Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle stepped down from their roles as working royals in 2020. But a few months earlier, the public learned that all was not well for the duchess as she tried to adapt to her new life within Britain’s most famous family.
Long before the duchess sat down with Oprah Winfrey and made shocking claims about the royals, Meghan have another headline-grabbing interview and her comments stunned a lot of people including the film crew that was on location with her.
What Meghan revealed in ‘Harry & Meghan: An African Journey’ documentary
Back in 2019, a film crew traveled with the duke and duchess on their royal tour in South Africa to record a behind-the-scenes documentary titled Harry & Meghan: An African Journey. But no one expected the former Suits star to reveal some of the things she did.
Meghan became emotional speaking to journalist Tom Bradby about her struggles with the constant press and why she didn’t know what she was in for. The duchess explained that she wasn’t aware of how cruel the tabloids could be saying: “We don’t have that [in America] … I never thought that this would be easy, but I thought it would be fair. And that’s the part that’s really hard to reconcile.”
She added: “Any woman especially when they are pregnant you’re really vulnerable and so that was made really challenging, and then when you have a newborn — you know. And especially as a woman, it’s a lot. So you add this on top of just trying to be a new mom or trying to be a newlywed.”
Meghan also thanked Bradby for asking how she was doing because she claimed “not many people have asked if I’m OK.”
Director called duchess’s comments ‘outlandishly unexpected and shocking’
Former ITN editorial director Chris Shaw, who announced his departure from the company in January after 25 years, reflected on that interview and how surprising it was for everyone to hear at the time.
When asked by Deadline, if the team behind the program instantly knew the footage was “explosive” he responded: “That little conversation in South Africa seemed so outlandishly unexpected and shocking … we knew we had something pretty extraordinary.”
However, Shaw admitted that it all seems so tame now compared to what the Sussexes have talked about in more recent interviews. He also believes there is a “contradiction in Meghan and Harry’s desire for privacy and their willingness to share intimate details about their lives.”
He said: “I feel a bit sorry for them because I think they’re in the eye of the most appalling storm and they didn’t mean to go there.”
Prince Harry also made some surprising remarks in that same interview
In that same documentary, Harry stunned some people as well when he confirmed the rift with his older brother. The Duke of Sussex acknowledged it by stating: “Inevitably stuff happens. But we’re brothers, we’ll always be brothers. We’re certainly on different paths at the moment.”
Given what’s happened more recently many believe the relationship between the siblings is beyond repair.
Prince William is said to be particularly upset over the claims made about him in the Sussexes’ Netflix docuseries and the duke’s memoir Spare. A source told The Daily Beast that William “feels utterly betrayed by Harry. Relations have never been this bad, and he hates him for what he has done to the family in the books and interviews … it’s no secret he would prefer it if Harry wasn’t [at the coronation] or, indeed, never stepped foot in England again.”
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