narrator:
They grew up worlds apart,
but somehow found each other.
Prince Harry was raised
in royal palaces.
Meghan Markle,
a bi-racial American,
lived a middle-class life
in Los Angeles.
Though an unlikely pair, Harry
and Meghan had much in common,
outsiders destined to be
together against all odds.
- They had very similar ideals.
Very similar goals in life.
Some of the toughest
family challenges.
- They have the fact that they
are both children of divorce
to bond them together.
- Meghan bounced
from mother to father.
narrator: When Harry's mother,
Lady Diana,
died in a car crash hounded
by the tabloids and paparazzi,
young Harry felt
even more like an outsider.
- His parents got divorced.
His mother
was tragically killed.
That creates chaos
within a person.
- He spiraled out of control.
He was into drink.
He was into drugs.
narrator: As an actress,
Meghan's mixed ethnicity
made her a Hollywood outsider.
- She either wasn't considered
African-American enough
or too ethnic
for certain roles.
narrator: Meghan and Harry
both longed
for acceptance and love,
but their roads
to romance were rocky.
- Chelsy found dating
the second-most
famous prince too much.
- For Trevor and Megan,
it was a very brief
but bitter breakup.
narrator: When Harry met
Meghan, these kindred spirits
finally found a place
they both belonged:
with each other.
narrator: But this
untraditional royal couple
soon faced tabloid harassment
and racism.
- Absolutely nothing
can prepare you
for that jet blast
of publicity
that comes with dating
a member of the Royal Family.
- My British friends
said the British tabloids
will destroy your life.
narrator: Under siege,
their bond grew stronger.
- I never thought that
this would be easy,
but I thought it would be fair.
- I'll not be bullied
into playing a game
that killed my mum.
narrator: Shocking the world,
they abandoned
their royal roles
to build a new life
for themselves.
- It brings me great sadness
that it has come to this.
- Going it alone,
the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
- I was like,
"What is going on?
No."
- You decide eventually,
"I can't do this."
- Marker.
narrator: Exclusive
interviews and new insights
illuminate
the most-talked-about
royal romance in decades.
This is "True Hollywood Story:
Meghan and Harry."
[upbeat music]
♪ ♪
[cheers and applause]
narrator: When Prince Harry
and Meghan Markle
fell in love, their
groundbreaking royal marriage
marked a promising new era
for the British monarchy.
- Here was an American,
a biracial woman,
an outsider that would come
into the Royal Family
and manage to be
the perfect partner to Harry.
narrator: But while Meghan and
Harry were in perfect harmony,
their romance was rocked
by the tabloid press
and critics inside the palace.
- Meghan came into
the Royal Family
on Harry's arm
with no protection.
- She had no clue
what she was getting into.
She had no clue about British
culture or the British media.
- Britain is based
on this class system.
Maybe they would never
accept Meghan for who she was,
because she was an American,
an outsider, an actress.
[dramatic music]
narrator: Meghan's remarkable
and controversial rise
to royalty began
in a quiet middle-class suburb
of Los Angeles.
Her parents met in Hollywood
while working on the
soap opera "General Hospital."
Meghan's dad, Tommy Markle,
was one of the lighting
designers working on the show.
I would see him every day
that he was in,
and I thought
he was a really nice guy.
- Doria Ragland was
a trainee makeup artist
when she and Tom met
and married in 1979.
- This was his second wife.
This was Doria's
first husband,
and they went to live
in Woodland Hills,
a nice, leafy part
of Los Angeles.
- Doria gave birth
to her only child,
Rachel Meghan Markle,
two years later
on August 4, 1981.
- When Meghan was born,
Thomas already had
two children,
Tom Jr. and Samantha.
Thomas Jr. didn't get on
with Samantha.
She wanted to be an actress
and wanted her father
to get her roles
in various soaps.
It was a pretty
fractious household,
and Tom Markle absolutely
doted on the little baby
he called Bud.
That's Meghan Markle.
- She was really, really into,
like, the Disney movies
with "Beauty and the Beast"
and "Cinderella."
Definitely all princess.
narrator: Three years
after Meghan was born,
real-life Princess Diana
gave birth to her second son,
Harry, on September 15, 1984.
- Princess Diana
has issued forth
with a second child.
It is a boy.
[cheers and applause]
- Princess Diana's first son,
William,
was the all-important heir.
Baby Harry was the spare.
- Harry hates being called
the "spare,"
but it's a title that was given
to him by his father.
Princess Diana never treated
her boys differently,
but other people would bow
and curtsy to William
as a six-year-old.
They never did that to Harry.
Harry knew that his brother
would be king one day,
and he wouldn't.
Harry was just a little boy
who wanted to be a soldier
running around the palace
with a BB gun.
Harry was such a wild child.
narrator: Princess Diana
often took her sons with her
as she did humanitarian
and charitable work.
- They'd sit and talk
to homeless people,
and the princess would take
the two boys to see
HIV and AIDS patients
at London Lighthouse.
- I've taken the children
to all sorts of areas
where I'm not sure
anyone of that age
in this family has been before.
- She wanted them to have
an appreciation of life
beyond the palace gates.
- That's really penetrated
Harry's mind.
Harry has a huge heart.
He loves people,
and those traits
come from his mother.
Harry was always
the most generous one.
- It's an
interesting comparison
what Harry was doing age 10
and what Meghan was doing
age 10 or 11.
- Anti-war protests
in this country are growing.
narrator: While still
in elementary school,
Meghan organized a protest
against the Iraq War.
- It was so well-attended,
a local TV station
actually took footage of it.
narrator: The next year,
Meghan took blue chip
corporation,
Procter & Gamble, to task
over what she felt
was a sexist ad campaign.
- She complained
about the advertising
for a detergent which said
women around America
are using this
cleaning product.
She thought it should be
people around America.
- I don't think it's right
for kids to grow up
thinking these things,
that just Mom does everything.
- She wrote to the company,
Procter & Gamble,
and to her delight,
that slogan was changed
to "people"
instead of "women."
narrator: But while young
Meghan was finding her voice
as an American schoolgirl,
Harry was living
the privileged life
of an English prince.
- An awful lot of his life
was traditional:
hunting, shooting,
and fishing, riding horses,
playing polo, going out
with his aristocratic friends.
narrator: But Harry's life
was not all fun and games.
He and William were well aware
their parents were leading
separate lives.
Prince Charles
was involved in a love affair
with Camilla Parker Bowles
that had begun even
before he married Diana.
- She was living a lie.
Effectively, her husband was
living with another man's wife.
- I remember the day
when a letter
arrived from the Queen.
In the letter,
the Queen had written,
"We've decided that
it's best for the country
if you have a divorce."
"They decide," she said.
"I don't get a say in this?
I don't want a divorce."
- The divorce of Charles
and Diana had an impact
both on William
and especially on Harry.
The harsh words,
The slamming doors, the tears.
♪ ♪
- Harry learned that people
get divorced, and he learned,
when his father Charles
came out with his affair
with Camilla Parker Bowles,
that people will betray you
when you're in a relationship
with them.
So that foundation
begins to set the tone
for a very
untrusting individual.
- It's interesting to compare
Harry and Meghan's
upbringings,
because both of them
are products of divorce,
but both experienced divorce
in very different ways.
- Meghan was six years old
when her parents
divorced in 1987.
- Doria and Thomas
really tried their best
to make it work
when it came to co-parenting.
- She enjoyed time
with her mother.
Doria was quite
a disciplinarian.
Taught her yoga.
They went jogging together.
Both Doria and Thomas
were quite sensitive
to Meghan's feelings
about her biracial background.
And on one occasion,
she had to fill in various
boxes in a questionnaire,
and there was nothing that said
biracial, and so she was torn.
Do I enter white
or do I enter Black?
And she asked her father, and
he said, "Make your own box."
narrator: When Meghan entered
Immaculate Heart School
in 1993,
she stayed with her father
who lived nearby.
- I met Meghan in eighth grade
when I was at
Immaculate Heart Middle School,
and she came in
as a seventh-grader.
I remember this
vivacious little girl
who was always smiling,
and happy,
and just really a sweetheart.
We had done a play
together called
"On the Twentieth Century,"
and that's where
I really got a chance
to start to get to know her.
You can't fake kindness.
You can't fake compassion.
- From the moment that I saw
her come in from middle school,
I thought, "Hmm.
I think this young lady
really wants to be an actress."
She definitely
had something special.
She sparkled
when she performed.
- From the outside,
her school days looked perfect.
She got the great grades.
She was popular.
She helped others.
But as a mixed-race girl
growing up,
her identity
came with stereotypes
and cliches along the way.
And she was often the outsider
in her school, as well.
- Meghan and Thomas Markle,
her father, were very close.
When Meghan
was at Immaculate Heart,
Thomas Markle
was there all the time.
- Mr. Markle was amazing.
He did all of our lighting,
'cause he worked
for "General Hospital."
He was very much the stage dad.
- When Tom was watching
Meghan onstage,
you could just see
the absolute adoration
on his face.
He was very proud of her.
- She had two
very present parents that,
through the ups and downs,
still provided that same level
of support that she needed
as she was growing up
in the world.
narrator: Prince Harry
was not so fortunate.
Coming up,
Harry's heartbreak...
- The world has
lost Princess Diana.
- Had the media not been
chasing the princess,
she would still be here.
- He absolutely hated
the mass media.
narrator:
An angry young prince...
- Now back off the vehicle!
- He spiraled out of control.
narrator: And a royal wedding
like no other.
- When love is the way,
then no child
will go to bed hungry.
- This wedding has turned
so Black.
- We gotta get you all married.
[laughter]
[dramatic music]
narrator: Both Meghan Markle
and Prince Harry
shared the pain of divorce.
And like Meghan,
12-year-old, Harry,
and his older brother,
William,
moved from parent to parent.
- Harry and his father had
an edgy relationship
after the divorce.
Charles, although
he loved Harry,
was not a disciplinarian,
and I'm sure that was
because he felt guilty
over the pain and suffering
of Harry
caused by his own affair
with Camilla Parker Bowles.
- Diana brought up
those two boys, not Charles.
narrator: Then suddenly,
Diana was gone.
- The world has lost
Princess Diana at age 36.
- On August 31, 1997,
the world was stunned
when Harry's beloved mother
was killed in a car crash,
after a high-speed chase
through Paris
pursued by
a swarm of paparazzi.
- Had the media not been
chasing the princess
on that night,
she would still be here.
- They were there photographing
her as she lay dying.
- That's something
that Harry had to live with
his entire life,
and it does begin to build a
hatred for anyone in the media.
♪ ♪
narrator:
As the world mourned
the death
of the People's Princess,
a heartbroken
13-year-old Harry
and 15-year-old William
were forced
to grieve in public.
- The last-minute decision
by William and Harry,
at the prompting of their
grandfather, Prince Philip,
to walk behind Diana's coffin,
had a profound effect
on both boys.
[somber music]
- I don't know
how Harry did it.
I think he did it
because his brother said,
"I'll take care of you.
Let's do this for Mummy,
this one last thing."
- He had to hold himself
together
and be dignified
while going along
in the funeral procession
of his mother.
What that does to a person
is it begins to teach them
to neglect their own feelings--
that the image
is more important
than what's actually
going on inside.
♪ ♪
- Harry and William came
to Kensington Palace
for one last time.
And I said to William,
"You must take
something of Mummy's."
So he said,
"I'd like Mummy's watch."
And I said to Harry,
"And what are you gonna
take, Harry?"
He said,
"Can I have her hairbrush?
I'd like to take that,"
because
it still had her hair in it.
We held each other,
and Harry's tears wet my shirt.
His heart was broken.
narrator: Harry's grief
led to struggles
as he grew older.
- His parents got divorced.
His mother was
tragically killed.
That sense of chaos
creates chaos within a person.
What you'll often see
is them acting out
and doing things
that can ultimately
be self-destructive.
narrator:
While 18-year-old Harry
was beginning to misbehave,
21-year-old Meghan
was at Northwestern University
in 2002, majoring in theater
and international studies.
- Even though she still was
really interested
in doing humanitarian work
or international work,
acting seemed to be
her true passion at the time.
narrator: In 2002,
Meghan landed her
first small credited TV role,
thanks to her dad,
on the same soap opera
where her parents met.
- Tom asked, as a courtesy,
if I would meet his daughter.
She was just very poised,
charming, and beautiful,
and so we cast her
in a four-episode
supporting role as Nurse Jill.
- Just one second.
I have his chart right here,
Dr. Lan,
but I don't see the notation.
- And she was actually
very good.
narrator: It took four years
for Meghan to get
her next break
when she was cast
as a briefcase girl
on the TV game show
"Deal or No Deal".
- When Meghan walked
into the room,
she had that beautiful smile.
The first thing
I said was like,
"I wonder what her ethnic
background is, you know?"
For some reason, some of the
producers were not on board
with bringing Meghan on as one
of the models on the show.
They never said anything
why they were hesitant
about bringing her on,
but for me, I was like,
"You're beautiful.
You're professional.
You have a great personality.
You're in."
narrator: But Meghan
found it difficult
to land
more substantial acting roles.
- Meghan talks
about struggling
in her early years
with being biracial,
and going in for roles,
and feeling she either
wasn't considered
African-American enough
or too ethnic
for certain roles.
narrator: Far from Hollywood,
the British tabloid press
was anointing a restless,
rebellious Harry
with a new title:
the party prince.
- Harry was all over
the place, taking drugs,
he was getting drunk,
he was getting into fights
in nightclubs.
He was a very angry young man.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa!
narrator: 20-year-old
Harry's hatred for the press
came to blows in 2004
when he got into a physical
altercation with a paparazzo.
- Get back off the vehicle!
narrator: A year later,
he was back in the tabloids
when he was photographed
at a costume party
dressed as a Nazi officer.
- An ordinary person
wouldn't do that,
let alone the prince
of the realm.
- He had earned that title,
the party prince,
and he was almost going out
of his way to live up to it.
And I think this was a guy
that felt
he didn't have
that much purpose
within the institution
of the monarchy.
And so he had to go
and find it himself.
- Go!
- Harry found a
four-letter word: the army,
and it was the making of him.
narrator:
Starting in May of 2005,
Prince Harry entered Sandhurst
Royal Military Academy.
- His military career
provided him
with an opportunity
to not only find purpose,
but also to escape
the royal fishbowl.
narrator:
Harry had found his calling,
and that same year he also
found love
with 20-year-old
South African Chelsy Davy.
The tabloids took
a keen interest
in the prince's
budding romance.
- The fact that she was
a young woman
that didn't really care about
the trappings of royal life
really made him able
to trust her
in a way that he couldn't
so many other girls
that he had met.
narrator: A year before
Harry started dating Chelsy,
23-year-old Meghan
had met the man
who would play a leading role
in the next phase of her life,
talent manager
and producer Trevor Engelson.
[light music]
- He was a big producer
in Hollywood,
and she was an actress
who was trying
to really find her way.
- They click, and they travel
the world together.
They seem to be
the perfect power couple.
narrator: Harry and Meghan
were both in love,
but they had yet to meet
the love of their lives.
[dramatic music]
Coming up,
Harry goes to war...
- I never wanted you guys
to be out here.
- Someone in the media said
that he was serving
in Afghanistan.
He was furious, because
he had to be brought back.
narrator: And Meghan
comes under attack.
- She was of mixed race,
she was American,
and she was a divorcee.
It was impossible for her.
♪ ♪
narrator: The tabloico
with Chelsy Davy
added fuel to his hatred
of the press.
But military life
offered Harry a respite
from the media spotlight.
- He wasn't Prince Harry.
He wasn't
the son of a future king.
He was simply Captain Wales.
narrator: 24-year-old Harry
was scheduled to deploy
to Iraq in 2008,
but the army tried
to deny his tour of duty,
citing security concerns
due to his royal status.
- The fact that he had
to be singled out
because he was a prince
of the realm,
was upsetting and annoying.
narrator: Harry insisted
he be allowed to serve
with his brothers at arms,
and later that year,
he was secretly deployed
to Afghanistan.
[gunshots]
- And that put him
in some very intense
combat situations,
and whether that meant
facing the risk of injury
or even losing his life,
he was willing to do it.
- But when someone in the media
said that he was serving
in Afghanistan,
he was furious,
because for his own safety
and for the safety
of his colleagues,
he had to be brought back.
narrator: Frustrated yet again
by the intrusive media,
Harry was sent home on leave.
Temporarily free
from army discipline,
he resumed
his rebellious behavior.
- We love you, Harry!
We do!
narrator: In 2009,
TMZ released nude pictures
of Harry
taken in
a Las Vegas hotel suite
while on leave from the army.
- We saw a young prince who was
somewhat lost in a way.
Many that knew him well
saw a very unhappy man.
It was actually his brother
Prince William
that suggested that he deal
with the aggression
that's built up in him
and find a way
to manage his emotions.
narrator: Harry returned
to the Afghan War,
and while he found
discipline again
in his cherished
military role,
Meghan finally landed
the parts
that would make her a star.
- She was 30,
and she snagged
this role on "Suits."
- Mike Ross?
Hi.
I'm Rachel Zane.
I'll be giving
your orientation.
- The role of Rachel was
the last role to be cast.
Almost 300 women
auditioned for that role.
We weren't looking
for a Black, or a white,
or an Asian character.
We just cast this
very wide net.
narrator: Meghan was cast
on "Suits" in 2011.
That same year, she married
her boyfriend Trevor Engelson
after a seven-year courtship.
When she moved to Toronto
to film "Suits,"
Trevor remained in Hollywood.
- Not only did it put
physical distance
between the two of them,
it also put them
both in very different
places in their lives.
- Some people believe Trevor
was used to having her
in Hollywood
really supporting his career.
And when she was able
to find success on her own,
that was something
that he did not like.
- Ultimately, they split up.
She put the rings
in a jiffy bag
and sent them back to him.
narrator:
Trevor was blindsided
when the rings
and divorce papers
arrived
with virtually no explanation.
The true reason for
their split remains a mystery.
- I called Trevor when I was
researching my book on Meghan.
When it comes to Meghan,
there's ice in his voice
and ice in his heart.
narrator: Their divorce
was finalized in 2014.
A year later,
Harry's romance
with Chelsy Davy also ended,
another casualty
of the British tabloid press.
- He fell very much
in love with her,
but she just didn't want
all the nonsense
that comes with being a member
of the Royal Family.
- She found it, you know,
too much for her,
in terms
of the press intrusions.
narrator: Once again,
the press had hounded a woman
Harry loved,
another blow in his bitter
battle with the media.
That same year,
Harry made the hard decision
to leave active military duty,
partly due to
the relentless press coverage
of his assignments.
- I never wanted you guys
to be out here,
but there was
an agreement made.
[dramatic music]
- Everything did come down
to a crashing halt
after he gave up his career
in the military.
- We saw Harry
really struggle again,
and not only as a young adult
having to face
the demons of his past
with his mother's death.
On top of that,
there was the PTSD
that comes with being on
the front line in the military.
- William is the one
that was able to speak
to Harry, brother to brother,
and say,
"Look, I think you need
to get some help."
narrator: Therapy
was a life-changer
for the troubled prince.
By the summer of 2016,
he was ready
to start dating again
when a friend arranged
a blind date
with an American actress
at Soho House in London.
- He was with a friend of his,
and she was flicking
through her Instagram,
and he sees Meghan.
He says, "Well, she's
good-looking, is she single?"
"Yeah."
"Well, let's meet."
- I didn't know much about him,
and so the only thing
that I had asked her
when she said she wanted
to set us up
was I have one question.
I said, "Well, is he nice?"
- I had never watched "Suits".
I had never heard
of Meghan before,
and I was beautifully surprised
when I walked into that room
and saw her.
And I was like,
"Okay, well, I'm really
gonna have to up my game."
- Those early conversations
that they had
on that first date,
a lot of it centered
around their desire
to help the world
in many ways.
- It was one of the first
things we started talking about
when we met,
was just the different things
that we wanted to do
in the world
and how passionate we were
about seeing change, I think.
- Mmm.
- Yeah.
- I think Princess Diana
would have loved Meghan.
They have a lot in common.
Compassion.
Their humanitarian views.
- In a way,
when Harry met Meghan
he was also meeting
his late mother.
- It was I think about three,
maybe four weeks later
that I managed to persuade her
to come and join me
in Botswana.
Then we were really
by ourselves.
- And from then on,
they were conducting
a long-distance romance
between Toronto and London.
They were dating for six months
before anybody got wind of it.
- The challenge that they
faced was keeping it a secret.
Meghan's close friends, Jessica
and Ben Mulroney, in Toronto,
happily lent them their home
on a number of occasions,
for the two to sort of
get to know each other again,
in private.
- My friends were really happy,
'cause I was so happy.
But my British friends
said to me,
"I'm sure he's great,
but you shouldn't do it,
because the British tabloids
will destroy your life."
I didn't get it.
narrator: Coming up,
it's Meghan mania...
- Initially, people were
very excited about Meghan.
- The whole country
embraced her.
The media as well.
narrator: Until the tabloids
take an ugly turn.
- In "The Daily Mail" it reads,
"Harry's girl is almost
straight out of Compton."
- "Straight from the hood."
Well, what does that mean?
♪ ♪
narrator:
the news leaked
that Prince Harry
was dating Meghan Markle
on October 31, 2016,
and the media
feeding frenzy began.
- I thought, if there's
any woman in the world
who can handle the pressure,
the publicity,
all of the things that go
with being a royal, Meghan can.
- We were excited for her,
but I can be honest.
At the same time,
I was worried.
She was divorced.
She's half Black.
I was like, "Oh, my God.
They're gonna be
so mean to her."
- The British media
do have a reputation
for wanting to build someone up
and bring them down again,
and there were
racial undertones.
- I tried to warn you
as much as possible,
but I think both of us
were totally surprised
by the reaction.
- We were just hit so hard
at the beginning
with a lot of mistruths
that I made the choice
to not read anything.
- Absolutely nothing
can prepare you
for that kind of
jet blast of publicity
that comes with dating
a member of the Royal Family.
- It's a very
white institution,
and it was completely white,
until Meghan came along.
- Meghan came
from a different continent.
She was of mixed race,
she was American,
she was an actress,
and she was a divorcee.
It was impossible for her.
- The British press just didn't
seem to give her a break.
- In "The Daily Mail" it reads,
"Harry's girl is almost
straight out of Compton."
- "Straight from the hood."
Well, what does that mean?
You know, that's a very rude
and very specific connotation
you're trying to put on Meghan,
and that's not fair.
narrator: Meghan was born
and raised in the LA suburbs,
not an inner-city ghetto.
- And then
there was the comment:
- Meghan had to, of course,
experience prejudice
in her life,
but to go through it
on this big a scale
was incredibly scary for her
and something that Harry was
desperate to protect her from,
because the last thing
he wanted to do
was to lose her.
And so, for him,
he was gonna do anything
to stop that from happening.
- We begin to see
Harry's hatred
for the media come full circle.
The two women most important
to him his entire life
were treated badly
by the media.
- Harry is hitting back
at the media.
Prince Harry is worried about
Ms. Markle's safety and is...
- Why are they harassing her?
- Deeply disappointed
that he's not been able
to protect her.
- There was no way that Harry
could have protected
his mother within the press.
He was way too young.
He protects Meghan
with full force
and actually heals the wounds
of his childhood.
"I can still be the protector,
and I can still take care
of a woman
who's important to me."
narrator: Meghan and Harry
had been dating for 16 months
when the big news
officially broke.
- Buckingham Palace
proudly announce
the engagement of Prince Harry
and Meghan Markle.
- The pressure
was then on Meghan.
She had officially begun
the journey to become
the Duchess of Sussex.
- The Royal Family
really prepared Meghan
for all of the possible
scenarios that might happen
because there was
a higher number of threats
that Meghan received
before marrying Harry.
- There were death threats
and security threats,
'cause there were people
who didn't like the idea
of a biracial woman marrying
into the House of Windsor.
narrator: The Royal Family
publicly expressed
their support
for Harry
and Meghan's engagement.
- We're thrilled, thank you
very much, for both of them.
I hope they'll be
very happy indeed.
narrator: Privately
there were some concerns.
- William didn't approve
of Harry's headlong rush
into marriage with Meghan.
- William and Kate were in
a relationship for ten years
before he proposed.
- William said to Harry,
"Slow down.
You're going too fast,"
and Harry was very angry
about that.
- William was looking out
for his brother saying,
"It's not easy
coming into this family.
"Are you sure she
can cope with this?
Are you sure?"
- Harry took offense
that William
wasn't supporting him
with the fact
that he had finally found love.
- Meghan coming into
the Royal Family,
I always knew
that she'd have problems,
because who could understand
this world?
It's totally alien to anything
which you've ever
experienced before.
And she was told,
like all the incoming women
marrying into the Royal Family,
you've just got
to get on with it.
narrator: In the run-up
to the royal wedding,
the media pressure increased,
and Meghan's own family became
the next tabloid target.
- Meghan was a lot younger
than her two half-siblings,
Tom and Samantha,
and she didn't have an awful
lot of interaction with them.
And also, Meghan seemed to be
growing away from her father,
and Thomas was
kind of retreating
into his own world as well.
- Her estranged family starts
coming out of the woodwork.
Her half-sister,
Samantha Markle,
started giving
negative interviews
to the press
about this pushy princess
and how she managed to worm
her way into the Royal Family.
- Samantha has
a very bitter personality.
I think she was very jealous
from Meghan,
in the very beginning,
and still, to this day.
- When you actually look at the
reality of their relationship,
they had only met
each other twice
after Meghan had left the home
in which she shared
with Samantha
at the age of two or three.
- Meghan was
an international celebrity,
and Samantha got
a little bit jealous
because she always wanted
to be an actress.
narrator: Coming up,
An American princess bride...
- Was just a
once-in-a-lifetime experience.
She married a prince.
What?
narrator: And rumor and
innuendo ruin the honeymoon.
- Meghan was classified
as Duchess Difficult
driving the palace staff crazy
by just being demanding
and a diva.
narrator: Two weeks before
the palace announced that both
of Meghan Markle's parents
would play roles in
the ceremony on May 19, 2018,
and that her dad
would walk her down the aisle.
But behind the scenes,
Meghan's relationship
with her father,
now living a reclusive life
in Mexico, was strained.
- Nobody's been able
to really put their finger
on why Meghan and Thomas Markle
went their separate ways,
but money was always an issue.
And Meghan's father
has always paid
for her schooling,
and at some point got involved
in some kind of jewelry
business that went bust,
and he ended up bankrupt.
So he wanted the money back,
and I don't think
Meghan stumped up.
And so there was
a degree of resentment
that she didn't pay the money
back to Thomas.
narrator: Just days
before the ceremony,
a scandal erupted
when photos surfaced
purporting to show Tom Markle
prepping for the wedding.
- They take all kinds
of pictures of me
making me look negative.
So I thought this would be
a nice way
of improving my look.
Well obviously,
that all went to hell.
- The "Mail," on Sunday,
published a story
about how Thomas Markle
had actually set up
these pictures himself
and actually, like,
made some money.
I think it was 30%
of all worldwide sales
of those pictures.
- Tom, being
a behind-the-camera person,
was never comfortable
or wanted to be
in the limelight.
And I think that it was
probably overwhelming for him
when he was beseeched
by people knocking on his door
at all times of the day
and night.
- Just like Doria
had been offered security,
protection, advice,
and guidance from the palace,
so had Thomas.
Meghan couldn't believe
that Thomas would have done
something so silly at a time
when he had been
regularly offered advice.
- Meghan and Harry tried
to get in contact with Thomas
at that time,
but they were unable
to get ahold of him.
Thomas Markle preferred
to deal with the press
than he did to deal
with the Royal Family.
And look at
the consequences of that.
- When TMZ reported
that Thomas had suffered
from a heart attack,
it became very clear
that he wasn't
going to come to the wedding.
- He would have been so proud
to walk her down the aisle,
but he had
a double heart attack.
Much of the press has said,
"Oh, that was just made up."
And that's not true.
- As much as Meghan tried
to look above the drama
surrounding his attendance
to the wedding,
I think by the time we reach
that wedding to Prince Harry,
Meghan was really
at her wit's end.
- Her own dad using her name
and making money off her,
and letting her down
so publicly--
it was incredibly humiliating,
incredibly heartbreaking.
- Despite the drama,
Meghan's wedding to Harry
was a moment of celebration.
- Windsor Castle's been here
for 1,000 years.
Today, it is a place of joy
and celebration.
[cheers and applause]
narrator:
Meghan was a radiant bride
in a stunning
Clare Waight Keller gown
on her May 19, 2018 wedding
to Prince Harry.
[classical music]
In Thomas Markle's place,
Prince Charles walks the bride
down the aisle
of St. George's Chapel
in Windsor Castle.
- I watched the wedding
with two classmates,
and we were drinking
at 5:00 a.m.
And you know, my husband,
"Be quiet, it's 5:00 a.m.!"
Sorry, babe, but this is,
like--this is Meghan!
- As long as you
both shall live.
- I will.
♪ ♪
[laughter]
- It was heartwarming
to watch.
It was just a
once-in-a-lifetime experience.
She married a prince.
What?
- Imagine a world
where love is the way.
- I was particularly impressed
with the stamp
that Meghan was able to have
on the royal wedding,
in terms of bringing
in Black culture,
African-American culture.
Now she's got a gospel choir.
Now she's got this preacher.
- When love is the way,
then no child will go
to bed hungry in this world,
ever again.
- Oh, my God.
This wedding has turned
so Black,
and I absolutely love it.
- We gotta get you all married.
[laughter]
- Have you ever seen an
African wedding on television?
I haven't,
so it was a sense of pride,
for those of us watching it,
to say, "That's our sister.
And not only does
she see herself, she sees us."
[applause]
- After Harry and Meghan
got married,
they became the rock stars
and the superstars
of the Royal Family.
- The whole country
embraced her.
The media as well,
but their honeymoon was short,
and they soon turned.
- According to some sources,
the fact that Meghan and Harry
became so popular
was a threat to
the rest of the Royal Family
and their popularity.
[dramatic music]
- Stories started to emerge
about things that had happened
leading up to the wedding.
- Many of the negative stories
often came from
within the institution
of the monarchy.
And we heard a senior
Royal Family member
refer to Meghan
as Harry's showgirl.
Private aides talking about
there being just something
that they didn't
trust about her.
- Meghan was classified
as Duchess Difficult
by the British press,
really driving
the palace staff crazy
by just being demanding
and a diva.
- That came from voices
within the privacy
of their own home, you know?
Frogmore Cottage.
- Knowing the royal household
as I know it,
there are a lot
of jealous people out there
that didn't want
to see Meghan succeed.
You can't change
a royal household
which is archaic
and hasn't changed
for 100 years.
narrator: Amid all the palace
intrigue, on May 6, 2019,
one year after Harry
and Meghan were married,
they welcomed their son,
Archie, into the world.
narrator: Just days
after Archie's birth,
BBC broadcaster Danny Baker
tweeted a photo
comparing Baby Archie
to a chimpanzee.
Baker claimed it was a joke
about the Royal Family
being a circus,
but others saw another example
of blatant racism
directed at the couple.
- I don't understand what
the problem is
with the British media,
because we're looking
at a fairytale
and two young people who
love each other desperately
who want to get on
with their lives.
narrator: Confronted by
an often hostile media
and growing friction
within both of their families,
Harry and Meghan would stand
together and shock the world.
- They came across too many
brick walls,
too many obstacles,
And they thought,
"Life should be
better than this."
- Coming up, Megxit...
- Harry absolutely did not
see another way forward,
except to leave
the Royal Family.
- We didn't hang on
to two jewels in the crown.
It's our loss.
It's America's gain.
[dramatic music]
[camera shutters clicking]
narrator: Five months
after the birth
of their son, Archie,
Harry and Meghan were
straining under the pressure
of a hostile tabloid media
and reports of conflicts
with the Royal Family.
- They were regularly reminded
by the institution
that they were many rungs
down the ladder
within the Royal Family.
- William and Kate came
before Harry and Meghan,
because William was going to
become king, and Harry was not.
- Do you ever have
disagreements about things?
[laughter]
- Oh, yes.
- They found themselves
feeling very unsupported
by the institution
at a time when the British
tabloid stories about Meghan
were more negative than ever.
narrator: Harry and Meghan
waged their own public
relations campaign.
In October 2019,
while on a royal trip
to Africa,
they spoke their minds
to an ITV reporter.
- I really tried to adopt
this British sensibility
of a stiff upper lip.
But I think that
what that does internally
is probably really damaging.
- Of course there's
a lot of stuff that hurts,
especially when the majority
of it is untrue.
I will always protect
my family,
and now
I have a family to protect.
I will not be bullied
into playing a game
that killed my mum.
- The Royal Family do not like
somebody to speak openly,
from the heart,
about their emotions,
because it's all about
putting the crown first.
narrator:
But in January 2020,
Meghan and Harry put
their love and family first
with a stunning declaration
of independence
from the Royal Family.
- The decision
that I have made,
for my wife
and I to step back,
is not one I made lightly.
There really was
no other option.
- Going it alone,
the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
- Not since King Edward VIII
abdicated his throne in 1936
to marry an American divorcee
had there been such
a shocking royal exit.
- I was like,
"What is going on?
No."
But when you analyze it after,
you're like,
"Of course
it was gonna happen."
- Harry and Meghan's decision
to step back
certainly left fractures
in his relationship
with his own family.
William and Harry
had been going through
their own struggles
with each other.
narrator: Some of the tabloids
blamed Meghan
for the growing rift
between William and Harry.
- They're blaming it
all on her,
like a John Lennon/Yoko Ono
kind of thing.
This isn't the Beatles.
You know, Harry's a grown man
with his family.
Who wants to be
in a toxic environment?
I don't, so why should they?
- Harry met with the Queen,
Prince Charles, and William
to resolve
the unprecedented situation.
As it was with his mother's
divorce from Charles,
the Queen had the final say.
- She supported Harry
and Meghan
and understood
the circumstances
which they had made this
very difficult decision.
- But the Queen also announced
that effective April 1, 2020,
Harry and Meghan would no
longer use their royal titles
and no longer formally
represent the crown.
- We didn't hang on to
two jewels in the crown.
It's our loss.
It's America's gain.
narrator: Now living
in Santa Barbara, California,
Harry and Meghan
are reportedly
working to repair the rift
with Harry's brother.
- William's always sort of,
like the Queen,
puts duty over family,
and that's something
that Harry
doesn't quite connect with,
but these are two brothers
that understand
that bond of brotherhood.
And although they may not
be speaking much
at this very moment,
I don't think that's something
that we'll see last forever.
- Harry and his brother
will be unveiling a statue
to the memory of their mother
on her 60th birthday,
so maybe Diana's 60th birthday
will be a catalyst
for the two brothers
to come back together.
narrator: For Meghan,
life outside the palace
offers an opportunity
to thrive, not just survive.
- I never thought that
this would be easy,
but I thought it would be fair.
- Meghan has always felt
she has a lot to prove
as the outsider.
When we look back
at Meghan's time
as a working member
of the Royal Family,
she did exactly that.
- Meghan has tried her
very best to be a team player,
and I think it's a great pity
that she and Harry
have stepped back,
because they could have made
the Royal Family
a more intriguing
and a more important
institution
than it probably will be
in the future.
- Unfortunately,
it was an establishment
that hasn't quite realized
how to modernize yet
that prevented
the Duke and Duchess of Sussex
from thriving.
And of course, they're now
doing that on their own.
narrator:
Announced in the fall of 2020,
Meghan and Harry's
production deal with Netflix
is a hint of things to come
from this independent-minded,
passion-driven pair.
- Harry and Meghan are still
a dynamic duo.
They just have
to get out there
and do what they feel is right,
and they will.
- Meghan and Harry
were worlds apart
in terms of their upbringing,
their lifestyles,
their culture,
and yet,
there's that intriguing magic
that brought them together.
It's that willingness
to try and make a difference.
And that's what they're out
to do: make a difference.
- They are side by side
taking on the world, as one.
[cheers and applause]
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪