Prince Harry’s acceptance of his mother’s infamous Panorama interview is just one of the shocking revelations about Meghan Markle’s extended relatives that are making headlines about the royal family in Netflix’s Harry & Meghan.
However, the documentary is more than just a harsh critique of the corrupt relationship between the media and the royal family. It offers a close-up view of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s personal life.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are releasing intimate images from their courtship and video of their family life in Montecito, California, for the first time ever.
Despite the couple’s reluctance to parade their young children Archie and Lilibet in front of the media, they are delighted to share these lovingly crafted photos of their offspring with everyone. And gosh, are the children of Harry and Meghan cute!
Prince Harry talks about the trauma of growing up in the public eye in the first episode of Harry & Meghan.
We watch terrifying video of the young prince fending off the paparazzi and a scheduled photocall that goes wrong in Switzerland. (Princess Eugenie, who was really young, stumbling in the snow, being made fun of, and then being made to smile for photographers is a powerful case against forcing young children to work as “working royals.”)
Harry and Meghan discuss the delicate balance between protecting their children from these exploitative situations and accepting the reality that the public is interested in the youngsters due to their famous family.
With this, Harry and Meghan appear to be having success. The majority of the film of Archie and Lilibet, also referred to as Lili, is taken without shoving the camera directly in the faces of the children.
What Prince Harry and Meghan Markle do share is the kind of charming, candid imagery you’d expect to see selected on your friends’ locked Instagram accounts for their newborns.
In fact, several of the pictures merely show the kids from behind, maintaining some sense of seclusion. It’s acceptable and good to pick and choose which images of your children you share with the public.
And Harry and Meghan share a ton of adorable images of their children that we haven’t seen before. None of which were captured using the long-lens camera of a paparazzo.
But the parts in Harry & Meghan where the kids’ developing personalities were shown to the world were my particular favorites involving Archie and Lili. Although Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s children make brief appearances in the Netflix series, Archie receives the majority of the attention.
Harry & Meghan’s main lesson about the lives of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is that they essentially reside in a paradisiacal paradise. Beautiful sunsets, a huge variety of live animals, and a lot of pastoral luxury are all visible.
Someone who appears to genuinely adore this way of life? Child Archie. The young boy’s description of the aforementioned sunset is the first thing we hear him say in the cartoon. He comments, “It’s all done so well.” Archie is frequently seen strolling up lush hills and toward goat pens, as seen in the image above.
Even though living on Archie and Lili’s estate in southern California appears to be comfortable, they may not be growing up in a palace.
We have to be grateful for what we have because there isn’t a lot of Lilibet content in the first three Harry & Meghan episodes – perhaps because she’s still a baby and doesn’t have a much to say.
We discover that while performing her duty as a chicken feeder, Meghan hitches Lili to herself in a carrier. Since there is no weeping or fussing, we must infer that this is something that baby Lili enjoys doing.
In Harry & Meghan, Prince Harry describes how Princess Diana’s legacy haunts him and drives him to quit the Royal Family in order to prevent history from repeating itself with his wife and kids.
We get to see how Harry and Meghan are educating their children about the icon. They show infant Archie a lovely framed portrait of Princess Diana while introducing her as “Grandma Diana.” Although these children will grow up knowing her as their gran, we may know her as the People’s Princess.
Hummingbirds flitting about a feeder is one of the sweetest intimate moments Harry & Meghan share with us. Little Archie hears Prince Harry warn him that they might never again get to see hummingbirds up close. He explains to the young child’s interest that hummingbirds typically avoid people. The youngster is unimpressed. He even bobs out of sight to lament his…dirty foot.
He laments to Meghan, or “Mama,” that he spent time with her and now his foot is dirty. Meghan slyly chuckles at the ridiculousness of her young son worrying over dirt between his toes while “Papa” is in a panic over hummingbirds.
Not only is this a charming image of household happiness, but we also find out that Meghan chose to divide the difference between the US and UK mothers by calling herself Mama. Harry is also Papa. And a serious birder? Were we aware of this? (Someone will respond by saying, “Yes, we did.”)
Harry & Meghan features significantly more video of Archie than Lili, as we’ve previously mentioned, but during the opening credits sequence, the couple gives a significant update on their youngest child.
We have a picture of the couple assisting little Lili in walking tucked between royal family footage and images of young Harry and Meghan. Although Lilibet is camera-shy, it appears that she is making significant early developmental progress off camera.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s children have much more sophisticated musical tastes than the majority of parents of young children, who have to endure Disney soundtracks and Baby Beluga on repeat. Archie, at least, does.
The Duke of Sussex plays “Bennie and the Jets” by Sir Elton John when Meghan requests that H serve as “DJ.” We quickly discover that the song is a staple for the pair because Archie loves it. Meghan exclaims how hilarious it is to hear a young child sing “Bennie!” Given their close friendship, we have to wonder if there are Zoom sing-alongs with the rock legend.
One of the most endearing scenes in the entire documentary series—Prince Harry reading a book to Archie and Lili—is sneaked in by Harry & Meghan filmmaker Liz Garbus through deft editing. In case you missed it, this scene is where the camera focuses on the celebrity couple’s two dogs while they rest on their couch.
You may see Archie sitting close to his father and Lilibet in his lap if you focus past the puppies. Family members who read together also rule together.
