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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Jennifer Newton

Harry and Meghan's Netflix claims debunked - UK proposal, 'upset' royals and colour clash

Across six explosive episodes, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle used their highly-anticipated Netflix series to make yet more bombshell claims about royal life.

The show charted the early days of their romance, their engagement, their fairytale wedding and the dramatic lead-up to them sensationally quitting their royal roles for life in America.

But with their claims being firmly put in the spotlight, viewers, royal fans and royal correspondents have been left scratching their heads by some of them.

And here we look at some of the biggest claims in the show, that might not appear exactly how they seem...

Meghan didn't know who 'Prince Haz'

Harry and Meghan in their Netflix documentary (Netflix)

In their engagement interview on the BBC, Meghan said she barely knew who Harry was because she is American.

"Because I'm from the States, you don't grow up with the same understanding of the royal family. And so while I now understand very clearly there's a global interest there, I didn't know much about him," she claimed.

And in first episode of the new docuseries, Meghan recalls the moment a pal informed her she was being eyed up by royalty.

When a mutual friend said that "Prince Haz" was interested in her and "dying to meet", Meghan says she replied: "Who's that?"

However, just minutes before in the same episode, Meghan and Harry are seen reacting to an old interview of hers from less than a year before they met.

The couple on one of their early dates (Netflix)

During the chat, the interviewer asks Meghan to pick between Prince William and Prince Harry, to which she shrugs and pauses before eventually choosing her future husband.

Harry leans forward giggling while saying "sure", as Meghan then asks the Netflix film maker what year the interview was.

When it's revealed it was from October 2015, Harry says it was less than a year before they met, to which his apologetic wife replies: "Honey I'm sorry. Of course I choose you."

So there is evidence in their own docuseries that Meghan did know who Prince Harry was, so it's hard to believe she had no idea who 'Prince Haz' was.

Harry says the palace planted stories

Harry made a series of claims in the documentary (Netflix)

In episode four of the series, Harry told of his heartbreak after accusing William's office of "trading" stories about other royals to the press.

Even Meghan's friend Lucy Fraser claimed that Meghan "became a scapegoat for the palace".

She said: "And so they would feed stories on her whether they were true or not to avoid other, less favourable stories being printed."

But many royal correspondents have strongly refuted this claim and he said the opposite is true that palace staff worked to try and prevent negative stories about royals from being published.

Harry didn't know Nottingham Cottage's former residents

Harry outside his former home Nottingham Cottage at Kensington Palace (Netflix)
Nottingham Cottage was the first home Harry and Meghan shared (Netflix)

In the fourth episode of the documentary, the couple recall their first home together, Nottingham Cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace.

But the pair were not very complimentary about their home saying it was not the grand palace people thought they lived in and that Oprah Winfrey was shocked when she visited them.

Harry said: "As far as people were concerned we were living in a palace. [But] we were living in a cottage. On palace grounds."

"Kensington Palace sounds very regal of course, it does say palace in the name. But Nottingham Cottage was small," explained Meghan.

And Harry added: "The whole thing was really small on a slight lean with low ceilings. Whoever lived their before must have been small."

However, Harry would have known two the cottage's former residents - and one is even taller than he is - his brother William.

William lived in the cottage with wife Kate in the months after their oldest son Prince George was born.

Meanwhile another former resident was his aunt and Princess Diana's older sister Lady Jane Fellowes and her husband Robert, a former private secretary of the late Queen.

Harry and Meghan had to get engaged in the UK

The couple formally announce their engagement (WireImage)

Prince Harry has told viewers that he was forced to propose to Meghan in the UK.

He claims he had to ask the late Queen for her approval to get down on one knee to Meghan, which happened while they were living at Kensington Palace.

"I wanted to do it earlier but because I wanted to ask permission from my grandmother, I couldn't do it outside of the UK," he says in the third episode.

"I did pop a bottle of champagne while she was greasing the chicken and that kind of slightly gave the game away cos she was like 'You don't drink champagne. What’s the occasion?' I was like 'I just have it around'."

The Queen gave formal permission for her 'dearly beloved' grandson to marry his American bride.

So that part of the story is definitely true, but it seems odd that Harry would be banned from doing it outside of the UK.

His brother and future King, Prince William, proposed to wife Kate during a trip to Kenya.

Meghan couldn't wear same colour as other royal women

Kate at her Christmas Carol service last night (Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)
Zara and Mike Tindall at the same service (PA)

In several episodes of the series, Meghan talked about her royal wardrobe and explained there was a reason why she wore clothes in muted tones.

She said that she was not allowed to wear the same colour as other senior royal ladies so picked neutral coloured clothes so she could blend in.

However, just hours after the final part of the Netflix series dropped, two royal women appeared to hit back at that claims.

It came as the Princess of Wales hosted a Christmas carol concert at Westminster Abbey and wore an elegant burgundy coat by Eponine London.

And wearing the exact same colour at the event was William and Harry's cousin Zara Tindall, while Princess Charlotte also donned a burgundy coat.

Meghan didn't have any say in her engagement announcement

The couple give an interview to the BBC after their engagement (PA)

In episode 3, Meghan describes the time around her engagement announcement to Prince Harry as an "orchestrated reality show".

It opens with archive footage of the pair being interviewed about their engagement on the BBC.

Reflecting on the 2018 interview, Meghan says: "It was rehearsed. We did the thing outside with the press, we went right inside, took the coat off and did the interview. It was all in the same moment."

She adds: "My point is we weren't allowed to tell pour story because they didn't allow it."

BBC journalist Mishal Husain who conducted that interview with the Sussexes, has strongly disputed Meghan's claim.

"My recollection is definitely very much, asked to do an interview, and do said interview," Mishal said on BBC Radio 4 this morning.

She added: "We know recollections may vary on this particular subject but my recollection is definitely very much, asked to do an interview, and do said interview.

Meghan stealing the limelight 'upset' royals

The couple on their tour of Australia in 2018 (Getty Images)

In the fourth episode, Harry suggested that Meghan was "better" on royal engagements than those "born to do this" and said this "upset people.

It came around the time the couple embarked on their hugely successful tour of Australia and New Zealand just months after their wedding in 2018 when Meghan was pregnant with Archie.

Harry explained: "The issue is when someone who’s marrying in who should be a ‘supporting act’ is then stealing the limelight or is doing the job better than those who were born to do this then upsets people – it shifts the balance.”

But discussing Harry’s claim that the couple’s public profile during their tour of Australia was a problem for other royals, Mirror royal editor Russell Myers told The Royal Beat: “I went on that tour to Australia.

"It was fantastic, the wall-to-wall favourable coverage, they were the new flavour. We’d already had William and Kate for a number of years, so I don’t even think the households were particularly bothered.”

Harry and Meghan met on a blind date

The couple previously said they met on a blind date (PA)

Following their 2018 engagement, Meghan and Harry sat down for a joint interview in which they claimed they were set up on a blind date by a mutual friend.

Harry said: "We were introduced, actually, by a mutual friend - we'll protect her privacy - but it was literally through her and we met once and then twice, back to back, two dates in London last July, beginning of July, and then it was about three, maybe four weeks later that I managed to persuade her to join me in Botswana."

When asked whether it was a set-up, both Harry and Meghan laughed, with the former Suits actress saying: "Yes, it was definitely a set-up - it was a blind date."

"It was a blind date for sure," added Harry at the time.

However, they are now claiming they actually met through Instagram and had been admiring photos of each other before this 'blind' date.

Harry explains: "Meghan and I met over Instagram. I was scrolling through my feed and someone who was a friend had a video of the two of them, it was like Snapchat."

The couple have published the messages they sent to each other before they first met - with Harry admitting they exchanged many messages beforehand.

In the flirty texts, Harry writes: "So come on - what u doing tomorrow night? Hope you're having fun over there!"

Meghan replies: "Heading back to soho. I have a dinner tomorrow at 8 but can do drinks tomorrow night. Would that work? Maybe 6?"

A delighted Harry sends back: "You're ON!"

They also enjoyed FaceTime calls before enjoying a first date at 76 Dean Street in Soho.

Most people would not consider it to have been a blind date if there had been that much contact before.

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