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00:00:00You're listening to KFI AM 640 live everywhere.
00:00:09I'm going to shift gears now.
00:00:11The royal family, you know, across the pond, yeah, those guys.
00:00:16I wanted to point out something about Americans' fascination with the royal family, right?
00:00:2229 million people watched Meghan and Harry's wedding.
00:00:25That's more people than watching American Idol in prime time, okay?
00:00:30My question to you is, are they still relevant?
00:00:33Harry, Harry, any regrets?
00:00:36We're invested in Harry as a person.
00:00:39Like, it's wild that he left his entire existence and life and anything that he would know
00:00:45to come to crazy America. America's crazy.
00:00:50So, he made a big change, and to know that now he has a family,
00:00:54and like, how is he going to move forward, I think is fascinating.
00:00:58We love a train wreck, we love a reality show that's messy,
00:01:02and that's kind of what they can give us.
00:01:05So, we want it to be okay, but we also love it not being okay.
00:01:28We love you, Harry.
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00:02:55That was the biggest one.
00:02:58Being there, you know full well this is massive, it's global news.
00:03:02It was exciting to be there.
00:03:05Congratulations, from all of us.
00:03:08How are you both feeling?
00:03:11We're thrilled.
00:03:13Big cheers for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle!
00:03:15Hooray!
00:03:18You're thinking, God, I don't want to mess this picture up.
00:03:20picture up. It's a hugely important picture.
00:03:33The royal family soon respond to the news.
00:03:37We're thrilled, thank you very much. To both of them. I hope they'll be very happy indeed.
00:03:41Absolutely thrilled. It's brilliant. William and I are absolutely thrilled.
00:03:45It's such exciting news.
00:03:51Your Royal Highness, Meghan Markle, congratulations to you both.
00:03:55Thank you. They just looked very much in love and it was a really nice moment to see them together
00:04:01and they looked comfortable with the media at that point.
00:04:03Was it an instant yes from you? Yes, as a matter of fact, I could barely let you finish proposing.
00:04:08I said, can I say yes now? She didn't even let me finish. She said, can I say yes, can I say yes?
00:04:12And then there was hugs and I had the ring in my finger and I was like, can I give you the ring?
00:04:16She was like, oh yes, the ring. How did you first meet?
00:04:22Yes, it was definitely a set up. It was a blind date.
00:04:27Prince Harry is 31, single and a working member of the royal family when he goes on a blind date
00:04:33at an exclusive members club in London with an American actress and model, three years older than him.
00:04:40We went and met for a drink and then I think very quickly into that we said,
00:04:46well, what are we doing tomorrow? We should meet again.
00:04:49It was hugely refreshing to be able to get to know someone who isn't necessarily within your circle,
00:04:54doesn't know much about me, I don't know much about her.
00:04:58So to be able to start almost afresh, right from the beginning and getting to know each other step by step.
00:05:03We had a good five, six months almost with just privacy, which was amazing.
00:05:08But we were totally unprepared for what happened after that.
00:05:18The relationship doesn't stay hidden from the public for long.
00:05:23The first report about the couple soon emerges.
00:05:27The journalist who breaks the story is Camilla Tomini,
00:05:31As far as the scoop's concerned, obviously no, a journalist won't discuss their sources.
00:05:38There was a huge amount of secrecy around the scoop.
00:05:41Once we knew that we had stood it all up and it was ready to publish, we didn't really tell anybody.
00:05:46I think I had a printout of what she looked like in the Deal or No Deal shoot.
00:05:51And I think I said to my editor at the time, you know, this is the woman that Prince Harry is dating.
00:05:56And I think he replied with, I've just felt a gust of wind go up my trousers.
00:06:01As in, it was quite obvious that it was going to make for a really good story.
00:06:06The idea of a British prince with an American potential princess.
00:06:10And yeah, I mean, it was just one of those stories that ran and ran.
00:06:17An American, a Californian.
00:06:18She said he's grown up on a diet of avocados and yoga.
00:06:22She is a divorcee and is mixed race.
00:06:25But she's a very successful actress.
00:06:27Suits is a big show in America.
00:06:29She's lovely.
00:06:30She's successful.
00:06:31Obviously come from an interesting family.
00:06:33She's used to the camera.
00:06:34She's been on TV.
00:06:35What should we tell her about Britain first?
00:06:37She's got a lot to learn is all I'll say.
00:06:53Meghan Markle was a well-known face on television,
00:06:56but the public were hungry for more.
00:07:00Who was Prince Harry's new girlfriend?
00:07:04Meghan was born in LA in 1981 to a white father, Thomas Markle,
00:07:08a television lighting director and an African-American mother,
00:07:12Doria, who's a yoga instructor and therapist.
00:07:16And there was this clear sense, really, from the very beginning
00:07:19that this could be the one, this glamorous American
00:07:22who clearly had a really interesting back story herself.
00:07:27Interviews with Meghan's estranged half-sister, Samantha,
00:07:31lead to damaging headlines.
00:07:35I think for Meghan, the level of scrutiny
00:07:39of both her and her family and her past,
00:07:43you cannot prepare yourself for what that's like.
00:07:46One, two, one, two, one, two.
00:07:52One person who knew Meghan before she met Prince Harry
00:07:56was Nick Ede.
00:07:58I met Meghan in 2013.
00:08:00I organised a thing called the Global Gift Gala,
00:08:03a really big philanthropic event.
00:08:07And I love the idea that you get to be a part of it.
00:08:10You get to be a part of it.
00:08:12You get to be a part of it.
00:08:14And I love new celebrities or people I didn't actually know too much about.
00:08:18And so I was approached by an agent who said,
00:08:20I represent Meghan Markle.
00:08:21She's in suit.
00:08:22It's a big show in America.
00:08:24I did a bit of research.
00:08:25I saw that she was quite philanthropic.
00:08:27And I thought, actually, it'd be really great to have somebody like her
00:08:30to host an event like this.
00:08:31So I asked her, and she said yes.
00:08:34We had a really nice friendship, really fun, very humble,
00:08:38very intelligent, and somebody who I love spending time with.
00:08:42Loved her fashion and was quite quiet.
00:08:44And it was quite interesting because I think where she was filming in Canada,
00:08:47everybody knew exactly who she was.
00:08:49Whereas in the UK, not everybody did.
00:08:51But when we used to go walking around London,
00:08:53suddenly you'd get some guys who work in the city.
00:08:55And they're like, oh my God, it's Rachel.
00:08:58In 2011, Meghan Markle got her big acting break,
00:09:01playing the role of feisty lawyer Rachel Zane
00:09:04in the American legal drama, Suits.
00:09:07I'm not going to go back inside and be there for him.
00:09:09Why not?
00:09:11Because he told me that he wasn't going to do this.
00:09:14What was really good about her, she was extremely proactive.
00:09:17You know, there are some people who probably rest on their laurels
00:09:19and they just wait for their agents and their publicists
00:09:21to create the magic for them.
00:09:23But actually, I saw very early on that Meghan was somebody who
00:09:26had her own drive and wanted to do it for herself.
00:09:31Having divorced film producer Trevor Engelson in 2013,
00:09:36she was travelling in Europe in between filming
00:09:39when she went on a blind date with a mystery man.
00:09:44I heard a few rumours from a few of my friends who said,
00:09:46oh, is it true?
00:09:47And when I found out, I was surprised.
00:09:50But I thought, actually, if anybody would be dating Prince Harry,
00:09:52it'd be Meghan.
00:09:54A week after their dating story is published,
00:09:57Harry breaks his silence.
00:10:00It was quite unprecedented, the nature in which he did it.
00:10:02And I remember looking at it and thinking,
00:10:03well, this must be serious then.
00:10:05There were even reports that he was quite desperate at that point,
00:10:08that if he didn't say something, he was going to lose her.
00:10:12That if she didn't feel protected, she'd just do a runner and think,
00:10:15no, thank you, this royal life isn't for me.
00:10:17So I think there was a lot of pressure on him at the time to say something.
00:10:21But the statement is also a withering attack on the press and social media,
00:10:26saying she has been the subject of a wave of abuse.
00:10:31It reads, some of this has been very public.
00:10:34The smear on the front page of a national newspaper,
00:10:38the racial undertones of comment pieces,
00:10:41and the outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments.
00:10:46So we had the voices on the street, be they people of colour or white people,
00:10:51saying this is going to be amazing, this is going to be fantastic,
00:10:53this is going to be wonderful, we want to embrace Meghan.
00:10:56But the headlines were starting to tell a very different story.
00:11:01There was some unfavourable coverage of her, one referring to exotic DNA and another
00:11:06talking about Meghan being straight out of Compton,
00:11:09which was geographically completely incorrect, let alone inappropriate.
00:11:14And at the time, journalists like me and others called those headlines out.
00:11:17There was unfortunately no surprise there when I saw headlines like that.
00:11:23It was clear that her race was going to play a part
00:11:28in this path that she was going to take with Harry.
00:11:42Over the years, all new royal partners have felt the pressure of intense public scrutiny.
00:11:49There's always concern that royal wives and girlfriends are going to be hounded by
00:11:54the paparazzi, as Diana and indeed in the earliest days of her relationship with William Cate was.
00:12:01This was Cate confronted by cameras on her 25th birthday.
00:12:05The Palace say they will present video to illustrate their claim that she is being harassed,
00:12:10a harassment they say that goes beyond the public's right to know
00:12:14and infringes her right to privacy.
00:12:18He'd had obviously long-term relationships with Chelsea Davy and Crested Bonus
00:12:23and it hadn't worked out because they hadn't wanted that baggage,
00:12:26that baggage of being a royal girlfriend.
00:12:30Meghan seemed a bit different.
00:12:31It seemed as if because she had her own career and because she had a past,
00:12:35that actually it wouldn't be too daunting to be a princess.
00:12:39So it kind of all stacked up to have the promise of something great.
00:12:43It's September 2017.
00:12:47So far, the public have only seen photographs of Harry with his new girlfriend.
00:12:53That's all about to change.
00:13:00So we have the first sighting of them together, I think Meghan in her famous white shirt,
00:13:04looking very much like her husband, the Prince of Wales.
00:13:08So we have the first sighting of them together, I think Meghan in her famous white shirt,
00:13:12looking very relaxed together, holding hands.
00:13:15Obviously the media frenzy around her as a royal girlfriend
00:13:19completely overshadowed anything that she had experienced on red carpets in the past.
00:13:30I was so happy when Harry found Meghan, I really was.
00:13:34He'd found love in his life again, and everyone was delighted.
00:13:44But I thought, you're going to have to learn fast, girl,
00:13:49because this family takes no prisoners.
00:13:52After a year and a half together, Prince Harry has announced his engagement
00:13:57to 36-year-old actress Meghan Markle.
00:14:02In contrast to his brother, William, who had been dating Kate Middleton for eight years
00:14:07before proposing, Harry appeared to be in more of a rush.
00:14:13There was a sense of urgency, a sense of urgency that he'd never felt before.
00:14:17It's quite obvious that Harry desperately wanted to start a family, so did Meghan,
00:14:22and therefore everything, I think, was pretty hurried at that stage,
00:14:25which is why you see Meghan go from sort of suits actress to ready-made royal in a matter of months.
00:14:32The fact that I fell in love with Meghan so incredibly quickly was a sort of confirmation
00:14:38to me that everything was going to be fine.
00:14:41Everything was just perfect.
00:14:43It was this beautiful woman just sort of literally tripped and fell into my life.
00:14:46I fell into her life, and the fact that she—
00:14:50I know the fact that she'll be really, unbelievably good at the job part of it as well.
00:14:57The reason why this story fascinates us is that it did have a beautiful start,
00:15:04and it did have a beautiful ending, and it did have a beautiful start.
00:15:07The reason why this story fascinates us is that it did have a beautiful start,
00:15:11and at its heart, this is a love story.
00:15:14There was a naturalness to them both, and you felt Harry's excitement.
00:15:18It was almost tangible that Harry was so madly in love with her,
00:15:21and we were genuinely, as a nation, thrilled for Harry.
00:15:25The ring is obviously yellow gold because that's her favorite,
00:15:30and the main stone itself is sourced from Botswana,
00:15:34and the little diamonds either side are from my mother's jewellery collection
00:15:39to make sure that she's with us on this crazy journey together.
00:15:42For many, Harry and Meghan's interview had obvious echoes.
00:16:04Lady Diana's father described her this morning as—
00:16:08he said he thought she'd make a very good housewife.
00:16:13We've yet to see.
00:16:16With Harry and Meghan, we felt so excited about this love story.
00:16:19We really believed in it in the same way we all wanted to believe
00:16:23that Diana's marriage to Charles was this fairytale love story.
00:16:27And, I suppose, in love.
00:16:29Of course.
00:16:31Whatever in love means.
00:16:33And we believed in it because the myth of fairytale is so ingrained into our psyche,
00:16:38but it's not real.
00:16:43What do you think your mother would have thought of Meghan or said about Meghan?
00:16:47At least they'd be thick as thieves, without question.
00:16:52I think she would be over the moon, jumping up and down, you know, so excited for me.
00:16:59But then, as I said, we'd have probably been best friends with Meghan.
00:17:04Well, because it was so unusual, because it was off the wall in royal terms,
00:17:09Diana would have absolutely loved it and would have been a great friend for Meghan.
00:17:15She would have said, look, if you're happy with my son and my son's happy with you,
00:17:20it doesn't matter where you are, who you are,
00:17:21listen, you've got me as the biggest ally ever.
00:17:25While many looked for comparisons between Meghan and Diana,
00:17:29the engagement interviews highlighted the differences.
00:17:33I had a long time to think about it, because I knew the pressure was on, both of us.
00:17:38They're not comparable, Diana and Meghan, because Diana was a kid.
00:17:42She was 19.
00:17:43She had the most extraordinary, both dysfunctional and very sheltered upbringing
00:17:48as a member of the aristocracy.
00:17:51And Meghan was part of the sharp, elbowed Hollywood world.
00:17:57She was in her mid-30s.
00:17:58She'd been through a marriage and she made a success of herself.
00:18:02And then she actively chose to give it all up to marry Harry.
00:18:08I don't see it as giving anything up.
00:18:10I just see it as a change.
00:18:13It's a new challenge.
00:18:13It's a new...
00:18:14It's a new chapter.
00:18:26Following their engagement, Meghan spent her first Christmas with the royal family
00:18:31at Sandringham.
00:18:33In the past, only married other halves had been invited.
00:18:38It included her first public curtsy to the Queen.
00:18:45And Harry then decided to do something which I thought was very brave,
00:18:49but probably was definitely the right thing.
00:18:51And that was to present his bride-to-be to the country.
00:18:55They are the royal couple of the moment and Nottingham had come out to wish them congratulations.
00:19:11At the beginning, they were on a huge charm offensive.
00:19:14Meghan!
00:19:14Meghan!
00:19:16I mean, they visited Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland.
00:19:20It's started raining for you.
00:19:22They did a lot of engagements, meeting as many different people as they could.
00:19:26I went on some of these trips.
00:19:27The turnout from the crowds, from the public, was immense and incredibly warm.
00:19:35Meghan shook it up a bit and Harry took that on board.
00:19:39And they were touchy-feely and he did put his arm around her and they did hold hands.
00:19:43And that's not something that you've seen specifically with the royals.
00:19:47She was massively popular.
00:19:52It must surely have validated Harry's decision
00:19:55that the woman he'd chosen to make his wife was the right woman
00:19:58because the reaction was uniformly positive.
00:20:12There was a striking similarity with Diana because Diana was a consummate performer.
00:20:17She knew how to run this show.
00:20:20I don't know how many hundreds of engagements I went on,
00:20:22both in the UK and abroad.
00:20:24The performance was always top.
00:20:30If you look at that comparison with Meghan,
00:20:32this woman knew exactly what she was doing.
00:20:34I remember seeing the camera panning onto Harry's face at that time
00:20:39and in complete amazement, in a way, almost saying,
00:20:42God, I've been doing this for... I can't do it as good as you.
00:20:45When he thought it was time to go, Meghan had other plans.
00:20:48She kept working the crowd and kept him waiting in the car.
00:20:59Yes, I guess there's an element that she was used to the attention she was going to get.
00:21:07But the British royal family is very different to the Hollywood red carpet thing.
00:21:12The rules of engagement are different for royals.
00:21:15It would be extraordinary for a senior royal to sign autographs,
00:21:19and yet Harry's fiancée was happy to put pen to paper.
00:21:23What she didn't realise was the protocols and some of the rules
00:21:28that being a member of the royal family entail.
00:21:38I think a good example with Meghan was very early on at one of her first engagements.
00:21:44She visited a radio station in Brixton,
00:21:46and there was a huge turnout. The public came to see her and catch a glimpse.
00:21:54And the crowd were all cheering, and she turned to the crowd
00:21:59and was just about to blow a kiss.
00:22:01And you could see her hesitating as she almost thought,
00:22:04actually, that's not really the done thing to do.
00:22:07She had to adapt to not being able to act in those ways.
00:22:15Oh, my God.
00:22:16What I saw were the voices of people of colour
00:22:21now playing a more pivotal role in terms of providing an opinion.
00:22:26I feel there's always been something that's missing in the royal family.
00:22:30I mean, all of us support the royal family,
00:22:33and there's just added something on top. I'm coming from a mixed-race background.
00:22:37What was the royal family going to look like?
00:22:39What was Meghan going to do in terms of, you know,
00:22:42moving the royal family forward, making it more modern?
00:22:45Now that she's up there within the royal families,
00:22:47they seem a bit more attainable, they seem a bit more reachable,
00:22:50and a bit more down-to-earth.
00:22:52They've got a connection with the public that no other couple in the royal family had.
00:23:00They were going to be in a position to reach out to that very different demographic that,
00:23:06for obvious reasons, the Queen and the then Prince of Wales couldn't possibly reach.
00:23:251952, one of the worst flash floods in British history.
00:23:29I've never seen a sight like that before.
00:23:31An entire village washed away overnight.
00:23:34It was a horrendous sight.
00:23:3552 years later, disaster struck again.
00:23:39The Great Devon and Cornwall Floods, next Saturday at nine on Channel 5 and My5.
00:23:51Welcome to the very first Royal Foundation Forum.
00:23:55Now, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage the patrons of the Royal Foundation,
00:23:58the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry and Miss Meghan Markle.
00:24:03One month after the Brixton visit,
00:24:05Meghan joins Harry with her future in-laws, William and Kate,
00:24:09who is pregnant with her third child.
00:24:12At the first Royal Foundation Forum,
00:24:16the image of the four young royals together
00:24:19appeared to show a positive vision of what the future could hold for the family.
00:24:25For me, it's been a very long time working on cause-driven work,
00:24:29specifically with women and girls.
00:24:30But, you know, to see the model of the foundation is really interesting.
00:24:34With the Royal Foundation, there was a sense that
00:24:37they're going to be this power group of young royals.
00:24:41This term that was come up with, the Fab Four,
00:24:44I think people were very excited about that.
00:24:47I think the hopeful new vision of the Royal Foundry was the fact that we'd have four
00:24:51taking us forward into the next century.
00:24:55That was the wow factor.
00:24:57You'll often hear people say,
00:24:59well, you're helping women find their voices.
00:25:01And I fundamentally disagree with that because women don't need to find a voice.
00:25:05They have a voice.
00:25:06They need to feel empowered to use it.
00:25:08And people need to be encouraged to listen.
00:25:11I watched that panel that they gave and I absolutely felt
00:25:16that there were going to be problems.
00:25:17It was never going to work.
00:25:20I think it's really important for women to have a voice.
00:25:23that there were going to be problems.
00:25:24It was never going to work.
00:25:27Meghan was so articulate, so confident, so poised on that panel.
00:25:32And I remember watching that thinking, oh, this is never going to work.
00:25:36They're far too polished.
00:25:37Working together as family, do you ever have disagreements about things?
00:25:42Oh, yes.
00:25:46Healthy disagreements.
00:25:47OK, the last thing you disagreed on, how do you resolve it?
00:25:50Er, I can't remember.
00:25:52They come so thick and fast.
00:25:57While they joked about the difficulties of working together,
00:26:00this would prove to be the only time we saw all four of them at such an event.
00:26:06Working as family does have its challenges, of course it does.
00:26:09Everybody here, the fact that everyone's laughing means that
00:26:11everybody knows exactly what it's like.
00:26:15But, you know, we're stuck together for the rest of our lives, so...
00:26:20It was a bright future.
00:26:24But I think personality has got in the way.
00:26:30I think there's always a moment where you look at people who enter the royal fray and think,
00:26:34do they know what's coming?
00:26:36This historic town is expectant, not to say excited,
00:26:40about making more history tomorrow
00:26:42with the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
00:26:45The forecast is for more sparkling sunshine on Saturday.
00:26:50It's the day before Prince Harry is due to marry his American fiancée, Meghan Markle.
00:26:56Over 100,000 people have gathered to see the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
00:27:02Over 100,000 well-wishers are expected in Windsor,
00:27:09including many from all over the world.
00:27:13Look how beautiful it is.
00:27:14It's such a beautiful day here in Windsor.
00:27:16I've met some beautiful women from Kingston, Houston, and we're part of history, so why not?
00:27:24The people who have gathered a day early are then treated to a surprise royal walkabout.
00:27:31There was a crowd forming.
00:27:32No one knew quite what was going to happen,
00:27:34but there was definitely a sense that something was going to happen.
00:27:36And then out of nowhere, William and Harry appeared and met the crowd.
00:27:47On the surface, there is no sign of nerves.
00:27:50On the surface, there is no sign of nerves.
00:28:00But behind the scenes, the run-up to the wedding had been anything but smooth.
00:28:07The question today is not whether Meghan Markle will take Prince Harry to be her wedded husband,
00:28:11but whether her father will be accompanying her down the aisle.
00:28:15Will he, won't he, how is he?
00:28:20Over the last week, the focus has been on a small Mexican town on the Pacific coast.
00:28:27It's here that Meghan's dad, Thomas Markle, lives.
00:28:32In the run-up to the wedding, he's been pictured preparing.
00:28:37But it's revealed the photos have been staged,
00:28:41leading people to question if he's making money off his relationship with Meghan.
00:28:46It doesn't immediately make sense.
00:28:50And with the wedding only days away,
00:28:53it throws into question whether he is going to be attending.
00:28:59With the whole world wondering if he will walk Meghan down the aisle,
00:29:04it seems the only person he is speaking to is reporter Sean Mandel.
00:29:10It was an absolute whirlwind the next few days,
00:29:14because I was the only person in the world, in the news media certainly,
00:29:19he was speaking to.
00:29:21And what came out was interesting.
00:29:25When I first spoke to him, he said he wasn't going to attend the wedding,
00:29:30but it was his decision because he felt he had embarrassed Meghan,
00:29:34and he had embarrassed the royal family.
00:29:37Thomas said that he participated in the taking of these photos
00:29:43because he wanted to change the narrative around how he was viewed.
00:29:47Because up until the point he was working with this paparazzo,
00:29:53the photos being taken of him were not complimentary.
00:29:58So you have a photo of him going to his local convenience store,
00:30:01buying beer in a plastic bag,
00:30:04and you think of that as the father of this glamorous woman
00:30:07who's going to be marrying Prince Harry.
00:30:09And that's not necessarily the image that he wanted the world to see.
00:30:13Over the next day, two days, he waffled a little bit on that
00:30:19and decided, no, I actually, I think I do, like, I do want to go.
00:30:23I want to be there.
00:30:25It's still not clear tonight whether or not the 73-year-old
00:30:28will walk Meghan down the aisle for her wedding to Prince Harry this Saturday.
00:30:32He was said to have pulled out,
00:30:33but tonight he's reportedly changed his mind.
00:30:36Well, whichever way it goes,
00:30:38the speculation is threatening to overshadow the couple's big day.
00:30:42There were many tears shed by Meghan during that saga.
00:30:46You know, this is her father, who she had,
00:30:50previously said she had a close relationship with.
00:30:52I remember writing at the time and being briefed, you know,
00:30:55that the couple were absolutely beside themselves about this whole thing.
00:30:59And I think the Archbishop of Canterbury had been in and out advising them
00:31:03because Meghan had become confirmed into the Church of England
00:31:06ahead of the wedding,
00:31:07and there'd been quite a close relationship
00:31:09between them and the Archbishop, and that he was counselling them,
00:31:12and that they were both in tears, and it was just all a nightmare.
00:31:16There is then another twist to the tale.
00:31:22I was boarding a flight to London.
00:31:25As I'm doing so, I'm on the phone with Thomas.
00:31:27I can hear medical beeping sounds in the background.
00:31:31He is in the hospital.
00:31:33Doctors are about to roll him in for surgery,
00:31:37roll him in for surgery to have stents placed in his heart,
00:31:41and that was the moment when it became clear there was no turning back.
00:31:45Today, Meghan Markle confirmed her father, Thomas,
00:31:48will not be there for her marriage to Prince Harry.
00:31:51Not because of those staged photographs, though, but because of his health.
00:31:56Meghan learned that her father wasn't going to be attending the wedding
00:32:00from the stories that I had been publishing.
00:32:02Thomas had been speaking with me this entire week,
00:32:04and according to her, he hadn't been speaking to her.
00:32:09It was an absolutely wild few days.
00:32:15Surreal, just absolutely surreal.
00:32:23Despite everything that had happened with Thomas Markle,
00:32:27when the wedding day arrives, the world is ready to celebrate.
00:32:35A global TV audience of almost two billion
00:32:38witnesses the excitement on the streets of Windsor.
00:32:42Look at the weather! It's a day of happiness and joy!
00:32:46It's been quite a week for the royal couple, in one way or another,
00:32:50but today they can put all the build-up behind them
00:32:53and focus on each other.
00:32:55This was going to be a royal wedding unlike any other.
00:33:01Harry had this unique opportunity to be a part of it.
00:33:04Harry had this unique relationship with his grandmother, the Queen.
00:33:07She wanted him to have the wedding that he wanted.
00:33:11Everybody who has been chosen to be invited to this wedding is known personally.
00:33:16David and Victoria Beckham, of course.
00:33:21There were so many royal fans from all walks of life,
00:33:24but noticeably there were a lot of Americans.
00:33:29It's not the first time Americans have been fascinated by one of your weddings.
00:33:34But this one's special. This is our girl marrying into your royal family.
00:33:39This was to be the first glimpse of the bride.
00:33:42Meghan Markle and her mother, Doria,
00:33:43leaving the Cliveden House Hotel in a vintage Rolls-Royce Phantom.
00:33:59Thousands line the streets as the bride makes her way to the chapel.
00:34:04CROWD GASPS
00:34:06She waved to her mother!
00:34:10Where she emerges to reveal her hugely anticipated dress.
00:34:21The work of a British designer from the French fashion house Givenchy.
00:34:27It is believed to cost in the hundreds of thousands of pounds.
00:34:31I was broadcasting for an American network, NBC,
00:34:33and because it was an American princess story,
00:34:37the Americans were going completely bonkers.
00:34:39They absolutely loved every minute of it.
00:34:42Everyone was invested in it and it was really very exciting.
00:34:44It was a really, really magical day.
00:34:47Everything about the wedding itself was pitch perfect,
00:34:49from the weather to the happiness that was abundantly clear
00:34:53on the faces of the couple themselves.
00:34:55CROWD CHEERS
00:34:59It was a joyful union of different cultures and different continents.
00:35:04A love story Hollywood will no doubt try to recreate in future years.
00:35:14For me, it was very weird. I was with a group of friends.
00:35:17We're watching this woman who I'd known, I'd been shopping with her in Zara,
00:35:20had coffees with her at Pret a Manger.
00:35:22It was a moment of pride I felt for her because I was like,
00:35:26this is amazing that she's got here.
00:35:29Happiness because the whole country was so happy.
00:35:32We all were feeling quite teary as well,
00:35:34really happy that Diana's son had got married.
00:35:38So it was a really great special moment for everybody.
00:35:41Even Thomas, I remember being on the long walk and texting him
00:35:45as soon as it was official and I was like,
00:35:48what's your reaction? And he said, my baby girl's a duchess.
00:35:51The House of Windsor has a new member and may never be quite the same again.
00:36:03The next morning, the clear-up begins and the world's media packs up and leaves.
00:36:10What next was the sky seemed to be the limit for this couple.
00:36:14I think the public went away at the end of it and thought,
00:36:18well, whatever they do next,
00:36:19it would be hard to surpass this, but they can do literally anything.
00:36:24Harry and Meghan head off on their secret honeymoon in the Mediterranean.
00:36:30But what would the future hold for them as they settle into royal life?
00:36:35It isn't long before the cracks begin to appear.
00:36:41There is a problem with the couple not wanting to toe the royal line,
00:36:45as has been expected.
00:36:47There are tensions between the royal brothers.
00:36:49Lo and behold, there are also tensions between the royal sister-in-laws.
00:36:52The first major royal tour that Meghan and Harry did was Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand.
00:37:12It started on such a positive note because Meghan announced that she was pregnant on the first day
00:37:17and that increased the excitement of the whole thing.
00:37:21People were really interested to see this rather modern representation
00:37:26of a very old-fashioned institution.
00:37:29And they were very excited to see the royal family,
00:37:32the royal family of the Queen of England,
00:37:34the royal family of the Queen of England,
00:37:36the royal family of the Queen of England,
00:37:38the royal family of the Queen of England,
00:37:40and they really did seem to have the future of the royal family,
00:37:46the House of Windsor, in the palm of their hands.
00:37:49To everyone in the royal household,
00:37:52Meghan was performing well in the very beginning.
00:37:54She was feted by everyone and she was following the royal protocol
00:37:58the way Diana and Charles had done it.
00:38:01And Meghan was being shown off to the world as the new asset for the royal family.
00:38:10Have you had a good tour?
00:38:12It's been great. Thanks, guys.
00:38:14As Harry and Meghan prepare to return home,
00:38:17all is not as rosy as it seems.
00:38:20There was hugely favourable publicity about the couple up until after their wedding
00:38:26and then, by their own admission, the narrative changed after the wedding.
00:38:31Reports emerge about tension in the run-up to Harry and Meghan's wedding.
00:38:35In particular, there are stories around a bridesmaid's dress-fitting
00:38:40that suggest a rift between Meghan and Kate.
00:38:45One of the first to report on it is Camilla Tomminy.
00:38:49We now know that the palace was arguably keeping a lid on quite a lot.
00:38:55If you have a wedding where you're then co-opting people in from the outside
00:39:00and you've got many, many, many people in the room,
00:39:05many, many, many more people witnessing behaviour,
00:39:09soaking up the atmosphere, observing interactions between different family members
00:39:14and all doesn't quite seem right,
00:39:17that is more likely to then leak out because the palace hasn't got a lid on it anymore.
00:39:22Behaviour that might have been witnessed by people in St George's Chapel,
00:39:27it becomes this massive thing
00:39:29and that's when you get some of the more negative headlines coming in.
00:39:34It's said Kate was left in tears following a bridesmaid's dress-fitting.
00:39:41One report even goes as far as saying Meghan made Kate cry.
00:39:45I wrote my version of events, which, by the way,
00:39:47was a pretty valence version of events, saying that Kate was left in tears.
00:39:51The Sun then followed it up and said Meghan made Kate cry,
00:39:54but that wasn't my original story.
00:39:55My original story was about two very different women
00:39:58who weren't quite seeing eye to eye.
00:40:01Sometimes people don't see eye to eye.
00:40:05More headlines follow, suggesting a growing sense of discontent
00:40:12between Meghan and palace staff.
00:40:15It was all a welcome distraction from rumours
00:40:18about how she's fitting in or not with the Windsors.
00:40:20Reports in some newspapers about fallings out in the royal household
00:40:23of Meghan Duchess of Sussex.
00:40:25If you've opened a paper or looked online in the past few weeks,
00:40:28you won't have been able to escape stories of
00:40:31and rumours about discord in Kensington Palace.
00:40:34Is Meghan getting on with her sister-in-law?
00:40:36Are the staff working for her happy?
00:40:40It was around this time that headlines began appearing,
00:40:43which have been characterised since as,
00:40:46was she A, Duchess different,
00:40:50or was she B, Duchess difficult?
00:40:53And the implication was that in their rush to be seen
00:40:59to be a different kind of royal couple,
00:41:02they were putting backs up.
00:41:04The honeymoon period between Meghan and Harry
00:41:06and the mass media was quite short.
00:41:09There were all kinds of stories that dribbled out.
00:41:13Not necessarily accurate,
00:41:14but nonetheless they gave an impression of discontent.
00:41:30With the birth of their first child imminent,
00:41:33many wonder if they will follow royal tradition or not.
00:41:38The birth of Archie was a turning point.
00:41:41Not just British press,
00:41:43mass international interest in the pending arrival
00:41:47of the royal family's first mixed-race, half-American baby.
00:41:53And they decided not to play ball.
00:41:59With previous royal babies,
00:42:01there was always this idea that they would come out
00:42:04and pose up on the steps of the hospital
00:42:06with their newborn baby.
00:42:08Diana did it with William and Harry.
00:42:13William and Kate did it with their three children.
00:42:18So there was this thinking
00:42:20that they would do something similar.
00:42:22But as it got closer to the birth,
00:42:24it became more apparent
00:42:25that things weren't necessarily going to go in that way.
00:42:28And it ended up being a very, very private affair.
00:42:31He made it quite clear
00:42:32that he wasn't going to follow the usual format.
00:42:35He did not see why his wife should perform
00:42:38and stand up with their newborn
00:42:41just because the media expected it.
00:42:43They were putting down a marker
00:42:44that they were not following the royal route.
00:42:47They were going to do things differently.
00:42:58Good to see you.
00:43:00Miss Harry, anything you want to share with us below?
00:43:04Yes, I'm very excited to announce
00:43:07that Meghan and myself had a baby boy
00:43:11early this morning.
00:43:12A very healthy boy.
00:43:14I'm so incredibly proud of my wife.
00:43:17And as every father and parent would ever say,
00:43:21you know, your baby is absolutely amazing.
00:43:23But this little thing is absolutely to die for.
00:43:27So I'm just over the moon.
00:43:29Thank you very much, guys.
00:43:36But the public really,
00:43:37they love these pictures of, you know,
00:43:40the royal standing on the steps of a newborn baby.
00:43:42It's kind of a tradition.
00:43:43So to not have that, I guess,
00:43:46kind of ruffled some feathers.
00:43:48But on the flip side,
00:43:50it's understandable that people want privacy
00:43:52around the birth of their child.
00:43:57Two days after the birth,
00:43:59Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor
00:44:02is introduced to the world
00:44:04at his first photo call
00:44:06in the more private surroundings of Windsor Castle.
00:44:11Magic. It's pretty amazing.
00:44:12And I mean, I have the two best guys in the world,
00:44:16so I'm really happy.
00:44:19It was a sign that the way things might go with them,
00:44:22that they won't go to a place
00:44:24the way things might go with them,
00:44:26that they won't go along that traditional way,
00:44:29and they were definitely going to do things their way.
00:44:33He has the sweetest temperament.
00:44:34He's really calm and...
00:44:38He gets that from me.
00:44:40Yeah.
00:44:40And he's been, it's just been a dream.
00:44:42So it's been a special couple of days.
00:44:46But I think that started to sour things.
00:44:48And then, of course, it's very easy to add the moniker.
00:44:51Oh, well, they're entitled.
00:44:53They're going to do it their way.
00:44:55They're difficult.
00:44:56They're not playing the royal game.
00:44:57I think there was definitely a sense that the pressure's building,
00:45:00that the cracks were starting to show,
00:45:02and that there was a friction.
00:45:04Why didn't they want to show the world their joy?
00:45:07They're retreating.
00:45:09They're pulling back.
00:45:10That's when I thought it was going wrong.
00:45:15Less than a year after this moment,
00:45:17Harry and Meghan would board a plane,
00:45:20leaving the UK to start a new life away from the royals.
00:45:25But it wouldn't take them long to burn their bridges
00:45:28with the UK and the media.
00:45:41A bit of breaking news tonight.
00:45:42The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have announced
00:45:44that they are carving out what they call a new role for themselves
00:45:48in a statement released in the last few minutes.
00:45:50They say they intend to step back as senior members of the royal family
00:45:55and work to become financially independent.
00:46:00I remember getting a text from someone in my office saying,
00:46:05oh, have you heard the news about Harry and Meghan?
00:46:06They're stepping down.
00:46:08And I said, oh, yeah, they're always saying,
00:46:10there's always rumors of that.
00:46:11And they go, no, no, no, turn the news on.
00:46:13This is happening.
00:46:14Pretty dramatic stuff, isn't it?
00:46:15It's a bit of a wow moment, isn't it?
00:46:17I mean, basically, as far as I can tell,
00:46:18I mean, this statement landed in my inbox less than 10 minutes ago.
00:46:22They are resigning from the royal family.
00:46:24It's simple as that.
00:46:25They are stepping back as what they call senior royals.
00:46:29It's early evening when an Instagram post
00:46:31from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex is published.
00:46:36It announces their plan to step back
00:46:38as senior members of the royal family.
00:46:43Huge royal drama in the United Kingdom.
00:46:46I don't think that's fair.
00:46:47Genuine bombshell.
00:46:49Having met in 2016, married in 2018,
00:46:54and had their first child, Archie,
00:46:56who is now just eight months old,
00:46:59Harry and Meghan have decided to step away from the royal family.
00:47:04CNN has learned they did not insult other royals
00:47:07before making this announcement.
00:47:09They didn't even tell the queen.
00:47:12They caught the royal family on the hop.
00:47:14The family didn't know it was coming.
00:47:16And it was clear that a split was inevitable.
00:47:19It was incredibly sad to hear
00:47:22that there was going to be this departure
00:47:25because what it did was it smashed the snow globe.
00:47:31It smashed the fairy tale.
00:47:34It was a big deal because suddenly you're thinking,
00:47:37wow, what does this mean?
00:47:39What's going to happen?
00:47:41So what will that normal life look like?
00:47:44The decision raises some fundamental questions
00:47:47about their role as royals, their titles,
00:47:50and more importantly, perhaps, their finances.
00:47:53Where will they live?
00:47:54And will the taxpayer continue to foot the bill?
00:47:58As courtiers and aides at Buckingham Palace
00:48:00scramble to deal with this royal crisis,
00:48:03the public are left wondering, how has it come to this?
00:48:09I never personally thought they would pull the plug,
00:48:13but when they did, it was shocking.
00:48:15And in this great soap opera that is the royal family,
00:48:19it was one of the most remarkable episodes of all time.
00:48:22In retrospect, the clues were always there.
00:48:36It's September 2019,
00:48:38four months before the couple's shock announcement.
00:48:42Harry and Meghan are in South Africa
00:48:44on their first foreign tour with a new baby.
00:48:47On the surface, everything appears to be going well.
00:48:51On the tour was royal photographer, Zak Hussein.
00:48:55They visited a tan ship outside Cape Town
00:48:58and it was so colourful
00:49:00and it was such a great start to the tour.
00:49:02And Meghan made this huge speech about empowerment for women
00:49:06and started dancing with all the locals.
00:49:10And it was just a great, positive start to the tour
00:49:13that showed them in a really positive light.
00:49:19In Cape Town, four-month-old baby Archie
00:49:23is taken on his first official engagement,
00:49:26a meeting with Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
00:49:40But behind the scenes, the couple are far from happy.
00:49:46It's announced they're beginning legal proceedings
00:49:49against three different newspapers,
00:49:51while Harry attacks the press for vilifying his wife.
00:49:56And this week, Harry described the treatment of his wife as bullying,
00:50:00driven by relentless propaganda and lie after lie.
00:50:04We will firmly stand up for what we believe.
00:50:06We will always stand up for what we believe.
00:50:09We will always seek to challenge injustice
00:50:11and to speak out for those who may feel unheard.
00:50:15It's during the tour, in an interview for an ITV documentary,
00:50:20that Meghan's unhappiness is laid bare.
00:50:24I don't know what the impact on your physical and mental health
00:50:27of all the pressure that you clearly feel on me.
00:50:32Um, I would say...
00:50:36Look, any woman, especially when they're pregnant,
00:50:38you're really vulnerable.
00:50:41You add this on top of just trying to be a new mom
00:50:45or trying to be a newlywed.
00:50:46It's, um...
00:50:50Yeah, well, I guess...
00:50:50And also, thank you for asking,
00:50:52because not many people have asked if I'm OK.
00:50:54But it's, um...
00:50:57It's a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes.
00:51:01And the answer is, would it be fair to say not really OK?
00:51:06And it's really been a struggle.
00:51:08Yes.
00:51:10I remember thinking,
00:51:12oh, my God, you know, there's something seriously wrong here.
00:51:16We don't expect emotional vulnerability from a royal.
00:51:21And there's Meghan, tearful, expressive,
00:51:25saying she's not happy, saying,
00:51:27no-one's asked me how I'm feeling.
00:51:30People question the appropriateness of sort of
00:51:32talking about how hard life is in the royal family
00:51:35when you've just visited a township
00:51:36with profoundly poor and disadvantaged young people living in it.
00:51:41But clearly, that was their way of making a public statement
00:51:44that all wasn't well.
00:51:46It's not enough to just survive something, right?
00:51:50Like, that's not the point of life.
00:51:52You've got to thrive, you've got to feel happy.
00:51:54And I think I really tried to adopt this British sensibility
00:51:58of a stiff upper lip.
00:52:01It has its, you know, it has its advantages, I guess.
00:52:04I tried, but I think that
00:52:09what that does internally is probably really damaging.
00:52:16So privately, it's sad.
00:52:17It happens in lots of families, of course.
00:52:20Publicly, though, it may be bad for the monarchy in the long term.
00:52:25Are you surprised, given what you've heard tonight?
00:52:27I think in many ways, to me, it feels a bit like
00:52:30what we might call medical leave.
00:52:34HE SIGHS
00:52:42Harry and Meghan go on a six-week break from royal duties.
00:52:47They spend their time on Vancouver Island in Canada,
00:52:51deciding their future.
00:52:54The royal rule, for donkey's years,
00:52:57has been never complain, never explain.
00:52:59It's been their unofficial motto.
00:53:01And you could see the trouble was brewing.
00:53:14Well, it's been dubbed the Sandringham Summit.
00:53:18The Queen called a family crisis meeting to discuss how to proceed
00:53:21after Harry and Meghan dropped that bombshell
00:53:24that they intended to step back as senior royals.
00:53:27Some of the things they'll be discussing,
00:53:28how exactly do you resign from the firm?
00:53:31Can you go part-time and become half a royal highness?
00:53:34And in a very modern way, we're told that Meghan may be
00:53:36dialling into the meeting from Canada.
00:53:39We had this famous Sandringham Summit in January 2020,
00:53:44where the Prince of Wales, the Queen, Prince William and Harry,
00:53:49and various courtiers were sort of sitting around a table
00:53:53in the long library at Sandringham,
00:53:55trying to sort of thrash out an agreement
00:53:58where there really wasn't much common ground.
00:54:01I mean, you know, a few years ago, Meghan Markle was working
00:54:04on a show called Deal or No Deal,
00:54:06and today she's doing Deal or No Deal
00:54:08with the Queen of England on a speakerphone.
00:54:10Most people have been saying on social media tonight,
00:54:12oh, to be a fly on the wall at that meeting.
00:54:15I think the real problem for the royal family then was,
00:54:17what was this new arrangement going to look like?
00:54:21Can you be half in and half out?
00:54:24Can you be a member of the royal family and have your HRH,
00:54:27but can you also go to America and earn money?
00:54:30The Queen, Charles and William clearly want to make this work
00:54:33if they possibly can,
00:54:34and this will be sorted out in days, not weeks.
00:54:39What's not good is the optic of a family in crisis
00:54:43and a kind of a family splitting apart.
00:54:47They are the nation's figurehead,
00:54:49and I think that it was a big wobble for the royal family.
00:54:54Is there a feeling in Britain
00:54:55that this is actually Harry's idea
00:54:57or that Meghan has done something?
00:55:00Well, the press reporting has gone bonkers.
00:55:03You know, even Mexie, I mean, it's pretty gendered.
00:55:06It's Harry that's leaving the royal family.
00:55:08He's the blooming prince.
00:55:11Lots of people were just blaming Meghan,
00:55:13and I said, well, no, the feelings were there already.
00:55:15Meghan did give them a degree of rocket fuel.
00:55:18Like, together they were stronger
00:55:19in their endeavour of breaking away,
00:55:22but this was, Harry had been unhappy for some time.
00:55:26I think it was incredibly damaging for Harry
00:55:30that the optics were that he was letting down the queen.
00:55:34It doesn't look good.
00:55:36The monarchy just kept on keeping on
00:55:41and decided there was going to be no halfway house,
00:55:44that you're either in or you're out,
00:55:46and I think Harry thought,
00:55:47what have I got to stay for, really,
00:55:50if his wife wasn't happy?
00:55:51And therefore, Meghan and Harry left.
00:55:55The Royal Family
00:56:05Ten days after Harry and Meghan's Instagram post is published,
00:56:09a decision is announced on their future.
00:56:17In what is being seen as the biggest split in the royal family in decades,
00:56:21the full details of Prince Harry and Meghan's separation
00:56:24from the royals have been released.
00:56:27Well, the Prime Minister has wished Prince Harry and Meghan
00:56:29well in their new roles,
00:56:31which will have no royal tours and no titles,
00:56:33but also no taxpayers' money.
00:56:36I was very sad to see Harry leave the Royal Family.
00:56:39I was very sad to see Meghan leave the Royal Family.
00:56:42They were a power force.
00:56:44There was so much potential there,
00:56:47but they just couldn't settle within the system.
00:56:50The relationship, in particular,
00:56:52between William and Harry had deteriorated.
00:56:55I mean, far beyond what the public at that time knew,
00:56:59or indeed the media knew.
00:57:03And that sort of went to the heart of the issue, really,
00:57:06because these two brothers had been so much part of the royal story,
00:57:12and yet now they had been driven apart by circumstances.
00:57:16Nothing really typified that more than the Commonwealth service
00:57:21at Westminster Abbey,
00:57:23the way that William and Kate almost studiously ignored
00:57:29Harry and Meghan.
00:57:31They were separated by only a few feet,
00:57:34but they could have been 1,000 feet apart.
00:57:37They were separated by only a few feet,
00:57:40but they could have been 1,000 feet apart.
00:57:43They were separated by only a few feet,
00:57:45but they could have been 1,000 miles apart.
00:57:48It was suffused with sadness, really.
00:57:50That, of course, was their very last public engagement.
00:57:54MUSIC FADES
00:58:10Almost immediately when the news broke that they were leaving,
00:58:15the thought was, Meghan's going back to Hollywood.
00:58:19Southern California is Meghan's home.
00:58:22It's where she's from.
00:58:23It's where her mother still lives.
00:58:24It's where her friends are, really,
00:58:26that she developed those relationships with
00:58:29over the years as an actress.
00:58:31From everything I've heard, Meghan and Harry,
00:58:34when they left the UK,
00:58:36started to have plans to come to California pretty quickly,
00:58:41even though they didn't get there right away.
00:58:45Amid the global coronavirus crisis,
00:58:48Harry and Meghan stay at the Beverly Hills home
00:58:51owned by celebrity friend Tyler Perry.
00:58:56In one of the world's most exclusive property markets,
00:59:00the question then is,
00:59:02where would they buy their first home together?
00:59:15In the end, Harry and Meghan pay over $14.5 million
00:59:20for their new family home.
00:59:23Suddenly, the public want to know more
00:59:26about a place called Montecito.
00:59:29Montecito's most famous couple
00:59:31came here to build a new life together.
00:59:33This place affords them and many other celebrities
00:59:36discreet privacy.
00:59:37They're in a part of Southern California called Montecito.
00:59:41It's more in the Santa Barbara area,
00:59:44about two hours north of Los Angeles.
00:59:46There are a lot of other celebrities who live there,
00:59:49so in a sense, it's been vetted.
00:59:51You have Ellen DeGeneres in the neighborhood.
00:59:53Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom are their neighbors.
00:59:57It is considered to be an enclave,
01:00:00a certain posh enclave for celebrities.
01:00:04You have to think about,
01:00:05well, what is their career going to be
01:00:08now that they're not senior working royals?
01:00:10How can they earn money?
01:00:12You can take the prince out of the palace,
01:00:14but you can't take the palace
01:00:16and all the princely expectations out of the prince.
01:00:19That's far harder,
01:00:20because if Harry's going to do good works,
01:00:23like the Invictus Games,
01:00:24he has to also live like a prince
01:00:27and earn money like a prince.
01:00:28But then I think when money gets involved,
01:00:31it's like, well, okay,
01:00:32we could understand if you wanted to leave,
01:00:35but you go into exile.
01:00:37You're not seen, you're not heard.
01:00:38You live your life quietly, elegantly,
01:00:42in your mansion abroad,
01:00:43and you don't ruffle feathers here.
01:00:45What's untenable is to want to use your royal position
01:00:50to then make money off that,
01:00:52and I can completely understand why people would say
01:00:56that is appalling that you would earn all this money
01:00:59to diss your family.
01:01:00Harry chose to do it his way.
01:01:03They didn't want to be told what to do.
01:01:05They wanted to escape.
01:01:08After one of the biggest royal crises in decades,
01:01:11Harry and Meghan have set up a new life
01:01:14away from the royal family.
01:01:16Voices at the palace saying how unhappy they were about this,
01:01:21the word shoddy has been bandied around,
01:01:23disappointed, hurt, dismayed.
01:01:25Now living in California and cut off from royal funding,
01:01:30there is a lot of speculation about how they will earn money.
01:01:34They have to make money for themselves.
01:01:36That's what being financially independent means.
01:01:39And the problem with that is that
01:01:41they also need an incredible amount of money
01:01:43because the circle they move in are people like George Clooney
01:01:46whose net worth is half a billion dollars.
01:01:52When are they going to actually have a car
01:01:54that can be put into a movie or TV show?
01:01:56They have one available.
01:01:57OK.
01:01:58Stacey Jones is the founder of a branding company in Los Angeles.
01:02:02She helps celebrities maximise their earning potential.
01:02:06So how can someone who is a royal and an actress
01:02:09actually come in and make money?
01:02:11They can do something that consumers are going to pay for.
01:02:14So that's going to be content.
01:02:16They were taking meetings left and right.
01:02:18They were trying to determine what is the best pathway for them forward.
01:02:22So to have Netflix come forward and offer them $100 million
01:02:26to produce and to be part of content
01:02:29is an unbelievable opportunity.
01:02:31And then all of a sudden we heard
01:02:33Harry and Meghan signed a partnership with Spotify for $20 million.
01:02:37Even after leaving the royal family,
01:02:39Harry and Meghan remain one of the most talked about couples in the world.
01:02:43They needed a big deal and they got one.
01:02:47He might not like the institution of monarchy,
01:02:51but he's a prince.
01:02:53And he's going to own that and hold on to that
01:02:55and make money from that.
01:02:57They know their money comes in
01:02:59not because they're skilled engineers or rocket scientists,
01:03:03but because they're public figures.
01:03:05So of course they always knew that they needed the oxygen of publicity.
01:03:10The problem for the royal family was that
01:03:13Harry and Meghan were gone, but they were far from forgotten.
01:03:16They were a huge global story.
01:03:18And then suddenly the Oprah Winfrey interview happened.
01:03:22In a move that stuns the world,
01:03:24a trailer for an interview Harry and Meghan have given to Oprah Winfrey
01:03:28is released.
01:03:30Were you silent or were you silenced?
01:03:33I just want to make it clear to everybody
01:03:36there is no subject that's off-limits.
01:03:39Shown six days before it is due to air,
01:03:42it begins a week of intense speculation.
01:03:45Because she can now, Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex,
01:03:48says that's why she agreed to sit down
01:03:50for a much-awaited interview with Oprah Winfrey.
01:03:53Well, the gloves are off in this royal rift.
01:03:59But as the world waits to hear what they will say,
01:04:02Meghan faces accusations that she bullied some of her staff.
01:04:07Team Sussex is very clear today,
01:04:09calling the allegation a misleading smear.
01:04:12Once Harry and Meghan have said their bit on Oprah, that's it.
01:04:15That's what the world will listen to.
01:04:17And these people I spoke to, they just want to get a voice out there
01:04:20saying, actually, there's another story.
01:04:23Reports suggest a complaint about Meghan Markle
01:04:26has been made to the royal family.
01:04:28The royal family has said that Meghan Markle
01:04:31is not the right person for the job.
01:04:34Reports suggest a complaint about Meghan's behaviour
01:04:37was initially made in October 2018.
01:04:41It was around this time she was on her first royal tour in Australia.
01:04:46Despite being seen as a success,
01:04:48it appears behind the scenes, all was not well.
01:04:53A few things had happened on the tours
01:04:55where one aide was seen in tears,
01:04:58and then on another occasion, Meghan had to leave an engagement early
01:05:02and there was a big kerfuffle.
01:05:04So I think there was this kind of perception of some tension.
01:05:08Reports have suggested one assistant quit
01:05:11after emails were sent as early as 5am.
01:05:15But the suggestion of bullying takes it to a new level.
01:05:19There are several people who I'm aware of
01:05:22who are still in a fragile and an emotionally fraught state
01:05:26because of what happened more than a year ago.
01:05:29This is getting really ugly, this back and forth just escalating.
01:05:35I would say that the timing of this story
01:05:37is obviously pretty noticeable.
01:05:42Meghan denies all allegations.
01:05:46But there's another issue.
01:05:51With the Duke of Edinburgh still in hospital,
01:05:53the timing of the Oprah interview in the US and here on ITV
01:05:57has been the subject of debate.
01:06:00I think what upset a lot of people here was at that time
01:06:04Prince Philip was nearing the end of his life,
01:06:07the Queen was extremely elderly,
01:06:10and yet she was being confronted by the heartbreak, if you like,
01:06:14of listening to her grandson's litany of complaints.
01:06:22When the interview eventually airs,
01:06:24the world is watching and waiting to see what will be revealed.
01:06:29When the Oprah Winfrey interview came out, they said too much.
01:06:33This, you couldn't take your eyes off it.
01:06:35Every minute of it, it was just public muckraking.
01:06:40Next time...
01:06:42What was the tipping point that made you decide you had to leave?
01:06:47As a moment of high theatre, it was super dramatic.
01:06:51The explosive revelations continue.
01:06:54They've shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile up until this point.
01:07:00Deals break down.
01:07:02They were famously called out for being quote-unquote grifters.
01:07:07And is the royal family broken forever?
01:07:10The drawbridge is up and Harry is shut out.
01:07:14And don't miss the concluding part of Meghan and Harry,
01:07:17The Rise and Fall, brand new at nine tomorrow.
01:07:21What's life really like in the Royal Navy?
01:07:24With unprecedented access,
01:07:25join JJ Chalmers and Julia Bradbury on board a warship,
01:07:29brand new Tuesday at nine.
01:07:31Next, when TV guests go horribly wrong.
01:07:44.