During Harry and from Megan explosive Netflix documentary, the second episode focused mainly on the late Queen relationship with the couple and the rest of the Firm — but their claims have been strongly refuted. Many of the points raised by the couple were directly contradicted by statements from royal aides and commentators in the weeks following the documentary’s release.
One such allegation was that the Queen had been “sidelined” in key decision-making for the Royal Family. More specifically, Prince Harry argued that she had not been involved in the decision not to let him and Meghan enjoy a “half-in, half-out” situation in relation to their royal duties.
Harry painted a dark picture of their family differences, saying that William had “screamed and yelled” at him. All the while, the Prince said, the Queen had simply “sat still and taken it all in.”
The Duke of Sussex further suggested aides had prevented him from seeing his grandmother in 2020.
He said the Queen told him over the phone that she was free all week to meet.
However, Meghan said that at the last minute before their trip, they received a message that they would not be able to see her at all. When Harry then called the Queen personally to see what had happened, she told him aides had told her she was “busy all week”.
However, royal aides strongly refuted the idea that the queen was no longer a major decision-maker in the royal family. Sources told the Sunday Times that even in her later years, the Queen remained “sharp as a nail” and remained the monarchy’s chief decision-maker until her death.
They also suggested that Harry’s claim that the Queen was not behind the decision to refuse his and Meghan’s wishes was to protect herself from having to admit she disagreed with him.
A source told the outlet: “It is outrageous. Harry never wanted to admit to himself that it was the Queen who said ‘you’re out’.
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Another described the claims made in the documentary as “manipulation”, adding: “He couldn’t fathom that he wasn’t the sassy dude who would talk grandma sweet to get what he wanted.”
While the aides admitted that recommendations had been made to the Queen, they insisted she had the last word. Commentator Richard Fitzwilliams argued that the Sussexes’ claims were “insulting” as they portray the Queen as a “puppet in the hands of others there, and of course her advisers.”
Episode two of the documentary, which expands on the couple’s fraught relationship with the firm, also claimed that other members of the royal family were jealous of them. Key to this were claims that they stole the spotlight from other royals – with the pair even claiming at one point that they did the job better than anyone else.
Harry pointed to a specific case where every senior member of the royal family had attended an event – but the next day it was Meghan who made the front page of the Telegraph.
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In the documentary, Meghan said she remembered being annoyed about this.
But sources said other members of the royal family were quite used to the new members being in the spotlight at first.
One of them told the Sunday Telegraph: “Everyone expected Meghan or Kate to be the headliner in the papers. They’ve seen it happen for generations.”
Another added: “It’s part of the cycle of the monarchy.”
Fitzwilliams said of the matter: “They were younger and newer Royals. That means they will always appeal to the press more – it makes perfect sense, and what they said is total nonsense in my opinion.