These are the 5 main takeaways from 'Harry and Meghan'

The much-anticipated docu-series ‘Harry & Meghan’ has finally dropped on Netflix, to the delight of fans of the couple, and the consternation to those who have had just about enough of the royal pair. So, what were the five main takeaways from the first three episodes of the six-part series? And this is a warning – spoilers below…

They met on Instagram!

That’s right – the Duke and Duchess of Sussex indulged in love online and met on the popular social media site. Prince Harry saw a picture of Meghan Markle with a Snapchat filter that a mutual friend posted on their page.He said, “Who is that?” and decided that he just had to meet her.

He reached out to the mutual friend, who in turn reached out to Meghan and said, “Someone wants to meet you – it’s Prince Haz!” Meghan describes going through his Instagram feed and loving what she saw.

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The pair swapped numbers and had their first date at 76 Dean Street, a private members club that is part of the Soho House group, in central London. He was late for their first date, she was late for the second. The rest, as they say, is history.

Harry says Meghan is a lot like his mum

Harry says that Meghan is a lot like his mum Diana, Princess of Wales. He points out that they are both passionate about their humanitarian work, that they are both great mothers and he sees a lot of his mother in Meghan. There is also a really sweet moment when we see an image of the back of Diana holding baby Harry’s hand, which fades into a shot of Meghan holding baby Archie’s hand. A poignant moment.

Canadian press hounded Meghan and it took a dark turn quickly

After their engagement was announced, Meghan continued to work on “Suits,” which was based in Toronto at the time. In the documentary, friends said that previously, along with the rest of the cast, Meghan would walk around pretty freely, stop and talk with fans and take selfies.

That all changed as soon as news of her relationship with Prince Harry broke. She was hounded by paparazzi who were desperate for images of her. Security had to be beefed up on the set of “Suits,” as there were concerns someone would turn up in her dressing room. At one point she reached out to Toronto police and said, “there are six grown men sitting outside my apartment in their cars waiting for me – I think I would call that stalking wouldn’t you?”

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To which they replied, “We can’t do anything about it because of who you are dating.” Everything changed when she received a death threat and she had to get new security detail, who described it as the most intense job they had ever had. They had to hire a driver who was trained in making evasive manoeuvres and took a different route to the studio every time. It was definitely a scary and unsettling time in the early days of their relationship.

Brexit played a part in the racism levelled at Meghan

Around the time that Harry and Meghan got engaged in 2016, the U.K. decided to have a referendum on whether they should leave the EU, now known as Brexit. A lot of anti-immigration sentiment was stoked, especially by the Leave campaign, which was in favour of Britain leaving the EU ¬– one of the reasons behind that was to limit the amount of foreigners coming into the country.

Anyone who wasn’t white or British was “othered” by certain sections of society at this time, and put in the bracket of an immigrant who might steal the job or the home of British person who deserved it.

Couple that with a biracial woman marrying into the blue-blood Royal Family and potentially watering down their blood line – this was a step too far for some people. They’ve stolen our jobs, our homes and now our Prince! Right-wing, anti-immigration and racist sentiment was emboldened and a lot of it was aimed at Meghan and Harry. The British media also played a huge part in this with the sometimes out-and-out racist headlines they wrote like, “Prince Harry’s girl is (almost) straight outta Compton”.

Harry shouldered the blame of Meghan losing her father

Meghan was always very close with her father Thomas Markle, which is why their fallout was so damaging and surprising to both Meghan and Harry. When Meghan discovered that he was selling stories and paparazzi shots to the media in the run-up to their wedding in May 2018, she tried to speak to him several times after she heard he had a heart attack, only to find his phone had been compromised, and she never spoke to him again.

He famously did not attend her wedding, with her mother riding in the car with her to church and the then-Prince Charles, now King Charles III, giving her away. Harry says he shoulders the burden of Meghan not having her father in her life because, in his words, “if she didn’t have me, she would have her father.” A sad state of affairs to say the least.

The first three parts in the six-part “Harry & Meghan” are streaming on Netflix now.