What we learned from Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary

CNN

By Lianne Kolirin, CNN

The first few episodes of the Duke and Duchess’ highly-anticipated Netflix documentary series aired on Thursday.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the first three parts:

Early days of relationship

The couple talked about how they first met on social media, when Harry saw a picture of Meghan from a friend. Far from the glamorous shots they would later become known for, the edited picture showed the then-actress with a filter on featuring dog ears.

The pair began their relationship online, exchanging messages and chatting over social media.

He said: “That’s when it hit me. This girl, this woman, is amazing. She’s everything I’ve been looking for.”

Sitting together on the sofa, Meghan mentioned that her husband had an actual list of what he was looking for in a partner, but when questioned about it by the production team, he said: “Not showing the list. Nice try.”

Their first date in Soho

Harry turned up late to the pair’s first date in Soho, London.

Meghan said: “You were late and I couldn’t understand why you would be late. He kept texting saying ‘I’m in traffic, I’m so sorry.'”

Harry recalled: “I was panicking, I was freaking out. I started sweating.” Unaware of this, Meghan began to doubt that the date would go anywhere, thinking he might have an “ego.”

But when he eventually showed up he was profusely apologetic, which Meghan described as “so sweet,” adding: “You were so embarrassed.”

Trip to Botswana

The couple described how their relationship was cemented in Africa, when Meghan traveled to join Harry on a visit to Botswana — having only met him twice before.

“We had to get to know each other before the rest of the world and before the media joined in,” said Harry.

They spoke of living in close quarters with the bare minimum and how they were still so unsure of how the relationship would develop.

Media attention from a young age

Harry spoke at length about the media’s ever present role in his family life, starting with footage taken outside the hospital following his birth.

Of the ongoing attention throughout his childhood, he said: “The majority of my memories are of being swamped by paparazzi.”

He recalled learning as a young child how to handle the attention, saying: “Within the family, within the system, the advice that’s always given is ‘don’t react. Don’t feed into it.'”

The pressure, he said, was ever present. “Drama, stress, and also tears … I could always see it on my mum’s face.

He added: “Those are the moments where I thought, what am? Who am I? What am I part of?

“My mum did such a good job in trying to protect us. She took it upon herself to basically confront these people.”

Footage of family ski holidays was included to highlight this. In one clip, Harry is seen alongside his brother Prince William and cousins Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie as they are made to pose for the crowd of photographers, in an unwritten agreement that would ultimately allow them privacy later in the holiday. But that was followed by another more intrusive clip which led to his mother confronting the photographer

“It was never fair, it never worked,” he said.

‘Pain and suffering’ of women marrying into royal family

Harry brought up the now discredited Panorama interview with his mother, Princess Diana. While he acknowledged that she had been “deceived,” he said that she had spoken “the truth.”

He said: “My mother was harassed throughout her life with my dad but after they separated the harassment went to new levels.”

The “moment she left the institution” left her “completely exposed,” he said.

Growing up, he witnessed “pain and suffering of women marrying into this institution.” He added: “What happened to my mum … I didn’t want history to repeat itself.”

The impact of Diana’s death

Diana’s sudden death in a car crash in Paris on August 31 1997 sent shockwaves around the world, particularly as she left behind her two young sons, William and Harry.

Harry, who was 12 at the time of her death, said: “When my mum died we had two hats to wear. One was two grieving sons wanting to cry, grieve and process that grief because of losing our mum. And two was the royal ‘show no emotion, get out there, meet the people and shake their hands’.

“The UK literally swept me and William up as their children,” he said.

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