Harry and Meghan Netflix documentary LIVE: Latest Royal family news

The controversial ‘Megflix’ documentary threw new light on the complicated relationship between Meghan, her half-sister Samantha Markle and niece Ashleigh Hale, Samantha’s daughter.

Meghan and Samantha have been estranged for years, and likewise Ashleigh, 37, told the programme that she doesn’t speak to her mother Samantha, having been brought up by her paternal grandparents since the age of six.

But thanks to her father Thomas Markle, Meghan was able to reconnect with her niece around 2007.

The two women soon hit it off and holidayed together, forming a strong relationship, like ‘sisters’. 

Harry and Meghan's $100million docuseries has topped Netflix's 10 most watched shows 30 hours after its release.

Netflix has not yet released the figures for how many viewers tuned in to the first three episodes. It remains unclear how it compares to blockbusters like Stranger Thing, Wednesday and Squid Game. 

Most watched in the US this morning was Wednesday, the new series about The Addams Family, followed by Firefly Lane and Too Hot To Handle - a reality show which challenges promiscuous young contestants to abstain from sex for a cash prize. 

By 10am, Harry and Meghan's show had claimed the top spot.  

Writers for The Hollywood Reporter agreed that despite viewers experiencing 'an intimate retelling' of Harry and Meghan's 'great love story' there was no 'truly groundbreaking content'.

'While expectations of what the documentary might reveal were high, the audience is not enlightened about anything truly groundbreaking in the first three episodes,' a THR article read.

The next instalment of the six-part series is due to be released next week on December 15.

14:53

Social activist and anti-FGM campaigner Nimco Ali clashed with royal commentator Jennie Bond on Good Morning Britain as they talked about the documentary.

Nimco said she had 'compassion' for Meghan, who had 'suffered' in the UK and suggested it has probably been been a 'very different' experience to marry into a big Royal Family after being raised as an only child (as Meghan was not raised with her half-siblings).

Meanwhile, Jennie Bond took a swipe at Harry's 'very rude' comments about journalists who specialise in the royals.

Read more here:

14:38

Astrologer Inbaal Honigman told Femail that Harry, a 'sensible and mature' Virgo, and Meghan, a 'proud and fiery' Leo, are a great match for each other, even if their Zodiac signs give them 'very different' outlooks on life.

She said: 'When it comes to how they experience love, they are one and the same. Their compatibility comes from the heart.'

The UK based psychic added it's important to look beyond the star sign when figuring out how compatible a couple is in terms of astrology.

Read more of Inbaal's analysis here:

Stephanie Bunbury, of Deadline, said the episodes were not 'the royal evisceration we have been expecting'.

'The story so far is a straightforward romance, with the best-looking royals no longer in the business seen sitting on a couch agreeing that, guess what, they fell madly in love on their second date,' she wrote.

'None of this, however, is the royal evisceration we have been expecting.

'Presumably, the Harry Formerly Known As a Prince and his maligned wife will go into a bit more detail in next week's Volume II on what prompted them to walk away from the whole thing and set up shop in California.'

Variety's chief television critic, Daniel D'Addario, said that the couple had previously 'shocked the world multiple times over' - both with the infamous 'Megxit' and subsequent interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.

'With today's release... the Sussexes surprise us yet again, with just how narrow their vision of their fame is, how pinched and unimaginative their presence on the world stage has become,' he wrote.

'They may have shed their responsibilities to the crown, but they're still in a kind of service.

'There's an air of duty about the entire enterprise of 'Harry & Meghan,' as if they're honor-bound to keep reciting their personal story until we eventually lose interest.'

Downing Street has dismissed a Government minister's call for a 'boycott' of Netflix over its documentary with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as he called them 'utterly irrelevant'.

No 10 also said on Friday that Rishi Sunak does not back another Tory MP's attempt to bring legislation that could strip Harry and Meghan of their royal titles.

The couple have received criticism over the six-part series for apparently attacking British institutions as they discussed their experiences including racism.

Employment minister Guy Opperman described them as 'clearly a very troubled couple' but claimed they had faced 'unacceptable' press intrusion.

'I would urge everyone to boycott Netflix and make sure that we actually focus on the things that matter,' he told BBC Question Time.

But a Downing Street spokesman told journalists 'it's a matter for the public what channels they want to watch'.

Americans have hailed Harry and Meghan as a 'fairytale couple' who are 'winning the PR strategy' in the wake of their bombshell Netflix special, a US correspondent has claimed.

Noel Phillips, speaking to Good Morning Britain , said while there have been 'mixed reviews' in the royal couple's new home country, their story has been 'resonating' with the public.

Phillips, who is from the UK, told viewers: 'Mixed reviews so far, but the overwhelming feeling is that the couple are winning the PR brand management strategy.

'Harry and Meghan are not just rewriting the royal narrative that we all know of their lives so far, but they are creating this brand new American fairytale and it seems to be resonating with a lot of people.'

Harry and Meghan's Netflix documentary sparked confusion over whether the Royal Family were given the chance to properly respond to claims made by the Sussexes.

A senior source insisted Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace and members of the family were not approached for comment on content in the six-part series.

However, a Netflix source has insisted the communications offices for the King and the Prince of Wales were contacted in advance and given the chance to react to Harry and Meghan's 'claims within the series'.

Kensington Palace then responded by saying that they had an email from a third-party production company, not Harry and Meghan's Archewell foundation or Netflix. The Prince of Wales' aides then contacted the Sussexes and the streaming giant to verify if it was genuine, but got no reply.

'In the absence of this verification, we were unable to provide any response. The substance of the email we received also did not address the entire series,' a source said. A Buckingham Palace source has also disputed the Sussexes' claims that the royals were asked to comment.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have shared more details about their one last night of freedom spent with Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank before news of their relationship broke out worldwide. 

The couple reminisced about a Halloween party they attended with Harry's cousin and her then boyfriend in Toronto in October 2016, before their relationship was revealed. 

Speaking in the first episode of their explosive Netflix docuseries Harry and Meghan, which was released on the streaming platform yesterday,  the pair, who are now based in Montecito, California, recalled how they went incognito with 'borrowed' costumes with Eugenie, Jack, and Meghan's close friend Markus Anderson. 

Meghan revealed during an interview with Ellen DeGeneres last year that the party, which happened in Toronto, had a post-apocalyptic theme. 

Meghan Markle's niece was ‘hurt’ about being banned from the duchess's wedding to Prince Harry and blames Buckingham Palace insiders, but it's unclear who made the final decision to not invite her to the star-studded ceremony. 

Ashleigh Hale, 37, claims in another thinly-veiled attack on the palace that Meghan's close relationships were being 'managed' and the decision was made on the advice of palace aides.

Meghan spoke of 'the guidance' she had received from the palace press team on the matter and her 'compassion' about their reported concerns over explaining the tension between Ashleigh's estranged mother Samantha Markle and Meghan – her half-sister.

Meghan Markle's half-sister has accused the Duchess of Sussex of being manipulative and peddling lies following the release of her latest documentary with Prince Harry.

Samantha Markle ripped into the six-part Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan labelling it a 'flopumentary' that was 'ridiculous' and bordering on 'comedy'.

'It is so much rhetoric at this point, and so many lies have been thrown out there, debunked, and yet still there is this repeated need to push this narrative,' she said on Channel Seven's Sunrise on Friday.

Samantha addressed claims made in the documentary she was the reason her estranged daughter Ashleigh Hale, 37, was not invited to the Duchess of Sussex's wedding to Prince Harry in 2018.

BBC's royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell has hit out at Meghan Markle's claim that anyone was 'out to destroy' her as 'absurd'. 

He quoted one of Meghan Markle's statements in the first three episodes of the Netflix documentary released yesterday which said 'no matter what I did they were still going to find a way to destroy me.' 

Referring to the Duchess's allegation, Mr Witchell said: 'The first point who is they she is referring? I think it is the Palace but most particularly the press. But the idea that anyone was out to destroy her frankly I think is absurd and simply does not stand up to proper and reasonable scrutiny.'

It came another BBC journalist Mishal Husain said 'recollections may vary' in response to Meghan and Harry's claim their interview with her following their engagement was 'staged'.

- Harry believes there is a 'huge level of unconscious bias' in the royal family

- Meghan claimed stories were 'planted' in the lead up to their wedding, with the couple 'playing whack-a-mole' with the press

- Meghan described the time around their engagement as an 'orchestrated reality show', adding their interview after the announcement was 'rehearsed'

- Harry said he 'shoulders' the responsibility for the breakdown of Meghan's relationship with her father

- Harry said his time in the Army helped 'burst' the bubble of life in the royal family.

- Meghan claimed her elder half-sister Samantha Markle exaggerated the extent of their relationship

- Meghan revealed her son Archie's favourite song is Bennie And The Jets by Sir Elton John

- Meghan discovered her father was going to attend her wedding 'through a tabloid'

- The Duke said members of the royal family asked why Meghan should be 'protected' or given 'special treatment' when they questioned newspaper headlines about her

- Harry said negative press coverage about Meghan had a 'race element'

- Meghan's mother Doria Ragland told of paparazzi taking pictures of deprived neighbourhoods in Los Angeles and saying that was where she was from

- The Duke said articles in the press had 'racist undertones' as well as 'outright racism'

- Harry went on to talk about his children, saying he is 'really proud' they are mixed race

- The Duke said he and the Duchess of Sussex were keen 'not to make the same mistakes our parents did' while bringing up their children

- The King's second son said the early stages of dating were 'car chases, anti-surveillance driving and disguises'

- Meghan found the 'formality' of being in the royal family 'surprising', saying she realised people in the UK found hugging 'really jarring'

- The Duke of Sussex described how Meghan meeting the Queen for the first time was a 'shock to the system', saying it was 'weird' telling her to curtsy to his grandmother

- Harry said his wife being an American actress 'clouded' his family's view of her.

- The Duchess of Sussex said the media would find a way to 'destroy' her 'no matter how good' she was.

Some of the revelations in episode one include:

- Harry said a friend told the couple they should document a period of their lives, which they agreed to due to the 'misinformation' about them.

- Harry said he first spotted Meghan on a friend's Instagram.

- Harry and Meghan said they had their first date at 76 Dean Street - and the Duke was late

- Harry said there is a temptation in the royal family to marry someone who 'fits the mold'

- The Duke recalled his childhood was 'filled with' laughter, happiness, and adventure, and that he remembers his mother's 'cheeky laugh'.

- The Duke praised his mother, Diana, for her efforts to 'protect' him and his brother from the media.

There was mounting pressure last night on the Palace – which has so far declined to comment – to publicly condemn Harry and Meghan’s actions.

Conservative MP Bob Seely is leading calls for Harry and Meghan to lose their royal status because the couple are 'monetising' their titles with 'aggressive and unbelievable' attacks on Britain.

Mr Seely told MailOnline he is tabling a Private Members' Bill that would give the Privy Council power to downgrade their status.

The Palace fears that 'next week will be poison' after the first three episodes of Harry and Meghan's Netflix series aired yesterday, leaving royals in a state of sadness with its 'sly and insidious assault' on their family, as concerns are raised that the next release will be even more 'inflammatory'.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were accused last night of wanting to ‘bring down the monarchy’ after their documentary made another excoriating attack on the Royal Family.

Royal insiders were left particularly upset by the criticism of the late Queen Elizabeth and her Commonwealth legacy, which was dismissed as ‘Empire 2.0’.

One royal source told The Times that 'next week will be poison', after the first three episodes focused on the British press and Meghan's treatment by the media before their engagement, as well as the 'unconscious bias' surrounding race.

There were calls last night for the Sussexes to give up their titles if they were ‘so ashamed and disappointed’ about their links to the Royal Family, while the royals themselves were said to be 'in a state of sadness' after the release.

A minister today branded Prince Harry and Meghan Markle 'utterly irrelevant' to Britain and urged the country to boycott Netflix as a Tory MP for Sussex demanded the couple finally lose their titles due to their 'lack of respect' for the Royal Family and the UK.

Employment Minister Guy Opperman said the 'very troubled couple' are a 'sad state of affairs' and said he will refuse to watch their docu-series, which will reputedly earn them $100million.

Appearing on BBC Question Time last night, he said: 'They are utterly irrelevant to this country and the progress of this country and the royal family that we all, I believe, support.'

And Member of Parliament for East Worthing and Shoreham, Tim Loughton has joined the clamour for Prince Charles to cut off the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, declaring: 'I am ashamed that this deeply embarrassing couple bear the title of our great county'.

Princess Diana's personal chef this morning criticised Meghan for appearing to 'mock the Queen' with an exaggerated curtsey in their multi-million-pound Netflix documentary - as the row over the act deepened further.

Darren McGrady, who cooked for the late Queen, Diana, William and Harry for fifteen years, took exception to a number of points in the show.

And after the Duke of Sussex's claim that his wife was like his beloved late mother, Mr McGrady declared: 'Your wife will never be like or similar to your mother. I knew Princess Diana for 15 years. Not even close.'

Good morning everybody and welcome to today's coverage of Harry and Meghan.

After months of build up and anticipation, the royal couple finally dropped the first three episodes of their six-part Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan yesterday.

And it's sparked a lot of reaction! Here are all the twists and turns following the fallout of the Sussexes' £88million show.