By Marisa Laudadio
10:19pm PST, Dec 18, 2022
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On Dec. 8, 2022, Netflix debuted the first three episodes of the docuseries "Harry & Meghan," in which Prince Harry and wife Duchess Meghan chronicle their love story and reasons for their exit as senior members of Britain's royal family. The second set of episodes debuts on Dec. 15. See what Hollywood stars and other celebrities had to say about the controversy-sparking and record-breaking show about the royals…
In her lengthy column for DailyMail.com — one of the outlets Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan have sued and criticized — Meghan McCain declared after the second half waited that "no one likes clickbait." She explained, "After the infamous Oprah interview and Volume I, everyone was expecting some bombshells. But it was all duds. The most explosive headline from Volume II was that Harry's brother screamed at him when H&M decided to ditch the family and pursue fame and fortune abroad." She continued, "But we're not told what William said. Harry receives a text from William after the Oprah sit-down, but we don't know what he wrote. That's their style — all tease and no payoff. We still don't know the identity of the 'royal racist' who allegedly questioned 'how dark' their son Archie's skin would be. We don't know the details of how Princess Kate allegedly made Meghan cry before the wedding. We have no tangible proof that the royal family is institutionally racist." Meghan lamented, "This is what I spent six hours of my life waiting for? Instead, we are shown them crying during emotional hypnotherapy sessions — whatever that is. Not to mention what they put their family through. How trashy to shame your own flesh and blood and for what? It was all smoke and no fire." According to Meghan, "Americans want to root for the underdog, but you've got to give us something — anything — to root for."
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"King Charles needs to strip these two poisonous rats of all remaining titles & ties to the Royal Family.. and needs to do it fast before they destroy the Monarchy," television host Piers Morgan tweeted of the first three episodes. After the second half dropped, he tweeted, "Prince Harry publicly trashing his brother William, branding his father King Charles a liar, and attacking his grandmother the late Queen for doing nothing. This is such a grotesque and sickening betrayal of his family. #MeghanandHarryNetflix."
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"In the latest ep of Meghan & Harry I found myself turning to their side," "The Real Housewives of Orange County" alum Meghan King wrote on her Instagram Story after part 2 of the docuseries dropped. "I think Harry seems like his mother and the two of them are in love and want to protect their kids. There's nothing more relatable in the world than that." She added, "Also, holy f'd up British media. Daily Mail and Sun are always writing articles ABOUT ME (I'm a nobody compared to most celebs) and it's such trash and embellished and they leave out details. Our tabloids like US Weekly and even Page 6 (eek, pains me to even say this) are much more honest and ethical with their *ahem* journalism. SO bravo for attempting to escape this. I can only imagine how unsafe they feel judging from my baseline of often feeling vulnerable and unsafe."
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On her SiriusXM podcast "The Megyn Kelly Show," former Fox News and "Today" show star Megyn Kelly called the first three episodes of the Sussexes' docuseries a "boring, uninspiring, interminable waste of time" and said Prince Harry needs "a real psychotherapist" and "not a whiny, woke annoying wife." According to the New York Post, Megyn further called the Netflix show a "farce" and described it as not a "tell-all" but rather a "tell-what-you-think-makes-you-look-good." She also lamented that "this couple is still complaining" even though they have "two beautiful, perfectly healthy children … and nearly $200 million in the bank thanks to their insatiable desire to 'finally tell their story.'" After the second set of three episodes dropped, Megyn tweeted, "As he prances around the $14m, 9-bdrm mansion in Montecito w/massive gardens, white lighted-cocktail parties & mountain views from his 7-acre yard, Harry laments how all he ever wanted was this 'normal life!' These are the LEAST SELF-AWARE PEOPLE ON EARTH. #HarryandMeghanNetflix."
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"This profound hatred and annoyance at Meghan Markle specifically, mostly coming from women, I have to say, it's unfathomable to me, because people are saying, 'A woman should never take a man away from his family. That's all this is.' Um, have you seen this family?' [Can] we go back to the abdication of King Edward who left the family because they would not allow him to marry the woman he loved because she had been divorced — he left the family. When they didn't allow Princess Margaret to marry Peter Townsend, she did not leave the family but I kind of wish she had. I mean, apart from Diana Princess Margaret's story is one of the saddest." –country music singer Maren Morris on TikTok
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"I was totally bored by the whining, the whining, the whining," Sharon Osbourne said on Piers Morgan's "Uncensored" show. "And you know, the curtsy and the thing she said about Medieval Times — the lunch with the queen was like medieval times which as you know is a Disney-type entertainment place for kids. It is just so horribly disrespectful and just a whine fest. I mean, is [Harry's] book going to be the same thing?" Sharon added, "You have a great life, you have a beautiful family, and you are so much in love. Move on. Get a life and move on."
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"A Love Song #HarryandMeghan" –Grammy-winning singer Anita Baker
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Radio host Howard Stern said that after watching the first three episodes, "I wouldn't stay with it, but my wife [Beth Ostrosky Stern] wants to watch it. You know, we have shows we watch. But they come off like such whiny b******. I gotta tell you man, I just don't get it. I get Prince Harry being pissed off at the monarchy for his mother. They treated her like s*** … I feel bad for Prince Harry losing his mother and all that. So you got my empathy there. But Jesus Christ, when those two start whining about 'Wah wah wah, and they don't like me' — and [Meghan] wants to be beloved in this country, but man, oh man. … It's like 'The Kardashians' — except boring."
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"They call each other M and H. Meg and Haz. Anyway they have a lot of nicknames, fine. But there is some comedy. And I am not trashing them… they can do no wrong. First of all, Meghan kinda acts like she was never on 'Deal or No Deal' and when I say 'kinda acts like,' I mean they don't acknowledge it at all, which is hilarious to me. 'Cause that's a good gig if you're an actress, that's like a union high-paying job. Also like, acting like they can do so much good in the world, which is great and aspirational. But when's the last time a royal did anything that helped the world? That's all I'm saying. There's just some comedy there," comedian Kathy Griffin said in a series of social media videos. "I'm going to watch, I love them, etc. [But] what about how they met? … They met on freaking Instagram. Prince Harry was just flipping through Instagram, looking for a hot brunette like every other guy in L.A. So I'm disappointed, yeah. I thought this was going to be a great love story. I mean, have they not watched 'The Crown'? … Prince Harry's like Armie freaking Hammer [finding women on social media]. What if Prince Harry's the new House of Hammer? But really, Instagram?"
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"I found it a little bit boring. It didn't hold my attention. It seemed like they really wanted to be humanized, for us to know that they are real human beings. … We believe that you are really in love and we believe that you're really human beings. They really wanted to push the Diana aspect, the comparison, and I feel like it achieves the opposite result because Diana was there five, six, seven times longer than Meghan and entered the monarchy when she was 19. It's just not the same comparison," former Bravo star Bethenny Frankel said in a stream of consciousness reaction video on TikTok. "Also in producing their own documentary they left out big chunks. Meghan walked into the monarchy a divorcée, older and a woman of color. Wallis Simpson, who was with the Duke of Windsor, who abdicated the throne, was a Jewish woman who was divorced. And both of those elements contributed to it being controversial." Bethenny added, "I think that one of their main issues that they want to address is racism so why not do a documentary on racism. It felt like this entire documentary was about how famous we are, we're so famous, it's relentless." She further opined that "if you're being trolled by the media, the royal family gave you the advice to say nothing because that's the advice that most very famous people are given. If you add gasoline to a fire, the fire blows up even bigger. It feels like they — and Meghan in particular — just keep wanting to tell us more." The ex-"Real Housewives of New York City" star said she doesn't "really understand the goal because if it's to take down the monarchy … dont take the names of this monarchy for your children and don't market the title … really extricate yourself. It feels like a smash and grab job for money. It feels like, 'Grab the bag because we're leaving this thing and we gotta take everything we can.' It seems like she's someone who entered into the monarchy and wanted to be in the leading role and that role was already taken by Kate. So what is the goal? … It feels like this documentary was designed to garner sympathy and it just seems like it's achieving the opposite result."
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"Harry & Meghan not the first to complain of alleged racism within British Royal family. Mohammed Fayed-father of Princess Diana's lover Dodi-told me he suspected British intelligence in their tragic deaths because Prince Philip would never let a Muslim that close to Royal family." –former TV host Geraldo Rivera
