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Prince Harry has revealed that Meghan Markle cried after the royal household issued a denial of a negative story about Prince William, having not been willing to "tell the truth" to protect the Sussexes, during a new episode of his Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan.
The final three episodes of the explosive tell-all show were released on Thursday and focused on the couple's experiences leading up to, and rebuilding from, their controversial decision to step down from their working roles within the monarchy in 2020.
In a trailer for the final episodes released on Monday, Harry's commentary that "they were happy to lie to protect my brother but were never willing to tell the truth to protect us," created widespread discussion, with calls for the prince to reveal the details of the lies he was referring to.
In the fifth episode of the limited series, Harry's comments on this subject and Meghan's reaction are shown in full, in the context of a discussion about his relationship with Prince William.
Recounting the day of the "Sandringham Summit"—an emergency meeting between Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, William and Harry to plan the Sussexes' future away from the monarchy in January 2020—Harry revealed that he found it "terrifying, to have my brother scream and shout at me and my father say things that just simply weren't true and my grandmother, you know, quietly sit there and sort of take it all in."
After this meeting, Harry makes his allegation of the palace lying to protect his older brother, saying that a negative story about William bullying him and Meghan out of the family had been squashed by a "joint statement" released in both princes' names. This statement, the royal said, he had never seen or been told about.
Though Harry addressed the story that William had bullied him, he swerved explicitly addressing the basis of the report. Meghan was not in Britain at the time of the story's publication, having flown to Canada some days before. Harry informed his wife of the development on the phone.
Prince Harry's Allegation in Full:
"That day a story came out, saying that part of the reason why Meghan and I were leaving was because William had bullied us out and once I got in the car after the meeting, I was a told about a joint statement that had been put out in my name and my brother's name squashing the story about him bullying us out of the family.
"I couldn't believe it. No one had asked me permission to put my name to a statement like that. And I rang M [Meghan] and I told her, and she burst into floods of tears. Because within four hours, they were happy to lie to protect my brother and yet for three years they were never willing to tell the truth to protect us."
—Harry & Meghan, Episode 5.
The statement in question was, according to Britain's The Guardian newspaper, released by William and Harry's "senior spokespeople." It read: "Despite clear denials, a false story ran in a U.K. newspaper today speculating about the relationship between the Duke of Sussex and the Duke of Cambridge.
"For brothers who care so deeply about the issues surrounding mental health, the use of inflammatory language in this way is offensive and potentially harmful."
Though the statement does not specifically name the article to which it is responding, reports preceding its release claimed that the Sussexes felt that William and Kate Middleton had been unwelcoming to Meghan.
The couple's Netflix show features their treatment at the hands of the press as a central theme, documenting and explaining a number of issues well known to the public including racist reporting of Meghan, intrusion into the couple's private lives and ongoing social media hate resulting from the sharing of online articles.
The relationship between William and Harry has been closely reported on in recent years, with Harry first addressing reports of a falling out in 2019 saying that the pair were on different paths, but would always be there for one another.
In 2019 it was announced that Harry and William's household, which until then had been run jointly, would split, with Harry's being based from Buckingham Palace while William's remained at Kensington Palace, this increased media speculation about the brothers' relationship.
In March 2021, one year after the Sandringham summit, Harry again described his relationship with William during an interview with Oprah Winfrey, saying: "As I've said before, I love William to bits. He's my brother. We've been through hell together. I mean, we have a shared experience. But...we're on different paths."
He later described their current situation as one of "space at the moment...you know, time heals all things, hopefully."
The brothers were last photographed together in public at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in September.
Newsweek approached Kensington Palace for comment.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more