THE gulf between Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and the rest of the Royal Family seems to widen every week
And yesterday, the trailer drop for the Duke and Duchess of Sussexes‘ Netflix show dealt a fresh blow.
Harry and Meghan’s Netflix trailer dropped as William and Kate took on engagements in Boston
William and Kate ignored the issue on their US trip
The promo for Harry and Meghan, the six-part documentary, was released as Prince William and Kate Middleton touched down in the US for their first visit since the Queen’s death.
Royal aides believe Harry and Meghan deliberately timed the trailer – which appears to threaten more damaging accusations against The Firm – to overshadow his brother’s momentous visit.
Royal expert Angela Levin told HOAR: “I think that the day seems chosen to ruin Kate and William’s trip – to take away everything from that.
“To pile it on. There was no need to do it that day. It was done deliberately to spoil their visit.”
The row is the latest in a long line of occasions when the Sussexes – who claimed they craved privacy when they left the UK in 2020 – have been accused of upstaging their family.
We look at nine other times the royal pair have stolen the limelight.
‘Pregnancy announcement’ at wedding
Meghan and Harry told family members they were expecting Archie
Eugenie was not impressed by Meghan’s news on her big day
Princess Eugenie walked down the aisle with Jack Brooksbank, in October 2018, just months after Harry and Meghan tied the knot.
But when news of Meghan’s pregnancy broke days later, it was claimed the couple had upstaged the bride by breaking the happy news to the Queen, Prince Charles and the rest of the family at the wedding reception.
Pictures showed Harry speaking to the Queen, fuelling speculation that this was the moment that he broke the news.
A source later claimed that the Queen already knew, but had not seen her grandson in person to congratulate him, and that the bride and groom had also been told in advance.
But it is thought that the royal get-together was the first time most of the family learned she was expecting their first child.
And in Finding Freedom, the sympathetic biography of the Sussexes, a source reveals Eugenie was “upset” by the couple going public on her big day.
The Princess “told friends she felt the couple should have waited to share the news”, the books claimed, adding that it “did not go down particularly well”.
Bombshell Oprah interview
Meghan and Harry’s bombshell Oprah interview contained sensational claims
It was broadcast on the day of the Queen’s Commonwealth address
A year after leaving the UK, the couple’s damning interview with Oprah Winfrey aired in the States.
The couple used the platform to make bombshell claims against the Royal Family, including a charge of racist comments made about the colour of son Archie’s skin, allegedly made by a senior royal before his birth.
Meghan also claimed she had been “silenced” by the Royal Family and left depressed, with suicidal thoughts, by her treatment.
But the decision to air on March 7, 2021, just hours after the Queen’s annual Commonwealth Day Speech was aired on the BBC, was criticised in royal circles.
One expert claimed the clash could have been avoided had the Sussexes forewarned the Palace about the interview, calling the decision to grab the headlines on the day of the Queen’s speech “disrespectful.”
Harry’s job announcement
Harry, once extremely close to cousin Princess Eugenie, risked upsetting her again when he chose her birthday to make a job announcement in 2021.
Buckingham Palace released two pictures to celebrate Eugenie’s 31st birthday, on March 23 last year.
Just hours later The Wall Street Journal released news that the Duke – keen to show he could stand on his own two feet – had landed a high-paid job in Silicon Valley as “Chief Impact Officer” at health tech company Better Inc.
Prince Harry ‘pain’ podcast
Kate and William visited various charities for Mental Health Awareness Week
Harry talked about his ‘pain’ with Dax Shepherd on a podcast that same week
In the pre-split days, when the brothers and their wives were known as the Fab Four, they were joint advocates for mental health awareness, appearing together at a Royal Foundation event on the issue.
But in May 2021, as Kate and William attended numerous charity events for Mental Health Awareness Week, Prince Harry dropped a devastating podcast talking about a “cycle of pain and suffering” – suggesting he was treated badly by his father because “that’s the way he was treated”.
“I don’t think we should be pointing the finger or blaming anybody, but certainly when it comes to parenting, if I’ve experienced some form of pain or suffering because of the pain or suffering that perhaps my father or my parents had suffered, I’m going to make sure I break that cycle so that I don’t pass it on,” he said.
At the time, Prince William – whose own tireless work for mental health charities was drowned out by Harry’s complaints – was said to be “very shocked” by his brother’s claims.
Book clash
Meghan’s book was announced in May 2021
Kate’s book came out days later
In the same month, Meghan was accused of “trying to upstage Kate” by announcing the release of her children’s book, days before Kate’s photography book was released
On May 4, 2021, Meghan announced she would be publishing The Bench, an illustrated story inspired by son Archie and husband Harry.
But some pointed out the announcement came just days before publication of a photography book that Kate had been working on for a year.
The book, Hold Still, captured life in the UK under lockdown and the Covid-19 pandemic.
One furious Kate fan tweeted: “So now just as Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, has the HOLD STILL book about to be released on May 7, [Meghan] chooses to release a book she wrote in 2019. Connect the dots, people!”
Christmas card row
This Christmas image revealed Lilibet for the first time
The Queen’s image was released the same day
Last Christmas, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex caused a sensation when they shared the first glimpse of their daughter Lilibet and the first real look at son Archie’s face on their festive card.
But the post on social media came just hours before Buckingham Palace published an image of the Queen from her annual speech, ahead of its Christmas Day airing.
The much-anticipated speech was the first since the late monarch lost her beloved husband, Prince Philip, in April 2021.
The couple were accused of overshadowing the event, with Kate Garraway suggesting they were trying to “usurp” the Queen.
Queen’s birthday row
Harry talked about the ‘pain’ of being a royal kid
On the eve of the nation’s celebrations for the Queen’s 96th birthday, in April 2022, Harry once again angered the royal circle by giving a cringeworthy interview in which he claimed he was her protector.
In an interview with US news channel NBC, broadcast the night before her birthday, he said: “I’m just making sure that she’s protected and got the right people around her.”
Members of the royal household were said to be shocked and angered by the comments and Angela Levin called for him to be banned from the Jubilee celebrations later that year, commenting: “Harry’s comment on US TV about him checking the Queen is protected is a gross insult to Prince Charles and William.”
Upstaging Dad
On October 1 this year, Buckingham Palace shared the first official snap of the recently ascended King Charles, the Queen Consort and the Prince and Princess of Wales, as the mourning period for the Queen came to an end.
Harry and Meghan, notably absent from the family scene despite being in the UK at the time it was taken, chose to make their own statement two days later, by releasing two new portraits of themselves at the One Young World conference in Manchester.
The King’s first official family portrait excluded the couple
The new portrait was released days later
New Archie pics
This week, even before the Netflix storm, the couple had already made moves to steal William and Kate’s thunder.
A new image of rarely-seen Archie, sitting on Meghan’s knee during a Zoom chat, was released as the Duke and Duchess of Wales touched down in the US.
The image – which sent fans into frenzy over the unrecognisable three-year-old – was released by Professor Duchess Harris.
Royal fans suggested the timing was a deliberate attempt to divert from the Wales’ Earthshot mission.
One tweeted: “Notice Rachel Markle [Meghan’s birth name] puts this out to try and distract from Prince William and princesses of Wales!”
Meghan and mum Doria Ragland with Archie
