The final part of the Sussexes’ controversial Netflix documentary airs on Thursday, with claims the Palace briefed against Harry and Meghan to deflect attention from less favourable coverage of other royals.
The royal family and Palace aides will be steeling themselves for bombshells in Volume II of the Harry & Meghan series after the royal household faced accusations it leaked negative stories as part of a “war against Meghan”.
Meghan’s lawyer Jenny Afia, in a trailer released on Wednesday, alleged she had seen evidence of briefing from the Palace against the couple to suit other people’s agenda.
The duchess herself was seen saying: “You would just see it play out, like a story about someone in the family would pop up for a minute and they’d go ‘We’ve got to make that go away’.”
Her friend Lucy Fraser added: “Meg became this scapegoat for the Palace. And so they would feed stories on her whether they were true or not to avoid other less favourable stories being printed.”
Ms Afia said: “There was a real kind of war against Meghan and I’ve certainly seen evidence that there was negative briefing from the Palace against Harry and Meghan to suit other people’s agendas.”
Harry, in another trailer, said “They were happy to lie to protect my brother (William). They were never willing to tell the truth to protect us”, while Meghan said she was “fed to the wolves”.
Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace have declined to comment.
Claims made in the documentary will face intense scrutiny, with questions raised ahead of the streaming over whether the evidence Ms Afia referred to will be produced in full, which stories they were talking about, and exactly which royals were allegedly being protected.
As Meghan spoke, footage was played of newspaper front pages featuring the headlines “Meghan Made Kate Cry” and “Heir Heads” – about Kate and Meghan’s flower dress dispute and the Sussexes’ use of private planes.
In her Oprah Winfrey interview, Meghan said Kate, now the Princess of Wales, made her cry ahead of her wedding at a flower girl dress fitting – not the other way round as had been reported – and that “everyone in the institution knew that wasn’t true” but it was not corrected.
Meanwhile, the royal family, including Harry’s father and brother, will be out in force together on Thursday, putting on a united front as the King, the Queen Consort and the Prince of Wales join Kate for her Christmas carol concert in Westminster Abbey.
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