AA Edit | A self-serving royal exposé

There are only three people who could have been totally happy with the documentary Harry & Meghan on the UK royal rebels — Harry, his wife Meghan and those running Netflix. The first three episodes of the 6-part serial in which the younger prince and his mixed-race Hollywood actress wife unburdened themselves while speaking of how distasteful they found life inside the UK royal family, with 2.4 mn people watching on TV on release day, became the highest rated ‘reality’ show for one day.

A couple of days later, 19.4 mn watched England lose to France in the football World Cup, which just goes to show how much the British public themselves cared for the royal expose that was way too self-serving and narcissistic as opposed to the gripping suspense of live sporting action.  The British royals, known for their stiff upper lip, did not so much as lend an eye to the documentary released on OTT. But the show was incendiary enough to spoil the last remnants of goodwill between sibling princes and their dad king and Camilla.

The inconsistencies, the outright lies, the cheeky criticism of the elder Prince marrying Kate because “she fitted the mould” wounding William beyond description, were exposed by courtiers. The leading question is if Harry and Meghan, now settled as commoners in the USA with their two children, were so concerned about their privacy that they quit life in the palaces of the House of Windsor, why then did they pose for the cameras and give up so much video footage of their lives. A prince’s ransom of a cheque was the obvious inducement.

Given the British history of colonialism and patronising of the slave trade, all the royals may not be above board when it comes to racist attitudes and behaviour. The institution itself may be an ugly anachronism in the modern age, but the British royals have been an institution through which the UK has done well in terms of attracting tourism, especially from across the Atlantic.

The notoriety of such exposes by an insider may do some damage and possibly promote republican values over monarchy, even if it is only in name. So self-centred has this couple been as to suffer an inability to see beyond the selfish world of “Haz and Meg”, a title that seems apt for the royal residents of California.