Meghan, Tom Bradbury's documentary

[Sarcelle]

Tom B accompanied H & M on their Africa trip. He has made a documentary which will be aired soon. They have just shown an excerpt on the ITV lunchtime news.

To say Meghan is looking very vulnerable is an understatement. He asked her if she was ok, she was guarded but it is clear she has been going through a bad time behind the scenes. She was teary. Harry has also broken down a few times. I think he is worried about his wife. I know she is an actress, but this did not look false at all.

Whilst they have brought a lot of this on themselves with their hypocritical preaching on climate change, I think they are fundamentally decent people who think they can do good on a royal stage. But we live in angry times and their preaching is never going to go down well.

I have been very critical of them lately (about their hypocrisy) but now I feel very sorry for them both. I think they should throw in the towel and lead private lives. They are rich enough and could quite easily disappear abroad if they wanted to. Nothing is worth the damage to their mental health that being in the RF is doing them.

Anyone else see it?

[Honeybee85]

Ofcourse I don’t know Meghan personally, but from what I saw in the media, she seems to enjoy the attention/ fame, but only when it suits her!
If it doesn’t, she and Harry demand more privacy.

I think they would do themselves a huge favor by staying out of the spotlight for a few months and practise what they preach.

[EdithWeston]

When is the full documentary being screened?

Always difficult to draw conclusions from an excerpt

[Sarcelle]

Sunday 9pm ITV.

If you look on Twitter (ITV account) you will see the excerpt.

[Sarcelle]

If I were them I would retreat, move abroad, withdraw from RF.

They have money, powerful friends. They could lead a much better life outside the RF.

[Cohle]

I do feel sorry for her, but I really don't think they help themselves.

The extract comes across as totally failing to recognise her enormous privilege.

[Roselilly36]

No one knows what goes on behind closed doors, it’s completely understandable that PH wants to protect his family, his wife is clearly finding royal life a challenge, her life has changed massively - living in a different country, becoming a mum, the constant media scrutiny. I don’t envy her life that’s for sure.

[Sarcelle]

In a short time she has given up her independent life in another country, become estranged from her father who is not to be trusted to sell her out to the media, married into a very ordered and traditional scrutinised family, married with pomp and ceremony, had a baby. Both of them started high in the public's opinion - Harry was a cheeky loveable golden boy who had found somebody special and then it all went spectacularly wrong. A lot to take on board.

The hypocritical preaching, the trying to establish a second court made up of sycophantic celebrity friends, the profligacy, all bad mistakes. When the British public turns, it turns. Piers Morgan and his bitterness at being ghosted has whipped up the negativity around them, all the tabloids have piled on too.

They have got things badly wrong, but they are clearly struggling with their role, the censure, the unrelenting negative stories. They have gone from hero to zero very quickly. If I were them I would retreat from public life, it is just not worth it. Although their recent African tour shows that they are great in that role when they stop all the gimmicky stuff like writing on bananas.

[EdithWeston]

I don't think they're struggling with their role. They are off visiting (and thus publicising) good causes, which is all pretty normal.

I don't think they should step aside, or at least not yet. The Cambridges still travel en famille as their DC are so young, so one awful incident couid put them directly in the succession. So I think they should stay as working Royals for the time being.

[baggies]

Just watched this documentary. I lost my mum around 3 weeks after princess Diana died. She had been seriously ill, and we knew she would die. I was 37. However I feel such affinity to William and Harry. It is devastating. They were children, hadn't seen their mum for a bit and it was totally unexpected. It's no wonder it has had a profound effect on them both. 22 years feels like yesterday in so many ways. I can look back on happy memories. So many of theirs are tainted by the press.
Harry seems fragile and mental illness is all consuming, especially when you have to put on your game face every single day. Meghan seems so loving and almost motherly towards him it is so touching. He is obviously so anxious about history repeating itself he is trying to protect his wife and child and the recent developments concerning suing the tabloids is evidence of this.
I watched the documentary quite sceptical at the outset. By the end I felt sorry for them. Yes they've got food on the table, somewhere to sleep, no money worries, but they too have no peace of mind, which especially in the light of mental health is priceless.

[Topseyt]

I do feel sorry for her. I believe her when she says she didn't fully realise just what she was getting herself into. Harry must be very concerned about history repeating itself and the press hounding his wife (and to an extent him too) and child the way they hounded his mother.

I think much of the press coverage is unfair to Meghan and the hurt in her eyes and voice during the documentary was certainly very real. If they want to stay together (hopefully they do) then I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them try to withdraw totally from royal life and decamp to some other country. They say they would like Africa, if they can make the logistics of it work. Harry has a few projects there in places like Lesotho, and friends. It would have to be carefully planned.

[Sarcelle]

I never watched it in the end. They do have the option to walk away. That is what I would do. Most people do not have the option to do that. We all face pressures. A lot of theirs comes from Harry. He is fighting against his role, trying to shape it to the way they think it should be, and he is getting kickback from the media and public opinion. Meghan looks hurt but she's a strong woman, he seems fragile.

Harry is now 6th in line to the throne. They want to run an alternative court, but they seemingly do not listen to advice. They have made some daft choices, and I think this documentary is another one. The timing of it, colliding with his brother's tour, the outpouring of woes when they are visiting places where misery and danger are an everyday event. Their royal tour was a triumph until the last days of it were overshadowed by their lawsuits.

I lost my parents when I was young, and it does have a profound effect, so I have sympathy for him. He needs to get help, remove himself from spotlight. They will never win their battle with the media. I like Meghan. think she seems to be taking on the role of a mother for him, not sure that is what she envisaged. They could be a power couple, they now seem ravaged by doubt.

[Sarcelle]

Meant to mention, because he is now 6th in line to the throne, he is low down the pecking order. He seems to be fighting against that but it could also be freeing if they decide to lead private lives away from RF.

[geojojo]

I know people say she chose to marry into the RF but when you fall in love it is very difficult to walk away, most people put love first and deal with whatever follows afterwards. She also has no family apart from her mother who lives far away and doesn't know anything about the ways of the RF. Kate on the other hand has a close and supportive family who probably advised her in the early days.

Harry seems to be obsessed with protecting Meghan from the media and totally traumatised by his mother's death and her treatment by the press. I am the same age as Harry and I do remember prior to her death that Diana was on the cover of the tabloids daily and it was all very negative and intrusive. William was also very protective of Kate but she had so much longer to get used to it and most of the negativity for her seemed to happen before they married.

I think they need to do what's right for them even if that means moving to America and Meghan resuming her acting career. They do better when they are not living under the expectations of others.

[AllPowerfulLizardPerson]

There was one comment made which I thought intersteing. Which was (and I paraphrase) 'doesn't anyone think about me and the impact this has'

And the answer is 'no'. Because when out and about on official/public duties, you are acting your professional role. That is why having an actress as a wife should be such an excellent choice, as she should automatically get this, and be more able to separate private life from everything they choose to do in front of cameras

If there are, as much speculated about, any MH issues, which mean one or both should nt be working, then stepping quietly into their private life for a while might be the best thing they could do.

[Sarcelle]

I think if I was in their shoes I would go off and live a private life. They have the means and contacts to do that. They are not going to get what they want, which is an uncritical media. And if they keep on talking about their issues, eventually people will lose sympathy and patience.

They have choice, lots of people don't. They are a lovely couple, but I don't think being royal is for them. It's too restrictive especially for an independent woman like Meghan. I have been in situations where I have gone into something and thought I can change this,, no it can't be as bad as they say it is, and I am a strong woman. But an unrelenting assault is draining and you lose heart, and the will to go on. I am in no way comparing my circumstances to theirs, just the principle.

There is no shame in walking away.

[Myimaginarycathasfleas]

I'm afraid I wasn't convinced by Meghan's words in the documentary.

I don't believe she didn't know what the British press were like, unless of course Harry had never mentioned to her his theory that they were responsible for his mother's death, which I doubt.

I do believe that she feels unfairly treated, and misrepresented. However she isn't alone in this. The British press always behave abominably towards all incoming royal brides, and yet people continue to buy the papers.

I completely understand her desire for fairness, but what's fair can also be subjective. Many would say that criticism of excessive spending on her clothes was fair, and yet she seemed not to take any notice of it.

My impression of her from this and other interviews is that she is a woman with enormous self love and self confidence, who struggles with the idea that others don't see her the same way.

[Sarcelle]

They live a life of privilege. And they are both intelligent, well she is, him less so. And yet they have preached about climate change, whilst private jetting. Meghan's vast spending on clothes does not sit well with the mood of the country and only now is she rewearing some of her clothes. The courting of celebrities is a bit much too. The moody mono shots on Instagram...They want to be world figures, movers and shakers, but because they are in the RF they are constrained. They need to be either In or Out. In means taking better advice and adhering to the way the RF operates.

Let's face it, all of the RF live such rarified lives and have money and privileges but most of them don't shove it in our faces. Their assault on the world stage as two independent humanitarians does not sit well with the way they actually live their lives. Meghan liked the platform this gave her, but they are coming across as Amal and George Clooney and that is not what the RF needs from them.

I thought this documentary might swing things round for them but for as many people who say she has been wronged, the others say they are self indulgent whingers.