Kate Feels ‘Hurt & Betrayed’ By Harry & Meghan’s Doc—Why William ‘Won’t Retaliate’

They’re just about to wrap up a three-day visit to the United States but Prince William and Kate Middleton have reacted to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Netflix documentary that has everyone talking.

The Prince and Princess of Wales touched down in Boston on November 30, 2022, with their trip culminating at the second annual Earthshot Prize Awards. Upon their arrival, William made mention of his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away in September. “Catherine and I are delighted to be back in the United States and are extremely grateful to Governor Baker and The First Lady of Massachusetts for their warm welcome into Boston,” he said, per People. “On this, our first overseas visit since the death of my grandmother, I would like to thank the people of Massachusetts and particularly of Boston for their many tributes paid to the late Queen. She remembered her 1976 bicentennial visit with great fondness.”

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The trip was described as a “huge moment” by their spokesperson and that they were “very excited to be here”, however some experts say Kate and William are “concerned” that their trip to the US has been overshadowed by the release of Harry and Meghan’s upcoming Netflix documentary, Harry & Meghan, on December 8, 2022.

How did Kate Middleton respond to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s documentary?

How did Kate Middleton respond to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s documentary? Kate and William haven’t made any official statements, of course. As senior members of the British royal family, they tend to not acknowledge too much goings-on in the media. However, a source told In Touch Weekly on December 8, 2022, that Kate is “hell-bent” on doing her own tell-all after Harry and Meghan’s documentary. “Kate’s ammunition could potentially destroy Meghan,” the insider said. “[She] has a stack of receipts, which she accumulated over the years.”

The insider also claimed that William “warned” Kate to “think twice” before giving the “green light” to her own tell-all interview. “The docuseries is the final nail in the coffin for Harry and Meghan’s relationship with the royals,” the insider continued, adding that Kate has been “inundated” with interview offers since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have spoken about their experience with the royals so publicly. Hello! magazine’s royal editor also speculated in December 2022 that Kate and William have certainly not ignored the release of Harry & Meghan, which promised multiple bombshells concerning the inner workings of the British monarchy.

“I think that everyone in the Prince Princess of Wales’ team is just very keen to keep the focus on Earthshot. That’s the whole reason they’re here and this is something they’ve been building up to for 18 months,” Emily Nash said. “So, they’re going to be very disappointed that the attention is going elsewhere at the moment and I’m sure that there are going to be concerns about what’s to come in this documentary.” She continued: “But I expect it to be business as usual. They are just going to get on with it, get their heads down and do the engagements they’ve committed to today. I wouldn’t expect to see any comment. It’s incredibly difficult. You know, they’re senior members of the royal family, they are known for not commenting on the things that come out in the media.”

An insider told Us Weekly that the relationship between the siblings and their respective in-laws was already rather precarious. Not only that, the source said the timing of the Netflix trailer was disappointing as it took attention away from the Prince and Princess of Wales on their first trip to the United States since 2014. “Kate and William were left flummoxed when the Netflix trailer aired during their trip to Boston,” the source says of the Prince and Princess of Wales. “It’s put a huge amount of strain on relationships that are already hanging by a thread.” According to a royal source to People, the Prince and Princess of Wales are “avoiding” the documentary, but their aides are watching it for them. “It will take a long time before there is harmony between the brothers. There is a lot of anger there,” said the source. Speaking to Us Weekly on December 22, 2022, another insider said: “William isn’t planning to give his side of the story or openly retaliate. He’s remaining dignified and is getting on with the job. Kate feels hurt and betrayed that Harry would do this to her too, especially as the pair used to be so close.”

The drama comes shortly after William’s godmother and royal aide, Lady Susan Hussey, was accused of making racist remarks at an event hosted by the Queen Consort, Camilla Parker Bowles. A spokesperson for Prince William responded: “Racism has no place in our society,” his Kensington Palace office said. “These comments were unacceptable, and it’s right that the individual has stepped aside with immediate effect,” according to Fortune. Given that Markle and Harry have previously made accusations of racism against the now-King Charles during their tell-all interview with Oprah in March 2021, this statement is indeed interesting.

Markle revealed that, while she was pregnant with their first child Archie, various royal family members expressed “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he is born.” Markle continued, “There are several conversations, potentially and what that would mean or look like.” When Oprah pressed Markle to reveal the names of the royal family members who had these concerns, the Duchess of Sussex declined. “I think that would be very damaging to them,” she said.

What is Harry and Meghan’s documentary about?

Harry & Meghan Volume I was released on December 8 2022 and Volume II on December 15. “There’s a hierarchy of the family,” Harry says. “You know, there’s leaking, but there’s also planting of stories. It’s a dirty game,” Harry said in the trailer for the documentary. Meghan then said, “I realized, they’re never going to protect you.” He later adds that he fears his mother Diana’s history—and her untimely death—would repeat itself.

For some, the timing of Harry & Meghan‘s release is suspicious given that it coincides with Prince William and Kate’s visit to the United States. “To drop it as they have on the first or second day of the Prince and Princess of Wales’s trip to the US for the Earthshot Prize shows just exactly how much they wanted to hijack that publicity,” royal expert Jonathan Sacerdoti told Us Weekly. “It just shows how much they will go to any end at all for as much publicity as possible. They will jump on his own brother’s trip to promote these environmental prizes in order to steal that limelight and get more attention.”

Initially, it was reported Harry & Meghan was going to be delayed until 2023. Deadline said the streamer had come under fire from former British Prime Minister John Major who complained about inaccuracies in The Crown, the drama based on the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II. The show featured a conversation between Major, who was Prime Minister from 1990 to 1997, and Prince Charles (played by Dominic West) around a real 1991 Sunday Times article that suggested the monarchy was dated and Elizabeth should abdicate for Charles.

The scene in The Crown, episode one of season five, shows Charles privately agreeing with the article, later summoning Major to discuss a plot to overthrow the Queen. The real-life Major insisted at the time that no such conversation took place and called the show “a barrel-load of nonsense”. Facing criticism from the former UK leader, Deadline reported Netflix executives thought it foolish to air Harry & Meghan so close to the airing of The Crown season five. “They’re rattled at Netflix, and they blinked first and decided to postpone the documentary,” a source told the industry publication. The increased sensitivity from both Netflix and the monarchy comes after the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022.

Page Six also reported the couple wanted to edit parts of the documentary, which took them over a year to film. Sources told the gossip section of the New York Post the pair was worried about how some of their opinions would be perceived, particularly in the wake of the Queen’s death. The film is said to include a number of bombshells about King Charles, the Queen Consort Camilla Parker Bowles, as well as Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton. “Harry and Meghan are having second thoughts on their own story, on their own project,” a Netflix source said. According to another industry source, “Harry and Meghan are panicked about trying to tone down even the most basic language. But it’s their story, from their own mouths.” Another source told Page Six: “Netflix has been keen to have the show ready to stream for December. There’s a lot of pressure on [Netflix CEO] Ted Sarandos, who has the relationship with Harry and Meghan, to get this show finished.”

Harry & Meghan is available to stream on Netflix.

Spare by Prince Harry

For more about Prince Harry, read his upcoming memoir, Spare. Told for the first time in his own words, the book takes readers through the Duke of Sussex’s life with the British royal family, from the death of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997 to how the moment led to his decision decades later to move to America with his wife, Meghan Markle, and leave Buckingham Palace for good in 2020. “With its raw, unflinching honesty, Spare is a landmark publication full of insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief,” the publisher’s description reads.

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