Original subtitles

We've all heard the stories.

The spoilt couple,

the tantrums,

the split.

But there are two sides to every story.

It's an opportunity for us to understand

why they did step down as senior royals

and for us to understand what it is that they're searching for in life.

When you have that level of independence, my goodness,

you can do anything.

Tonight, we hear Meghan and Harry's side.

This book has potential to have huge ramifications

for their relationship with the other royals.

What caused the rifts?

We're brothers, we'll always be brothers.

We're certainly on different paths at the moment.

And who is to blame?

They felt it was a slight. They felt put out.

No-one in the royal family likes being taken by surprise.

Was Harry really as unhappy as is claimed?

Were Meghan and Kate really at war?

Or did the couple simply demand too much?

Kate and Meghan are not obligated to be best friends.

Meghan Markle made serious judgment calls and made considerable errors.

Can the couple ever repair relations with the rest of the royals?

I don't see them going back into the constraining embrace

of the royal family. I think that they will fly free.

And how kind will history be to Meghan and Harry?

Yes, they were breaking free of the royal family.

Yes, they were able to embark on a new chapter of their lives,

but it came at a huge cost.

Meghan and Harry.

Everything seemed like a fairy tale

when the royal family gained a new member.

I think we have the potential

to be this amazing, you know, celebrity couple.

When they first got together, it felt like a real win.

You know, I, myself, was like, this is amazing.

I'm loving seeing this. The Wedding's is going to be beautiful.

And that's when the chip, chip, chip away started.

Since then, it's been a turbulent two years

for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex

and, for many, they were to blame for everything that has gone wrong

in the House of Windsor.

But is that fair?

I can just imagine what kind of struggle it was for them to see

the constant lies, the constant made up fabrications to sell papers,

and that they were the human cost.

Now months after Megxit, we are witnessing the fightback.

An explosive new book tells their side of the story,

and it's causing breathless news coverage on both sides

of the Atlantic.

This morning, new revelations about Harry and Meghan's decision

to step back as senior members of the royal family.

There could be some pretty stressful conversations for the royal family

following claims made by a new biography

of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Finding Freedom charts the relationship of Harry and Meghan

from their first meeting to stepping back as senior royals.

Everyone wants to know if this book

is Harry and Meghan setting the record straight.

They and the authors say they weren't involved,

but that hasn't stopped speculation.

I think it's hard to believe

that they didn't have more than an interest in it, certainly.

There's certainly lines within the book, even quotes

that have come potentially from Harry and Meghan

and I think that a lot of people will be thinking

that they had more of a hand in it than they have been letting on.

A royal will always deny any involvement,

because that's the convention.

The convention is that you never, ever openly say

that you have helped. But I think with Fighting Freedom

when we when we read it, you can hear Harry and Meghan's voice.

Finding Freedom is written by Carolyn Durand and Omid Scobie,

two seasoned royaljournalists.

Another author who has first-hand experience when it comes

to setting the royal record straight is Andrew Morton.

His book, Diana: Her True Story caused a sensation in 1992.

He believes the objective of Finding Freedom

is to set out Meghan's side of the story.

This is basically trying to explain how Meghan

approached the royal family and how she was dismayed

by the easy criticism

of everything that she tried to do.

She's been frustrated by the fact

that she's not been able to give her side of the story,

that all kinds of stories have come out about her

and she's not been able to answer back

and it's something which she's found immensely frustrating.

It's an opportunity for them both,

and in particular, Meghan, for us to understand why they did step down

as senior royals,

why they've moved all the way across the pond,

and for us to understand what it is that they're searching for in life.

At the heart of the book is Harry and Meghan's decision

to step down as senior royals.

There are many reasons given, but crucially, we are told

they were fed up being controlled by the royal institution.

When they were told that they had to be brought

within the confines of the Buckingham Palace machine,

I think that's when they realised that their wings were being clipped

and they weren't going to actually realise

the stardom that they had set themselves up to be.

The book claims...

I think they were particularly worried about William and Kate

that they might become more popular than them

and I think they just couldn't stand the idea of that.

They couldn't stand the idea of this young, modern couple,

half of which is African-American,

potentially being more popular than William and Kate,

who were their golden couple.

It always reminds me of a top football manager saying

that no-one is bigger than the club.

And I think that analogy is very, very true here,

that they weren't bigger than the institution and certainly

the men in grey suits that they believe were stalking the corridors,

trying to clip their wings

might have been an invention in their own heads

rather than actually what was going on.

Those men in grey suits, as Princess Diana used to call them,

were allegedly another element pushing Meghan and Harry away.

In the book, friends of the couple call them vipers,

and it's claimed some of them simply didn't like Meghan

and would stop at nothing to make her life difficult.

One of the suggestions in the book is that the courtiers or the vipers

as Harry and Meghan apparently referred to them

were out to get them, that they didn't like Meghan from the outset.

It may very well be the case that there was a courtier, maybe two,

who had it in for Meghan, who felt that she was too different,

too confident, too ambitious, too different from anyone

who had married into the royal family before.

Meghan's differences led friends to call her Duchess Different,

a play on the often repeated claims she was known as Duchess Difficult

inside palace walls.

I think calling Meghan Duchess Different is...

It is very telling.

And it shows the gap between the old ways and the new ways.

We can appreciate the value that both represent

and celebrate the difference rather than try to push it down

or make it look like it's something bad.

As Meghan and Harry's relationship with each other blossomed,

their relationship with the palace

and the rest of the royal family seems to have soured.

The new book says...

And the pair had to wait to announce projects

if other, more senior royals, had announcements of their own.

I think she found it very difficult because actually what she thought

she was getting was unrivalled power and she'd be able to help

and effect this change and be this change maker,

which is what she wanted to be.

And actually, she found she was living in a gilded cage.

By Christmas of 2019, Meghan and Harry had skipped Sandringham

to take an extended break in Canada.

They decided something had to change.

And was that decision reinforced when they saw

the Queen's Christmas message?

Well, the lack of photograph of them

appearing for the Queen's Christmas speech

obviously had an effect on them and the book will tell you

in detail about how this made them feel.

They felt it was a slight, they felt put out.

What I think was trying to be demonstrated

during that Christmas message was the future of the monarchy,

the future heirs and the future sovereigns.

Harry and Harry's son are not there.

They don't have that place on the table.

From the $18 million estate they were staying at on Vancouver Island,

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex set Megxit in motion.

E-mails were apparently sent to the Queen and Prince Charles,

but the book claims Harry thought he was being blocked from a meeting

with the monarch, which led to an extraordinary plan.

One of the most fascinating and new revelations in the book

was that when they landed in the UK from their sabbatical in Canada,

they considered detouring straight to Sandringham to try

and get a meeting with the Queen.

If they had done that,

I think the Queen would have been point shocked and surprised

and because, frankly, that's not the way things are done

and I think that was... That's a lot of the problem here.

Harry and Meghan didn't want to keep doing the way things are done

and the monarchy wasn't going to change things just for them.

The monarchy's a supertanker.

It just keeps on going, ploughing its own furrow.

Harry and Meghan wanted to become financially independent,

split their time between the UK and North America,

but, crucially, still carry out duties for the Queen.

Eventually, the Queen agreed to issue a joint statement

about her grandson's plans.

On the 7th of January, the Duke and Duchess attended an event

at the Canadian High Commission.

The book reveals they were feeling nervous.

They'd seen the planned statement

and thought it showed a lack of warmth.

It's meant a lot to us and it's just important for us

to start the year here and say thank you.

More concerning to them than that,

reporters got wind of the plan to stay in Canada.

A day later, the Sussexes made their shock lnstagram announcement,

a move that's been endlessly criticised,

but it seems in their minds they felt they simply had no choice.

It was very sad, really, that a couple who offered so much

to the monarchy and to the nation had decided to go their own way.

As well as their announcement, Meghan and Harry

simultaneously launched their Sussex Royal website.

It's since been claimed this and making an announcement

without discussing it first

left the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh devastated.

Crisis talks were needed

and on the 13th of January, Harry met the Queen, Charles and William

at the famous Sandringham summit.

Yes, they were breaking free of the royal family.

Yes, they were able to embark on a new chapter of their lives,

but it came at a huge cost.

Especially for Harry.

He had to give up his military roles.

Finding Freedom gives an insight into Meghan's feelings.

Harry has had to give up everything.

He's giving up his family, his home, his country,

everything he's ever known, and those military titles,

which... And Meghan's right, they meant so much to him.

And what about what Meghan has had to give up?

Finding Freedom claims Meghan told a friend...

Even so, it's said courtiers and some family blame Meghan for Megxit.

This girl who fell in love with a boy

who happened to be part of the royal family

And she gave up her whole career to move over here to, of course,

follow tradition and ritual marrying into the royal family

and she literally couldn't win.

And she basically gave up a part of herself

because that is what would have been expected of Meghan,

expected of Kate, you know, the Duchess of Cambridge,

and they all did that too

out of love for their spouses and out of respect for the institution.

These new revelations tell a story ofjust how unhappy Harry and Meghan

were with their royal life and how they felt forced into leaving,

but the new book also gives us a new insight

into Harry and William's relationship.

I would imagine if there was any conversation that William probably

could take back, it would be that one.

To understand why the relationship between Harry

and his family broke down, you have to go back to the summer of 2016.

Rumours about Harry and Meghan's relationship were circulating,

and Meghan soon had the world's press following her every move.

By November, Harry had had enough

and issued an extraordinary statement

asking the press to leave his girlfriend alone.

The statement that Prince Harry released through his private office

in November came just after a deluge of media reports

about their relationship.

I mean, the statement was a bombshell,

perhaps the first of what we were to expect from the Sussexes

in that it was certainly the most personal statement I've ever read

from a senior member of the royal family.

This was also confirmation that Meghan was his girlfriend.

Don't forget, up until that point, it was only speculation.

It's now been claimed the statement caused tension in the family,

not because of its content, but because of its timing.

It immediately took attention away from Charles and Camilla.

They were on a diplomatic tour of the Middle East.

The royal family has strict protocols in place

to ensure they don't overshadow each other's work,

something Harry appeared to overlook when he attempted to protect Meghan.

I think one of the themes that is explored in Finding Freedom

is the jealousies of some members of the royal household

and some courtiers of the level of attention

that the Sussexes were getting.

You know, there was a point when Charles and Camilla

weren't even getting a look in.

You know, all the tabloids wanted to run with stories

about Meghan and Harry, and that became a problem.

And I think there's definitely some truth in the fact that Charles

at times has felt a bit jealous maybe of his son's public profile,

because for a long time, William and Harry were getting really,

really positive publicity.

And Charles, of course, had had dreadful publicity.

Harry's statement caused shock waves in the palace

and allegedly upset the Prince of Wales.

But looking back, this wasn't the first time Harry had come out

in vocal defence of his girlfriends.

In 2005, whilst dating Chelsy Davy,

he gave a frank interview to mark his 21st birthday.

I suppose that is the media in general.

There's truth and there's lies,

and unfortunately I can't get the truth across

because I don't have my own column in the paper,

which I'm thinking about getting.

It does irritate me because obviously I get to see how upset

she gets and I know the real her.

I don't think Harry has changed an awful lot over the years.

He's become far more considered

and far more aware of what's going on in the world.

At the same time, this hostility to the mass media,

and to photographers and paparazzi in particular,

hasn't change one jot.

So he was hostile to them before and is hostile to them now,

to the point where he has in his own mind more control over his life.

Less than a year after the statement,

there was another incident, this time between Harry and William.

Finding Freedom details a conversation that supposedly

took place just before Harry proposed to Meghan.

William is quoted as saying...

A source claims William didn't want his brother

to be "blindsided by lust."

The book goes on to say...

I think there was a great misunderstanding in that moment.

That was, I believe, intended from a genuinely good place,

a place of brotherly love and just wanting Harry to be absolutely sure,

given the speed that this relationship had moved at,

that he wasn't rushing into things.

Harry, who was clearly sensitive,

and I think aware of some of the sniping

in the corridors of power about Meghan

just took this deeply personal and the wrong way.

And I would imagine if there is any conversation that William probably

could take back, it would be that one.

I think William was just trying to say...

Trying to look out for his younger brother.

Now, maybe it goes to the heart of their relationship

and Harry was frankly fed up with playing third wheel

effectively to William, Kate and Harry.

I mean, sometimes when the three of them did jobs together,

I'd go would watch them and I did feel a bit sorry for Harry.

You know, Kate and William were always first because, you know,

in the line of succession. William's always first.

And Harry was always slightly trailing behind.

So did William ever really accept Meghan?

Rumours of a rift refused to go away.

During Christmas of 2018,

William appeared to ignore Meghan outside church.

The following Easter, another incident

on the Queen's 93rd birthday.

The footage appeared to show the brothers avoiding each other.

Is there petty jealousy?

Yes, because I think there is between any family.

Show me any family in the world

where there's not jockeying for position

or one sibling doesn't think that sibling shouldn't have that or etc.

That is family. That is the human condition.

I do think this is War of the Wales' party,

but this is also the British royal family.

This is what they do.

They argue, they fall out and then we make a drama out of it.

But, for some, Harry and William's fallout is far more serious.

This was a devastating blow to the British people,

and indeed members of the Commonwealth,

because they have looked to William and Harry as being the successes.

So to see a divide between those really did tear at the very fabric

of the British public's relationship with the royal family.

From an early age,

there was clearly a friendly rivalry between the brothers.

Would you live together again?

A nice experience, being in the same...?

Harry told us the other week that he did all the washing up.

Oh, the lies! The lies.

I think the difference between William and Harry

has a lot to do with succession in the royal family.

William knows that, one day, he will become king.

Harry knew that the reality of that was...

...very, very unlikely that he would ever sit on the throne.

So, in many ways, he lived a life free of those shackles.

He was the rogue and renegade prince.

And there was nothing wrong with that in Harry's eyes.

And, seemingly, there was nothing wrong with that

in the House of Windsor's eyes, either,

because it made him more relatable and it also modernised the monarchy.

Tension between the brothers was confirmed by Harry himself

during a bombshell interview with Tom Bradby.

There's been a lot of talk in the press

about rifts with your brother. How much of that is true?

Look, we're-we're brothers.

We'll always be brothers.

We're certainly on different paths at the moment.

But I will always be there for him.

And, as I know, he'll always be there for me.

We don't see each other as much as we used to.

But, you know, just... As I said, as brothers, you know,

you have good days, you have bad days.

Not only is it alleged that William

wasn't as accepting of Meghan as Harry would have liked,

it's also claimed she wasn't warmly welcomed within the palace.

It is alleged that a senior member of the royal family

referred to Meghan as "Harry's showgirl".

We don't know which senior member of the royal family this is.

According to another source,

a courtier said that "she came with a lot of baggage".

And to a degree, you know, Meghan did come with baggage.

She wasn't the virgin bride marrying into the royal family.

I think it was celebrated that she was from a dual heritage -

she had a black mother, a white father.

There was a great excitement about the fact

that she was akin to a Hollywood movie star -

not A-list, but still famous in her own right.

Meghan was a senior royal for, you know, an incredibly short time.

And I think, if we look back at that short time,

she was almost immediately hounded by the British tabloid press.

And there wasn't a... There really wasn't...

It's very hard to find a really kind article about Meghan.

That was rather ruthless, to be honest.

Now, with thousands of miles separating Meghan from the palace,

and Harry from his brother,

it remains to be seen if Harry and William's relationship

can ever be the same again.

The irony about this book, in many ways,

is that the brothers were just getting to a stage

in their relationship where they were on a more even keel.

I was told that communication had resumed between the brothers.

We don't know whether they've spoken,

in light of the excerpts from this book.

But one can only imagine that this has done nothing

to improve relations that were strained in the beginning

and, at this stage, must seem pretty beyond repair.

Finding Freedom not only claims to know what happened

behind the scenes with Harry and William,

but sheds a light on the rumours of duchesses at war.

I think there was a lot of excitement.

That Kate and Meghan would have come best buddies.

However, when you look at it, on the face of it,

they were very, very different women from very different backgrounds.

They were already going to have very different roles

within the institution.

And I think the pictures of them laughing and joking at Wimbledon

were probably the best it was ever going to get.

Finding Freedom is said to be Harry and Meghan's side of the story.

It claims to provide a new perspective to all the stories,

rumours and gossip that we think we know.

In particular, a focus on negativity

surrounding Meghan's relationship with Kate,

not long after she became the Duchess of Sussex.

After the royal wedding, you know, once that sort of crest of the wave

of excitement and euphoria had subsided,

there was a slow drip of reports

that began to show Meghan in a different light.

After her wedding, Meghan was faced with a number of negative headlines.

One in particular seems to have angered the Sussexes.

It was reported that Meghan had made Kate cry

during a bridesmaid fitting.

Finding Freedom details the incident.

I also think that proves that, yeah, that story was put out

by anti-Meghan people, by people who wanted to vilify Meghan

and it actually unpicks that.

And it also proves that we know that there's people actively out there,

working to make Meghan look bad.

There are always two sides to every story.

But, you know, Kate either cried at that dress fitting or she didn't.

And there are only a couple of people

who know if that actually happened.

It's interesting that that is one of the stories

that is contested in Finding Freedom.

What Finding Freedom doesn't do is actually explain what did happen.

Whatever the truth, Meghan and Kate's relationship

soon became a favourite topic for the tabloids.

I think there was a lot of excitement

that's Kate and Meghan would have become best buddies.

However, when you look at it, on the face of it,

they were very, very different women from very different backgrounds.

They were already going to have very different roles

within the institution.

And I think the pictures of them laughing and joking at Wimbledon

were probably the best it was ever going to get.

Despite the press rumours the duchesses were at war,

Finding Freedom claims the relationship

between the sisters-in-law was less tense than reported.

It does, however, reveal they struggled to move past

the distant politeness of when they first met.

It was very easy for us to escape into this storyline

that Meghan and Catherine were best friends,

that William, Harry, Meghan and Catherine represented the Fab Four,

this union of young royals that were set to take control

and modernise the monarchy.

It wasn't the case at all.

Just one year after they were photographed

laughing together at Wimbledon,

new photographs emerged of Kate and Meghan together at a polo event.

This time, the atmosphere appeared a little less friendly.

The book notes there was a cordial but distant rapport.

So it's a big exclusive event in the summer of 2019,

and both Kate and Meghan were there with their children.

In fact, it was probably one of the first times

we'd seen Meghan out and about with baby Archie.

Kate was watching the children playing on the field

while watching the polo.

But the real striking thing was that the two women were not speaking.

They weren't even conversing for most of the day.

And I think that was quite a bit of a realisation

for the British public, and quite a disappointment as well,

that these two women were not going to be the best of friends.

It's reported Meghan had wanted a strong and close relationship

with her sister-in-law.

The book details that Meghan had initially hoped

that Kate would potentially reach out to her

and help guide her, as somebody who had married into the institution.

But the offer never materialised.

It goes on to say Kate felt they didn't have much in common,

other than the fact that they lived at Kensington Palace.

So, while there might have been an expectation from Meghan

that Kate was going to sit down and show her the ropes,

perhaps that was an unrealistic expectation -

you know, the Duchess of Cambridge is a busy woman.

But Meghan clearly took that quite personally.

In the same weekend Finding Freedom dominated the papers,

Emily Andrews broke the story that friends of the Cambridges

say Kate rolled out the red carpet for Meghan.

So who was to blame for this coldness?

I think it seems that Meghan had a very unrealistic expectation

of her relationship with Kate.

If you look at it from the Cambridges' point of view,

they don't know this woman at all. From their point of view,

they absolutely did welcome her into the family.

William and Kate invited Meghan and Harry to Apartment 1A,

Kate met Meghan pretty early on in the relationship,

and I think, from William and Kate's point of view,

they did try and help as much as possible.

But they were at a very different stage of life.

With friends of William and Kate

refuting stories from Finding Freedom,

the public is once again presented with two sides of the story,

unsure which side is telling the truth.

By the time Harry and Meghan's final royal engagement came around,

in March of this year,

the tension was clear for everyone to see.

At the Commonwealth event, Meghan appeared to wave to Kate,

but the gesture wasn't acknowledged.

I was sitting behind William and Kate and Meghan and Harry,

a few rows back, with other members of the press at that service,

and there was absolutely a tension between the two couples.

While Kate turned around to speak to Edward and Sophie Wessex,

she just didn't acknowledge Meghan and Harry at all,

and that was very obvious.

Finding Freedom notes that,

after flying straight back to Canada, Meghan...

There is no doubt that certain plotlines

sell newspapers and sell magazines.

And initially what sold

was the remarkable story of these four young royals

and the tight union that they supposedly had.

But, in reality, that just wasn't the case.

Finding Freedom has done nothing to quell the fascination

with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, presenting another side of the story

and asking if the criticism facing the Sussexes has been fair.

The whole story about Meghan wanting, you know,

the chapel for her wedding to smell a certain way

and then people find out that Kate wanted the exact same thing,

but Kate is not being crucified for that.

However, Meghan is.

That just highlights again that this toxicity against Meghan

is coming from a very deep place of bias.

Finding Freedom might arguably tell the story

from Harry and Meghan's side, but it's not the only book about them

to hit the shelves this summer.

It's like hot cakes right now.

It's almost as though people think that this is the next version

of The Crown from Netflix.

I think that there is a battle at the moment amongst authors

to try and tell or answer the unanswered questions

as to what led to the split.

Many well-covered tales about the Sussexes

feature in books by Lady Colin Campbell

and journalists Dylan Howard and Andy Tillett.

But are these just examples

of yet more unfair criticism that Meghan has faced?

Such as claims Meghan wanted St George's Chapel

to smell a certain way for her wedding -

a story she was ridiculed for in the press,

despite Kate wanting the same thing at her wedding in Westminster Abbey.

The whole story about Meghan wanting, you know,

the chapel for her wedding to smell a certain way,

and then people find out that Kate wanted the exact same thing,

but Kate is not being crucified for that.

However, Meghan is.

That just highlights again that this toxicity against Meghan

is coming from a very deep place of bias.

Westminster Abbey is not the same thing as St George's Chapel.

I've actually been to events at both, and, I have to tell you,

St George's Chapel does not smell musty.

It smells of beeswax,

which is what the furniture is waxed down with.

Maybe Meghan had never smelt beeswax before in her life.

Lady Colin Campbell's book addresses another infamous story -

the claim Meghan clashed with the Queen

over her choice of tiara for her wedding.

But Finding Freedom says there was no clash.

Each story has been corroborated by at least two sources

and they spoke to over 100 sources for the book.

People don't want to believe that.

They want to think only Harry and Meghan will say that,

and they are lying.

Instead, the book says it was Harry who had reservations

that the Queen's dressmaker, Angela Kelley,

was intentionally delaying the process

of Meghan selecting her wedding day tiara.

But it is quite one-sided.

Yes, Harry and Meghan died don't escape criticism in the book,

that's certainly true.

But it is mainly their side of the story

and everyone else is the bad guys.

Either way, what is sure

is that there have been countless attacks on Meghan

over the past two years.

Allegedly, some even came from palace insiders.

Seems to me that some of the stores

are stemming directly from Buckingham Palace.

We're back to this narrative again that strong,

independent women are anathema in our society.

"Duchess Difficult", "Hurricane Meghan" -

some of the headlines that started coming out in the tabloid press.

Reports that, you know, she had a habit of sending dawn e-mails

to staff and wanted a response before lunchtime.

This appears to be true and seems to be backed up in Finding Freedom.

But the author's interpretation of this

is that this was an experienced, successful American actress

who was used to having an entourage of staff

and who was used to having things done quickly.

Meghan has faced criticism for pretty much every move she has made,

even down to the clothes she wears.

When Meghan came on the scene and started wearing gowns

that were thousands of dollars and living an extravagant lifestyle,

then it began to rub people up the wrong way.

Someone's got to spend the most.

And Meghan's the one that spends the most.

Again, it's just a non-issue.

It's a non-story.

She's probably spending her own money.

What's the big deal?

And even a claim that Kensington Palace staff

noted that Meghan's charity cookbook,

raising funds for the victims of the Grenfell tragedy,

didn't contain a single recipe of British origin.

Everyone embraced this so deeply

because it's been a passion project for all of us,

and for a very good reason.

For Meghan, much of the criticism

must have felt unwarranted and unfair.

Why is Meghan a target for criticism?

Hmm...

Very good question.

Right, I don't know.

Do you have a piece of paper? Several pieces of paper?

But let's start with the fact that, one, she's a progressive woman.

She's independent.

And let's talk about the fact that she doesn't fit

your traditional idea of, you know, "royalty".

Let's talk about the fact

that she's a woman of bi-racial heritage, right?

Let's talk about the fact that her profession was that of an actress

and the fact that she's American.

There's just so many things around and about her

that many people do not like.

I feel for the poor girl.

I mean, she came into this country, parachuted in.

She's married into a very difficult family,

that everybody finds difficult to come into

because of the various pressures.

And she's someone who didn't know an awful lot

about British history, British culture.

And she's... As she said herself,

she's going to hit the ground running.

And she hit the ground running,

but she found that she came up against a brick wall.

But amongst all of the petty criticism,

there have also been stories that suggest

Meghan and the royal way of life was a culture clash.

In my book, I go to great lengths

to explain how the culture clash arose,

because Meghan has very American attitudes and expectations.

She is all about confidence, go-getting, hustling

and all of those Hollywood things

that she has been brought up to regard as desirable.

Did Meghan really know what she was letting herself in for

when she married into the royal family?

Some stories show how she struggled to get to grips with royal life,

like her first official engagement with the Queen -

opening the Mersey Gateway Bridge in June 2018.

There were certain elements of royalty

that perhaps weren't for Meghan,

but she was widely condemned regardless.

Like security.

SINGING

Dylan Howard's Royals At War reminds us of an incident in Fiji

when Meghan visited a market.

Every royal is assigned a level of protection

when making appearances in public,

and there could be no more valuable commodity, if you like,

than a pregnant Meghan Markle making appearances in public.

Under sweltering temperatures

and with an increasingly large crowd,

the duchess was rushed out and the visit ended early.

Turn round, turn round, turn round.

Inevitably, in these types of scenarios,

the royals are briefed about what is right

and what is wrong

and what is expected of them

in order to maintain their security and their wellbeing.

The security officer in charge quit her role not long after

amid claims at the time that Meghan found security constraining,

although the palace denied this was why she left.

Guys, out. Just stay to the side, please.

Everyone, turn round.

Meghan was oblivious.

Despite being told how to behave,

she thumbed her nose at the restrictions

or recommendations of the royal protection officer.

And Lady Colin Campbell recalls at an event

that, in her view, shows Meghan unwilling to persist with royal duty

at her and Harry's first public engagement as a married couple.

I was at a dinner party at a very, very famous aristocrat's house

four nights after the wedding,

and this person has impeccable court connections.

At a garden party to celebrate Prince Charles's 70th birthday

and all of his charity connections...

There had been this garden party at Buckingham Palace

and Harry and Meghan were there.

Good afternoon, everybody. APPLAUSE

And there was much excitement about them being there

because, of course, at that time,

they were the most popular couple in the country.

She was a revered figure.

People couldn't wait to meet her.

Well, 15 minutes into the engagement,

Meghan is overheard telling Harry she's bored and she wants to leave

because they've effectively done their photo op.

And the person who overheard this was completely gobsmacked.

Enjoy the rest of your day.

All of these stories and allegations hint at teething problems

as Meghan grappled with royal life.

But rather than focusing on arguably unfair criticisms,

should the public and press have been more understanding

of Meghan's struggle?

...in orange...

After all, it's something that is very different

to what she was used to.

...that's one of my favourite parts of being there.

On the face of it, everybody was very, very excited

when Meghan came on the scene.

She was hugely successful in her own right.

She'd spoken on the world stage on big issues like the UN,

human rights, girls education.

I think there was a awful lot of interest and excitement

with her coming on the scene.

But she definitely wanted to hit the ground running.

She'd said that herself.

I think that, in certain sections of the palace,

that was quite difficult

because there are certain processes, protocols that had to be followed.

And when these two worlds collided,

there was definitely a clash that couldn't be avoided.

There was a culture clash.

American divorcee bi-racial actress,

woman of substance,

21st century girl from Los Angeles

versus the pale, male, stale

and very white British monarchy.

Yes, we have a woman as our head of state.

YES, we have 6 WOITIBH 6S OUF queen.

But it is still an old-fashioned institution.

It's done in... Tradition is all.

Duty is all.

And that's not very woke or 21st century.

Coming up, did Meghan feel she lost her ability to speak out

when she became a royal?

That age-old mantra,

which has stood the royals in very good stead -

never complain, never explain -

I think most people would say

that she absolutely didn't understand that.

And now that she and Harry have left,

is she getting her voice back?

It's been very empowering and inspiring to see and to hear

what they've had to say.

Many observers believe that a key factor

behind the Sussexes leaving the royal institution

was what some saw as the muzzling of Meghan Markle.

Before her marriage to Prince Harry,

she'd used her media profile to highlight social issues

close to her heart.

Women don't need to find a voice.

They have a voice.

They need to feel empowered to use it,

and people need to be encouraged to listen.

More people were encouraged to listen

when her relationship with Harry became public.

But being Harry's girlfriend was one thing,

being his wife was quite another.

If she was not part of the royal, family

the way she would have come out to speak on issues

and to lend support on different things,

she had to curtail all of that.

You can speak your mind as a celebrity.

You can align yourself with different politicians

as a celebrity.

You can't do any of that as being a member of the royal family.

You blogs and all that stuff,

that's just been silenced 100% to fit this role.

Maybe one of the reasons for them wanting to leave

is so that she can go back to doing that.

And following her move to Los Angeles,

despite the lockdown,

Meghan Markle is out there speaking her mind once again.

All of you were out there campaigning,

fighting the right fight,

being on the right side of history

and ensuring that we can get closer

to seeing this truly as our past

and not something that we have to revisit again and again and again.

Meghan and Harry have given, you know, recent zoom virtual talks

to many from the younger generation.

They definitely have been able to speak about matters

that are at the heart of them, and matters that are important to them

like Black Lives Matter.

The only wrong thing to say is to say nothing...

...because...

...George Floyd's life mattered,

and Breonna Taylor's life mattered,

and Philando Castile's life mattered,

and Tamir Rice's life mattered.

And so did so many other people whose names we know

and whose names we do not know.

It's been very empowering and inspiring to see and to hear

what they've had to say.

But did Harry and Meghan

really need to leave the royal institution

to speak out on subjects like racism

and women's rights?

I went back to the palaces,

various people in palaces, and said,

"Would Meghan have been allowed to make those kind of speeches

"if she was still working for the royals?"

Now, you can take what I'm about to say as,

"Well, that would say that, wouldn't they?"

but literally, to a man and a woman,

the people that I spoke to said, "Yeah, why not?"

More problematic for the royals, perhaps,

was a concern that Meghan's progressive agenda

might encroach into politics.

You're going to use your voice in a stronger way

than you've ever been able to.

Because most of you are 18, or you're going to turn 18,

so you're going to vote.

Someone said to me, "That might be," and I was like, hang on a sec,

she's just telling everyone to vote. That's not political.

And they were like, "No, but she's made it very clear in the past

"where her political allegiances lie."

You know, she's been very outspoken about Trump.

The royal family has historically stayed out of politics.

There is an inherent conflict

between a member of the British royal family

involved in American politics.

It just can't work.

Before Meghan became pregnant with Archie,

they had intended to go to America on tour,

but she made it very clear that she wasn't going to see Trump.

I'm afraid it doesn't work like that.

Clearly, she is a woman with very strong political opinions.

I think we will probably see and hear more of these

now that she is detached from the royal family.

As well as freeing her to speak her mind,

leaving has allowed Meghan to regain control of her own agenda

and to hit out directly at her detractors.

Through her Instagram, very popular lnstagram account,

and her blog, The Tig,

she was used to being able to control the message.

Believe in what makes you unique,

and don't be afraid to do what you know is right,

even when it's not popular.

Even when it's never been done before.

Well, Meghan's choice of language, of "even when it's not popular,

"even if it's not been done before,"

was definitely a pointed reference

to their decision to leave the royal family.

Even if it scares people,

and even if it scares you a little.

That age-old mantra,

which has stood the royals in very good stead -

never complain, never explain -

I think most people would say

that she absolutely didn't understand that.

One of the things she felt very stifled by

was not being able to answer back.

Meghan couldn't grasp the reason why she wasn't able to respond to these.

Well, there was so much more at stake than just Meghan Markle.

The whole House of Windsor needed to be considered

in whether or not she was to respond to an allegation

that was levelled against her.

And that narrow-mindedness goes a long way to explaining

why her and Harry would ultimately leave the family.

And I think this book is largely being written

to put to her side of the story across.

And regardless of their personal influence on the book,

it hasn't been the only outlet for the couple's grievances.

The letter related to Thomas Markle's

various dealings with the media

following his non-appearances at the couple's wedding in May 2018.

And within the court documents,

some of Meghan's complaints about her treatment

within the House of Windsor have been laid bare.

She has used the courts as a forum

to get her version of events out into the public.

Meghan's detractors say

she's attempting to manipulate the media

and claim the revelations in her court evidence

and writing the letter to her father in the first place

are evidence of this.

If Meghan expects me or anybody else that I know who has a brain

to think that she wrote that letter

for anything except damaging her father's reputation

and boosting her own,

and excusing her,

she better think again.

The central point of the case

is whether Meghan wrote this letter

with the intention of it being public

and one of the authors behind this book

has actually gone on record

to say that Meghan wrote it with the public in mind.

That was a comment made by author Omid Scobie earlier in the year,

but not repeated in the book.

Meghan emphatically states that she didn't expect

the contents to become public,

but Associated Newspapers,

publishers of the Mail on Sunday,

are contesting that.

Before being published,

the letter had been referred to in People magazine.

She may have given her friends

permission to speak to People magazine.

Friends have been spoken to at some point,

but I genuinely think that

that was a letter between herself and her father

and I don't think she wanted it to be in any of the papers.

It will be up to the courts to decide

of whether... This was the issue, of whether she did know or didn't.

I think it must be very sad and exhausting for Harry and Meghan

to have had to undertake this court action.

You're forced to go through this vicious cycle of seeing more lies

and the same lies come up, and people buy into it

and people dig into it.

It has to be exhausting for them.

But I have to say, it is the right thing to do.

Since beginning the court proceedings,

both Harry and Meghan have been accused of hypocrisy

in their dealings with the media.

Whether or not she wanted the letter leaked

is really unknown at this point.

But what I can say with certainty

is that she does want certain stories leaked.

In the book Fighting Freedom,

it says that she worked with the paparazzi.

She tipped them off and she tipped off localjournalists

because she was trying to further her own profile.

And you do kind of come away from the book thinking

Harry and Meghan are perfectly happy to invade their own privacy

as long as it's a positive outcome for them.

I've never seen a member of the royal family

who has polarised opinion quite as strongly as Meghan,

and then Harry and Meghan.

It's almost as if people took positions very, very early on.

You're either for them or you're against them.

CHEERING

But unlike many such debates,

there will eventually be winners and losers

on at least some of the big questions over Meghan.

Is she an attention-seeking hypocrite

who was a disruptive influence on the royal family,

or is she a well-meaning and wholly innocent victim of racism,

sexism and the machinery and machinations of the monarchy?

It seems that the English courts will play a part

in answering that question.

If they are to win,

they will have won at the expense

of dragging the royal family through the mud.

So, win or lose, in my view, it's a loss.

Released from the House of Windsor,

have Harry and Meghan really found their freedom?

If it was not for Covid-19,

we would have seen and heard a lot more from this couple.

They are holed up in a rented £80 million mansion.

Meghan and Harry have begun their new journey in Los Angeles,

and, released from the shackles of the British monarchy,

their new life is laid bare

in a revelatory new book, Finding Freedom.

But are they?

I think moving to LA, to California,

they have found a lot of freedom,

at least a lot compared to what they were having

over here in the UK.

It's just different over there.

It's more laid back. It's easier.

It's a slower pace of life.

And I think that's gonna be good for the both of them.

They really need to try and take a bit of time out

and maybe realise what they want, what their future looks like.

They're not in the public eye as much as they were over here.

So I think they've got a real opportunity to slow down,

to figure it out, and to find happiness.

But if finding freedom is their goal,

2020 hasn't been the easiest year in which to achieve it.

Have they actually found freedom?

Not really.

No-one could have predicted this pandemic.

But the reality is that they are holed up

in a rented £80 million mansion in Beverly Hills,

taking on the paparazzi because they believe

they have invaded their privacy by taking pictures of them.

The idea that they are almost prisoners in their own home

doesn't suggest that they have found freedom.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex launched another legal action,

this time in the US,

after drones were allegedly used

to take pictures of their infant son, Archie.

These reports of the drone that's flying over their LA home

and they're trying to find that person

and then they will sue that person

goes to show you that they will not put up with

the invasion of their privacy at all.

Some believe that for a couple seeking freedom

and wary of the paparazzi,

moving to Los Angeles was a strange choice.

That remains the great paradox of a decision

to move out of the royal family to avoid the limelight

and move to a place where the limelight shines brighter

than anywhere else in the world.

They've gone to the pap capital of the world.

In LA, freedom of expression is paramount.

I think that we're seeing how they're trying to achieve

the privacy that they want, by suing publications.

And they probably won't stop until they stop being pursued.

So I think this will definitely put caution in a lot ofjournalists

and a lot of photographers

and being very, very careful about what they print.

The Sussexes battle is far from over

when it comes to protecting their privacy.

But what does the future hold

when it comes to their financial freedom?

I think we're going to see a lot more

of Meghan and Harry making speeches.

I've been told the Obamas' business model

is something that they're very much aspiring to,

which could earn them a very lucrative income indeed.

I mean, public speaking engagements alone

could earn the couple hundreds of thousands of dollars.

There's much speculation about the path that Meghan will take,

but what about Prince Harry?

The break from the royal family

meant giving up all his military titles

and which took up an awful lot of his time.

I think he probably took that quite hard,

and I think that was a bit harsh,

but I'm hoping that he can continue to work with veterans

in some form, perhaps in America,

and continue that line of work

because he was genuinely passionate about it.

If, as seems likely, Harry has more difficulty than Meghan

in acclimatising to this new life,

might some kind of return to the royal fold be possible?

The queen gave them this option of the trial period.

You know, see how you fare after 12 months

and see if it's working for you.

Partly through coronavirus

and partly through the way they have handled things,

what they hoped to achieve

is clearly turning out to be more of an uphill struggle

than they would have envisaged initially.

Who knows?

I don't think they know what they're going to be doing

between now and next week, much less next year.

There were headlines in some of the tabloid press

after the serialisation

that, you know, there was no way back after this,

after the revelations,

after airing their dirty laundry in public.

That, you know, this was it for the Sussexes.

I'm not so sure.

While I don't think they will go back to a royal role as such,

Harry remains, in spite of what's been said and what's happened,

deeply loved by his family.

Whatever the future might hold for the former royal couple,

it seems that, for now, a return to the House of Windsor

is very far from their minds.

I think that they will get it right over there.

You know, I hope that they will do

exciting and amazing things together,

become financially independent

and live a peaceful life,

which I suspect is what they both want.

I applaud Harry and Meghan

for standing up for what they believe

and wanting to carve out a life for themselves

that makes them happy.

That should ultimately be what we all want for them.

In 2018, William, Harry, Kate and Meghan

were being hailed as the golden generation

who'd build a new 21st century monarchy.

In just two years, that dream has shattered.

How? Finding Freedom certainly doesn't have all the answers,

but it does reveal the open wounds

currently blighting the royal family,

and some say rub salt into them.

There are two sides to every story.

Which one to believe -

that's up to you.

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