Prince Harry revealed that members of the royal family didn’t think the relationship between him and his then-girlfriend Meghan Markle would last because she was an actor, with Meghan adding that her job was “the biggest problem” for Harry’s relatives.
In Harry & Meghan, a Netflix documentary about their relationship, the couple spoke out. (The first three episodes were released on Thursday. )
“I remember my family first meeting her and being incredibly impressed. Some of them didn’t quite know what to do with themselves,” Harry said in the show’s second episode. “So I think they were — they were surprised. Maybe surprised that the ginger could land such a beautiful woman. And such an intelligent woman.
“But the fact that I was dating an American actress likely clouded their judgment more than any other thing at all.” He said that everyone either thought or was saying, “Oh, he is dating an American actress, this will not last. ”
“The actress thing was the biggest problem, funny enough,” Meghan said. “There is a big idea of what that looks like from the UK standpoint. Hollywood and — it was just very easy for them to typecast that.”
Meghan also described her first meeting with her future brother and sister-in-law, William and Kate (now Prince and Princess of Wales, then the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge,) and hinted that she was surprised by how formal they were.
“When Will and Kate visited, I was wearing ripped jeans and barefoot and they invited me to dinner. Meghan said that she is a hugger, and has always been one. I didn’t know this was jarring for a lot of Britain people.
“I realized quickly that the formality of the outside was reflecting on the inside.” Then you close your door and you sigh and say, “Oh great! We can relax now.” Surprisingly, that formality continued on both sides.
According to Meghan, their relationship was more friendly after they got engaged. She spoke glowingly of her first Christmas with the royal family in December 2016.
“I still vividly recall the first Christmas at Sandringham. My mom called and asked me how it was going. My mom called me and asked, “How is it going?” I responded, “Oh, my God, it’s amazing!” It was full of joy and energy.
She shared an amusing Christmas story about Harry’s grandfather Prince Philip de Edinburgh.
“At dinner, I was — I sat next to [Harry’s] grandfather. And I thought it was so wonderful. [To Harry] I was like, ‘Oh, we chatted and it was so great and I talked about this and talked about this,’ and he was like, ‘You had his bad ear, he couldn’t hear anything you were saying.’ Oh. Well, I thought it went really well,” she said.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex released a statement about the docuseries’ release on Thursday morning, shortly after the first three episodes began streaming. “We are grateful to have the ability to share our love story through such an esteemed creative team and with the global reach of Netflix,” they said. “We hope it helps others to heal and to feel inspired.”
