The first part of the documentary was de-zinced by the British press. The second part will be broadcast on Netflix on Thursday, after an interview given to Oprah Winfrey in March 2021 and before an autobiography of Prince Harry (The Substitute, ed. Robert Laffon), to come on January 10, 2023. Since they left the British royal family, the youngest son of King Charles III and his wife Meghan Markle continue to occupy the media space. The slightest of their appearance, the slightest of their statement is scrutinized, analyzed, commented on, and not necessarily for good.
But why is this couple, who aspires to a "normal life", denounces the racism of the royal family and the relentlessness of the tabloids, not unanimous? “What we are currently experiencing was totally unimaginable a few years ago”, immediately announces Bertrand Deckers, royal columnist, author of I Love Elizabeth II (ed. Robert Laffont). A royal prince, traumatized by the violent death of his mother, who marries a mixed-race American actress and who, "out of love, renounces everything that made up his identity" by leaving the royal family with a bang and falling out with his father and his brother, "it's worthy of the greatest television series like "Dynasty" or "Dallas"", continues the journalist.
Because if the abdication of Edward VIII, the divorce of Charles and Diana or the death of Lady Di had been experienced by the British as "traumas", the life choices and revelations of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle hold up well "scandal" in the eyes of the public, explains Philippe Chassaigne, professor of contemporary history, specialist in the United Kingdom, at Bordeaux-Montaigne University.
"American Billionaires"
Entrenched in their property in Montecito, California, far from the British tabloids, Harry and Meghan skillfully orchestrate their communication. “Their documentary is very polished, very Hollywood”, notes Bertrand Deckers, for whom the couple now looks like “American billionaires”. And during their interview with Oprah Winfrey, “Meghan had certainly studied closely the interview given by Princess Diana in 1995 to the BBC, so much her postures were worked”, adds Philippe Chassaigne.
But it is not so much the speech that irritates, as the way it is carried. Yes, there is a "hidden racism at the court of Charles III", says Philippe Chassaigne. Yes, "Harry is right to attack the tabloids when you know how traumatic the death of his mother was for him", continues the historian.
“Narcissim”
“Their speech of freedom and tolerance is very noble, but it is the medium that irritates, notes Joseph Agostini, clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst, author in particular of Dalida on the divan (ed. Envolume) and I spend as I am (ed. . The Duke). The gap has never been so wide between a conservative and somewhat anachronistic monarchy and the permanent narcissistic procrastination made in Netflix. Harry and Meghan fell into the all emotional, there is no fair measure anymore. And in addition they criticize a system while doing everything to stay in it, that of the privileged. "The British are tired of hearing them complain all the time when they are faced with the economic crisis," adds Philippe Chassaigne.
Can Meghan and Harry do anything other than criticize the Royal Family? For Bertrand Deckers, no, it is now their only way of existing: “It is because they reveal horrors about the royal family that we listen to them. Other than that, they don't interest anyone. The social columnist recalls that the couple received 99 million dollars for the documentary on Netflix and that Prince Harry signed for three books with the prestigious New York publishing house Penguin Random House. “It's a wave that nothing can stop. Their detractors have not finished spilling ink.
