It’s all out there! Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have opened up about their royal experience in the Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan, and they are “pleased” with the outcome.
“Meghan and Harry don’t have any major regrets about doing the docuseries, and we’ll be seeing Harry elaborate about his relationship with his family in Spare,” a source exclusively reveals in the latest issue of Us Weekly, referring to the 38-year-old Duke of Sussex’s forthcoming memoir. “While the couple were prepared for the backlash, they’re pleased to have gotten their story out there.”
Harry and the Duchess of Sussex, 41, detailed their early courtship, 2018 royal wedding, life with their two children and the breakdown of their relationships with the royal family in Harry & Meghan, which dropped on the streaming giant earlier this month.
“We’ve never been allowed to tell our story,” the BetterUp CIO — who shares Archie, 3, and Lilibet, 18 months, with the Suits alum — quipped in the second episode. “That’s the consistency.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Tim Rooke/Shutterstock
Nearly one year after welcoming their son, Harry and Meghan announced in 2020 that they were stepping down from their duties as senior working royals as they relocated to California.
“I miss the weird family gatherings when we’re all sort of brought together under one roof for, you know, certain times of the year — that I miss. Being part of the institution meant that I was in the U.K. So, I miss the U.K. [and] I miss my friends,” Harry revealed during the sixth episode. “I’ve lost a few friends in this process as well. I mean, I came [to California] because I was changed. I changed to the point that I’d outgrown my environment.”
He added at the time: “Therefore, this was the most obvious place to come. You know, it’s one of the places where I think my mom, [Princess Diana], was probably gonna end up living potentially.”
As Harry and Meghan remained focused on their new lives stateside, the duke remained at odds with father King Charles III and brother Prince William, who favored the regal traditions.
“It was hard [seeing them at Prince Philip’s funeral]. Especially spending time, having chats with my brother and my father. [They] were very much focused on the same misinterpretation of the whole situation,” Harry continued in the docuseries, referring to his family reunion in April 2021. “None of us really wanted to have to talk about it at my grandfather’s funeral, but we did. … I’ve had to make peace with the fact that we’re probably never gonna get genuine accountability or a genuine apology. My wife and I, we’re moving on. We’re focused on what’s coming next.”
While neither the Prince of Wales, 40, nor the king, 74, have publicly addressed Harry and Meghan’s documentary claims, a second source told Us that its release was a “thorn in the flesh for William.”
“He’s disappointed with Harry for portraying him and the family in a cynical light,” the insider told Us earlier this month about the Duke of Cornwall. “William was hoping they could move on after the CBS interview, but Harry airing his dirty laundry has only heightened the conflict between the two brothers and resulted in them taking a step-backwards.”
Harry is further expected to discuss his royal history in his Spare memoir, which is set for a January 2023 release.
“Spare takes readers immediately back to one of the most searing images of the twentieth century: two young boys, two princes, walking behind their mother’s coffin as the world watched in sorrow — and horror,” Penguin Random House wrote in an October press release, referring to William and Harry attending their mother’s 1997 funeral. “As Diana, Princess of Wales, was laid to rest, billions wondered what the princes must be thinking and feeling—and how their lives would play out from that point on.”
For more on Harry and Meghan’s docuseries and the military veteran’s upcoming memoir, watch the video above and pick up the new issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now.