Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

The royal family

Discussing the things we liked about Harry and Meghan's Netflix documentary series

1000 replies

MrsMaxDeWinter · 08/12/2022 14:22

There are so many threads on things posters hated about Harry and Meghan, the Netflix series, and fair play to those posters, so I thought I would have a go at stating a thread discussing some of the things that posters liked about the series.

I'll start.

I liked that this was supposed to be this bomb detonation, but has actually been a measured, warm, and loving look at H and M's relationship, and the pressures that the press put on them, and also on other royals. I genuinely did not notice anything incendiary. Maybe that is still to come.

I enjoyed the thoughtful insights shared on the invisible contract, especially, as Harry says, having to perform for a press that you know has said hurtful things about people you love.

I loved the warm memories of Sandringham, and meeting the Queen. And Meghan's memories of growing up. I think it was a wise, though sad, that they did not include Thomas. I really loved hearing Doria: my favourite bit is when a journalist offered her money, for an interview about Meghan and she said, "That's my child!"

I also learned for the first time about Meghan's relationship with her sister Samantha's daughter Ashleigh. I had no idea that she had been raised by her grandparents who adopted her, or that she had such a warm and caring relationship with Meghan. Along with Doria's, that was my favourite interview.

I enjoyed hearing from her childhood friends, as it is often said here that she had no friends who came to the wedding etc, just celebrities. They seem a tight nit grip who have been here fr years, and I am glad she has them.

I was gobsmacked that she needed security in Toronto after the relationship was announced.

I also thought the discussion on racism, in its wider context of colonialism and imperialism, was very well done, but then again it was led by David Olusoga and Afua Hirsch, who are always great, and I love their writing.

Most of all I love that Harry confronted head on the Nazi uniform debacle, and what he learned from it. And I loved, loved, loved, the segment on his life in Lesotho where they gave him the Sesotho name, "Mahale". A wonderful name.

“It was one of the biggest mistakes of my life,” Harry said. “I felt so ashamed afterwards. All I wanted to do was make it right. I sat down and spoke to the chief rabbi in London, which had a profound effect on me. I went to Berlin and spoke to a Holocaust survivor. I could have just ignored it and made the same mistakes over again in my life. But I learned from that.”

I predicted on another thread that Harry would address this and other episodes head on in his book. I was scoffed roundly for this. I expect him to say more in is book, and I am happy to be proved right.

If only for this, I am very glad they did this.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
12
geraniumsandsunshine · 11/12/2022 15:47

What is the American publicity about them like? Are they popular in california?

Rhondaa · 11/12/2022 15:57

geraniumsandsunshine · 11/12/2022 15:38

Lovely family, battling their own mental health, caused by being both famous and royalty. Also, stunning house, beautiful family and way more exciting than the rest of the RF. Harry has definitely grown up

What about the mental health health of his brother and wife who apparently were too 'formal' and didn't hug (despite lots of footage of them hugging other people). Don't you think this may hurt them and affect their wellbeing? Also seeing poor tragic Diana monetised like this may also hurt William and the Spencer family.

God knows what will be dredged up over 'ToddlerTightsGate' and who 'made' whom cry.

I don't think the stunning house was theirs, more like a set. Appropriately so.

geraniumsandsunshine · 11/12/2022 16:09

@Janiie I think that William and Catherine probably also have a lot of battles. Being under press/paparazzi scrutiny isn't nice even if you receive favoured articles. But I can like and respect them as a couple as well as liking Harry and Meghan. It's lovely to see that H and M are so loving with each other and their children. I understand why they did this. It must be so hard to be silenced and for H to love M and want others to see what he sees in her. If she had remained an actress from Suits then there is no way she would have received this hatred.

FishBowlSwimmer · 11/12/2022 16:41

Frequency · 08/12/2022 19:16

I enjoyed watching the personal clips from their early relationship. They appeared to be genuinely happy and in love.

The thing I took away from it the most was how horrendously the British media treated her. I don't think she was prepared for it or understood just how invasive it would be. I don't think anyone outside of the Royal family and their inner circle could ever truly grasp the enormity of it until they lived it.

Re: them making money from it and needing press attention to stay relevant and keep earning - do you really think the press' actions - breaking into her place of work, stalking her childhood friends etc was in any way OK?

No, that's definitely not okay at all. This happened in Canada, where suits is filmed. Yet when they fled the UK stating press intrusion, they moved to Canada.

There's absolutely no logic to what they're saying.

Bewitched005 · 11/12/2022 17:08

I'm watching the first episode and what comes across is just how lovely they both are and how much they were in love.

You can't separate Harry from his background and experiences, they have shaped him. I hadn't realized the awful extent of the publicity he faced. He is clearly traumatized by his experiences. Can you imagine photographers chasing after you, it must be terrible, and given what happened to Diana, I think he's doing well to try to make a new life for his family.

I know people will say he did the documentary for money, but like the rest of us, he has to get money from somewhere and he can't just go to the job centre or become an Amazon delivery driver.

I wish them both as much happiness as possible.

Blip · 11/12/2022 17:47

I loved how they used a much grander house for this reality show and pretended it was their own house.

LydiaBennetsUglyBonnet · 11/12/2022 17:52

When did they pretend the house was theirs?!

Roussette · 11/12/2022 17:57

This is an interesting article from the historian David Olusoga who took part in the Nettflix series.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/commentisfree/2022/dec/10/meghan-and-harrys-documentary-has-hit-the-raw-nerve-of-tabloid-prejudice?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

As he says...
"As I appear as one of its talking-head interviewees, I have found the past few days revelatory in a different way. Being caught in the series’ blowback is to be shown – in bleak and granular detail – how a six-year campaign of tabloid abuse has left huge numbers of otherwise reasonable people both obsessed with and contemptuous towards a young couple they have never met.
My Twitter feed is rarely pretty, but recent days have been particularly unappealing; a primordial soup of defensiveness, racism, misogyny, jingoism and whataboutery, garnished yesterday with an antisemitic conspiracy theory, as the documentary’s producer comes from a Jewish family."

Roussette · 11/12/2022 17:59

Blip · 11/12/2022 17:47

I loved how they used a much grander house for this reality show and pretended it was their own house.

It's what celebrities and famous people do all the time. Just open Hello magazine and you will see that... from exotic resorts, bijou hotels, grand houses etc. It's nothing new. They didn't say 'this is our house' so they didn't 'pretend' anything.

WillMellorsHips · 11/12/2022 18:02

Rhondaa · 11/12/2022 15:57

What about the mental health health of his brother and wife who apparently were too 'formal' and didn't hug (despite lots of footage of them hugging other people). Don't you think this may hurt them and affect their wellbeing? Also seeing poor tragic Diana monetised like this may also hurt William and the Spencer family.

God knows what will be dredged up over 'ToddlerTightsGate' and who 'made' whom cry.

I don't think the stunning house was theirs, more like a set. Appropriately so.

It wasn't their house. It was borrowed for the occasion.

Xenia · 11/12/2022 18:06

"What do you mean by Prince Charles's wife didn't have the upbringing? Princess Diana was a Spencer and the Spencer family is one of the oldest aristocratic families in England and actually she had more royal blood than prince Charles."

I meant what I wrote. Unlike the Queen who married a Greek Prince (of a royal house) (and Queen Victoria married her first cousin) Prince Charles in quite a revolutionary way at the time did not marry a Princess. Instead he married Lady Diana. It was definitely a thing at the time - I remember it as I got married not long after.

SeaShellSnow · 11/12/2022 18:07

I'm watching the first episode and what comes across is just how lovely they both are and how much they were in love.

Wasn't that the brief though?

BellePeppa · 11/12/2022 18:11

Aspiringmatriarch · 11/12/2022 10:58

Fair enough, but that's you individually. I was talking about the general response. Here's an example of the coverage (picture attached, hopefully!)

Then let the blame be on the press and not the people! Sick of them trying to tar the people with the same brush as the press.

Rhondaa · 11/12/2022 18:14

'how a six-year campaign of tabloid abuse has left huge numbers of otherwise reasonable people both obsessed with and contemptuous towards a young couple they have never met.'

Hmm. Or, how a six year campaign of poor me stories, persecution complexes and victim playing had left an otherwise reasonable man both obsessed and contemptuous towards his own loving and supportive family who he had previously sang their praises for...until 2016

<young couple? they're 40 odd not like 2 naive 20yr olds Grin.

Bewitched005 · 11/12/2022 18:24

SeaShellSnow · 11/12/2022 18:07

I'm watching the first episode and what comes across is just how lovely they both are and how much they were in love.

Wasn't that the brief though?

I'm sure it was, but that doesn't make it any less valid.

Roussette · 11/12/2022 18:25

Have you read the whole article Janiie? It's interesting.

Bewitched005 · 11/12/2022 18:26

Rhondaa · 11/12/2022 18:14

'how a six-year campaign of tabloid abuse has left huge numbers of otherwise reasonable people both obsessed with and contemptuous towards a young couple they have never met.'

Hmm. Or, how a six year campaign of poor me stories, persecution complexes and victim playing had left an otherwise reasonable man both obsessed and contemptuous towards his own loving and supportive family who he had previously sang their praises for...until 2016

<young couple? they're 40 odd not like 2 naive 20yr olds Grin.

Until you've walked in another person's shows, you can have no real idea of their thought processes.
In being hounded by the press and vilified online, I would say they are both victims.

Bewitched005 · 11/12/2022 18:27

Shoes, not shows

minou123 · 11/12/2022 18:28

BellePeppa · 11/12/2022 18:11

Then let the blame be on the press and not the people! Sick of them trying to tar the people with the same brush as the press.

Who do you think is buying and clicking on the press stories? Ghosts? A set of badgers?

People! That's who.
The press don't write these bullshit stories just for shits and giggles.
They write them for money.
They write them because people buy it/read it.

People who read the rubbish in tabloid and trashy magazines are very much to blame.

Rhondaa · 11/12/2022 18:32

'Until you've walked in another person's shows, you can have no real idea of their thought processes.'

Oh but they keep telling us.

To be clear I have no doubt they have endured challenges and unfair media scrutiny (as they all have, Philip the Nazi etc) my point has always been they are just as bad by subjecting his own family to unfair scrutiny. Plus it strangely all coincided with no to Sussex Royal USA.

WillMellorsHips · 11/12/2022 18:35

minou123 · 11/12/2022 18:28

Who do you think is buying and clicking on the press stories? Ghosts? A set of badgers?

People! That's who.
The press don't write these bullshit stories just for shits and giggles.
They write them for money.
They write them because people buy it/read it.

People who read the rubbish in tabloid and trashy magazines are very much to blame.

whereas watching a real life manipulated documentary is different?

onlylarkin · 11/12/2022 18:36

minou123 · 11/12/2022 18:28

Who do you think is buying and clicking on the press stories? Ghosts? A set of badgers?

People! That's who.
The press don't write these bullshit stories just for shits and giggles.
They write them for money.
They write them because people buy it/read it.

People who read the rubbish in tabloid and trashy magazines are very much to blame.

100%

Where there is smoke, there is fire.

Roussette · 11/12/2022 18:38

WillMellorsHips · 11/12/2022 18:35

whereas watching a real life manipulated documentary is different?

Very very different. It was in their own words.

Not 26 articles in one day in the DMail with increasingly vitriolic prose.

minou123 · 11/12/2022 18:43

WillMellorsHips · 11/12/2022 18:35

whereas watching a real life manipulated documentary is different?

What's that got to do with the point I was making?

The PP was wanting all the blame to be put on the press, not the "people".

If you read tabloids/trashy mags, you cannot absolve yourself from responsibility.

This type of "press" are racist, sexist, misogynistic, homophobic, ageist, abelist, bullies.
If you buy it, read it, click on it, you are very much part of the problem.

I have no idea what your question has to do with that.

BadSantaToo · 11/12/2022 21:30

I understand that the documentary is their story but though someone else's lens .

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

This thread is not accepting new messages.