've lost a few friends in this process as well."
Harry Compares Daughter Lilibet to Princess Diana
When discussing his youngest child, Harry says, "I think at the moment I see a lot of my wife in Archie. I see a lot of my mum in Lili. She's very Spencer-like. She's got the same blue eyes, sort of golden, reddish hair."
Harry's Miscarriage Blame
While discussing Meghan's 2020 miscarriage, Harry places the blame at the feet of the Mail on Sunday, the tabloid Meghan had sued for publishing a handwritten letter to her estranged father, Thomas Markle. At the time of her miscarriage, Meghan was dealing with the tabloid's appeal after the courts had previously declared her the winner of the initial case.
"I believe my wife suffered a miscarriage because of what the Mail did. I watched the whole thing," Harry says. "Now, do we absolutely know that the miscarriage was created, caused by that? 'Course we don't. But bearing in mind the stress that that caused, the lack of sleep, and the timing of the pregnancy, how many weeks in she was. I can say from what I saw that the miscarriage was created by what they were trying to do to her."
Royal Family's Concerns
Though the couple discusses racism and online hatred they experienced due to Meghan being mixed race, both claim that Harry's family was more concerned with "the actress thing."
Harry says that his family was impressed by Meghan's beauty and intelligence, adding, "But the fact that I was dating an American actress was probably what clouded their judgment more than anything else in the beginning."
Meghan, who starred on USA's Suits, agrees, saying, "The actress thing was the biggest problem, funny enough."
First Meeting Prince William and Kate Middleton
Meghan admits to being surprised by what the royal family was like behind the scenes. She discusses her first interaction with her future brother-in-law and sister-in-law.
"Even when Will and Kate came over and I had met her for the first time... They came for dinner," the mother of two recalls. "I remember I was in ripped jeans and I was barefoot. I was a hugger, always been a hugger. I didn't realize that that is really jarring for a lot of Brits."
Meghan adds that what she began to realize was that William and Kate and other members of the British royal family were formal both in public and behind the scenes.
"I guess I started to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside," she says. "That there is a forward-facing way of being. And then you close the door, 'Oh, great. OK, we can relax now.' But that formality carries over on both sides and that was surprising to me."
Meghan's Telling Interview
In one particularly interesting scene, Meghan and Harry are shown a Hello! video interview from October 2015, just months before their first date, where she's asked, "Prince William or Prince Harry?" In the clip, she laughs off the question saying, "I don't know!" before reluctantly choosing Harry at the interviewer's suggestion. Meghan apologizes to her husband, saying, "Honey, I'm sorry. I'd, of course, choose you."
Harry replies, "It just shows how little you knew."
The Couple's First Glimpses
The pair actually first encountered one another on Instagram with Harry seeing a Snapchat of Meghan using a dog filter and Meghan checking out Harry's private account.
"So that's the thing. When people say, 'Did you Google him?' No. But that's your homework. You're like, 'Hmmm, let me see what they're about in their feed. Not what someone says about them, but what they're putting out about themselves,'" Meghan recalls, noting that Harry's feed featured beautiful photography from his time in Africa. "That was to me the best barometer."
Harry Made a List of His Dream Girl's Qualities
Before he met Meghan, Harry was set on finding his dream girl. Meghan revealed that her husband had a "list" of traits he was looking for in a partner, which he confirmed before declining to share said list.
"Nice try," he quips, before motioning to Meghan saying she was his list.
Harry Thinks Meghan Is Very Similar to His Mother
After noting that like his late mother, Princess Diana, Harry too acts with his heart, the prince goes on to compare his wife to his mom.
"So much of what Meghan is and how she is so similar to my mom," he expresses. "She has the same compassion. She has the same empathy. She has the same confidence. She has this warmth about her."
Harry and Meghan Camped in a Tent Together After Two Dates
In 2016, the couple took a big leap of faith when Harry invited Meghan to join him for a week in Botswana, camping together in a tent under the stars. This secret trip took place after the pair had only been on two dates.
"This woman that I met twice, she's coming to Botswana and we're going to be living in a tent for five days. Wow," Harry reflects.
Meghan notes that they didn't know how to greet one another when she arrived, unsure if they should kiss or hug. She quips that her future husband handed her a chicken sandwich to break the tension.
The intense trip featured no cell reception, no bathrooms, and no mirrors, allowing the couple to get to know one another while roughing it.
Meghan Nailed Her First Meeting With the Queen
"I didn't know I was gonna meet her until moments before," Meghan says of the late monarch. "We were in the car, driving and he's like, 'You know how to curtsy, right?' And I just thought it was a joke."
Turns out it wasn't a joke and the former actress quickly had to pull out her curtsying skills.
Meghan compares the moment she met the queen to a scene out of Medieval Times, a popular dining experience in America. She even imitates the deep curtsy she made as an amused Harry looks on.
They Partied the Night Before Their Relationship Went Public
After months of secrecy, Harry was finally tipped off that an outlet was going to be publishing the news that Meghan was his new girlfriend in October 2016. The couple decided to enjoy one last night of freedom, going with Harry's cousin, Princess Eugenie, and her future husband, Jack Brooksbank, to a Halloween party where they dressed in costume and had a ball.
Proposal and Engagement Details
While we knew that the proposal took place at Harry's home at Kensington Palace while Meghan was making a roasted chicken dinner, there are photos and videos from the big moment shared for the first time.
"Of course I got down on one knee, of course I did!" Harry shares, as footage of Meghan squealing to her friend on the phone that "it's happening!" plays.
Harry popped the question with Meghan's dog by his side. Later, a friend says there was a private engagement party thrown where the couple's friends wore animal onesies and the couple wore matching penguin onesies "because penguins mate for life."
Meghan Loved Her First Christmas With the Royal Family
Reflecting on her first Christmas with the royals, Meghan says her visit to Sandringham for the holidays in 2017 was "amazing," sharing that it was like the big family she'd always wanted.
She reflects on sitting next to Prince Philip at a meal and having a nice conversation with him. She relayed this information to Harry, who joked that she was speaking into his grandfather's "bad ear" and that the late duke hadn't heard a word she'd said.
No Princess Training
Meghan references Anne Hathaway's princess lessons in The Princess Diaries, saying she didn't receive any kind of formal training upon joining the royal family. In fact, she claims she had to "Google" the national anthem so she wouldn't be caught not knowing the lyrics to the song while at public appearances. She adds that no one taught her how to do the official royal wave either.
Meghan's Neutral Tones
Meghan says that she intentionally wore neutral colors while making public appearances as a royal so that she wouldn't outshine other senior members of the family. She says she made an extra effort to "blend in" during her early appearances.
Harry Addresses His Nazi Costume Scandal
Harry acknowledges his past mistakes, talking about being photographed at the age of 20 wearing a Nazi uniform as a Halloween costume.
"It was one of the biggest mistakes of my life. I felt so ashamed afterwards," Harry says. "All I wanted to do was make it right."
Meghan's Message to Her Former Principal
When she was just 11, Meghan wrote a very telling yearbook note to her principal. In it, she promised to talk about the school later in life when she was "rich and famous." The principal showed her the note when she came back to visit after marrying Harry.
Meghan Recalls Painful Memories
While talking about being a mixed race child, Meghan recalls a particularly painful experience at the Hollywood Bowl with her mother, Doria Ragland, who is Black. She said that Doria honked her horn at a woman in the parking lot, prompting the woman to turn around and call her the N-word. She says Doria remained silent the whole way home and they never talked about it again. Despite being mixed race, Meghan says she was never treated as a Black woman until her relationship with Harry.
Archie Loves Elton John
In one clip filmed in 2021, Meghan asks Harry to DJ, and her husband turns on Elton John's hit, "Bennie and the Jets." Elton is, of course, a close friend of Diana's and Harry's, and Meghan reveals that their son, Archie, loves the song, imitating him belting out, "Bennie! Bennie!"
Meghan Is Close With Samantha Markle's Biological Daughter
Despite her lifelong estrangement from her half-sister, Samantha Markle, who has talked about her repeatedly in the press, Meghan opens up for the first time about her relationship with Samantha's biological daughter, Ashleigh.
Ashleigh, who was interviewed for the docuseries, was raised by her maternal grandparents who adopted her and says that Meghan has many roles in her life, comparing her to a sister and even a mother figure.
Meghan describes Ashleigh as "like a little sister," sharing photos of them vacationing together and meeting up before Meghan's life as a royal. After Harry and Meghan got together, Ashleigh says Samantha communicated "resentment" toward Meghan that caused them to eventually stop talking.
"Some people you just can't reason with," Ashleigh says of her mother.
Later, Meghan describes the painful experiencing of having to tell Ashleigh she couldn't invite her to their wedding because she wasn't inviting Samantha and that would look weird in the press. Ashleigh says she was "hurt" by the decision but understood where it was coming from.
The Thomas Markle of It All
Describing herself as a "daddy's girl," Meghan gets into her painful past with her now-estranged father. She details the days leading up to her 2018 wedding to Harry, noting that she offered to get her father out of Mexico before the story broke that he had taken payouts from photographers showing him preparing to travel to England. He refused her offer and Meghan says she hung up the phone knowing that he was lying to her. In the days that followed, Meghan claims Thomas wouldn't pick up her calls but that he instead contacted TMZ.
She says she tried to call him more than 20 times and then, eventually, the texts she received no longer sounded like her father and she feared his phone had been compromised.
Harry admits that he shoulders the blame of Meghan losing her dad because if she wasn't with him, she'd still have a father in her life.
Volumes I and II of Harry & Meghan are now streaming on Netflix.
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