Image Source: Getty / BEN BIRCHALL / AFP
The highly anticipated final episodes of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix docuseries, “Harry & Meghan,” hit the streamer on Dec. 15. Much of the episodes focus on some of the couple’s most trying times over the course of their relationship, laying out their claims the Palace briefed against them to bolster other members of the royal family’s reputations, how they were cut off from the family after stepping down as senior royals, and how their legal battle with The Mail led to Meghan Markle’s pregnancy loss. Still, there were also moments of joy documented, like their newfound friendships with Tyler Perry (who’s Lilibet’s godfather) and Beyoncé, and their happy life in California.
At the end of episode six, Harry reflects on post-royal life, expressing that although he misses elements of life in the UK, he “genuinely feels that [we] are exactly where we’re supposed to be. We’ve made it to the other side.” Markle adds, “It’s amazing how things come full circle that you never think about,” before reading a portion of her wedding speech from May 19, 2018. In it, she recounts her and Harry’s love story like it’s a fairy tale as photos from their courtship and marriage play across the screen.
The ending of the fairy tale is a prediction for the future in which, when “the tides were rough,” they would “squeeze each other tighter” knowing nothing could break them. The final words of her beautiful speech serve as the docuseries’s uplifting conclusion. As footage of Harry flying a kite and Markle walking through the backyard with Archie on her back plays, she concludes, “So I ask you to raise a glass to the astounding assurance that now life begins and the everlasting knowing that, above all, love wins.”
Read Markle’s full speech ahead.
On to the crux of why I wanted to speak tonight . . . I wanted to share a story – a story that I wrote about the man that I love and the way that we met. Let’s call this, a modern fairytale.
Once upon a time, there was a girl from L.A. Some people called her an actress. And there was a guy from London. Some people called him a prince. All of those people didn’t fully get it, because this is the love story of a boy and a girl who are meant to be together.
They meet on July 3, 2016, in London, and they giggle endlessly. So, the next day, they have their second date, and he brings her cupcakes because it’s fourth of July. ‘A bittersweet celebration,’ he says. ‘Ironic, really. Her country’s independence from his country.’ Yet, in this moment, they know they don’t want to be independent of each other. And after a month of long-distance courtship, they settle into the quiet of Botswana. And amidst whatever momentary worries that creep in, they look at each other and think, ‘Whatever world. We’re in.’
They would love, and garden, and travel, and laugh, and rack up more air miles than any couple could have. And when the tides were rough they squeezed each other tighter. ‘Nothing can break us,’ they’d say. For this love, she was a fighter.
I appreciate, respect, and honor you, my treasure – for the family, we will create and our love story that will last forever. So I ask you to raise a glass to the astounding assurance that now life begins and the everlasting knowing that, above all, love wins.