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Former The Real Housewives of New York City star Bethenny Frankel has given her critique of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's new Netflix docuseries in a three-minute run-down on her popular TikTok account, saying: "It felt like this entire documentary was about how famous we are...we're so famous...It was relentless."
The reality television star has not previously held back her strong views on Meghan, calling the duchess "self-important" and adding that she acts "very much" like a Real Housewife.
In her TikTok assessment of Harry & Meghan which began streaming its first three episodes on Netflix last week, Frankel said the whole project came off "like a smash and grab job for money."
"I found it a little bit boring," she said. "It didn't hold my attention. It seemed like they really wanted to be humanized. They wanted us to know that they are real human beings... We believe that you are really in love and we believe that you're really human beings."
"They wanted to really push the Diana aspect, the comparison," she said, adding, "And I think that it achieved the opposite result because Diana was there—five, six, seven times longer than Meghan and entered the monarchy when she was 19. It's just not the same comparison."
Princess Diana was mentioned throughout the first three episodes as comparisons were drawn between her ruthless pursuit by the paparazzi in the 1990s and the media pursuit faced by Meghan post-2016. The princess died tragically in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while being chased by paparazzi.
One of the main issues Frankel raised with the series was its focus on Meghan and Harry and references to their worldwide fame.
"When you're in a car and you say you're going garage to garage, it sounds like you really just want us to know how famous you are—which we do already know," she said.
"If you are being trolled by the media, the royal family gave you the advice to say nothing because that's the advice that most very famous people are given. If you add gasoline to a fire, the fire blows up even bigger. It feels like they—and Meghan in particular—just keep wanting to tell us more."
On what the overall "goal" of the series is, Frankel expressed the view that it appeared as though the couple wanted to "take down the monarchy."
"I don't really understand the goal because if it's to take down the monarchy, which is your in-laws—which it seems like is a major goal—don't take the names of this monarchy for your children and don't market the titles," she said.
"Don't dine out on the titles. Really extricate yourselves. It feels like a smash-and-grab job for money. It feels like 'grab the bag because we're leaving this thing and we gotta take everything we can.'"
Harry and Meghan's relationship with the royal family has been widely speculated on over the past three years, with the couple's decision to step down from royal life in 2020 and their subsequent 2021 bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey prompting sharp reactions from various quarters.
"It seems like she's someone who entered into the monarchy and wanted to be in the leading role and that role was already taken by Kate. So what is the goal?" Frankel asked of Meghan.
"You got the money. You got attention you didn't want...but you do want. So, what is the goal? So if you want to tackle women's issues and racism, why not do documentaries about that? Why not talk about that? It seems like the biggest topic you're talking about is this one family—the monarchy—that you're telling us is archaic and we already knew that! Can we be done now because we did it, we got it, we heard it."
In conclusion, the reality star said: "It feels like this documentary was designed to garner sympathy and it just seems like it is achieving the opposite results."
However, Meghan and Harry have seen a wave of support from fans on social media, while the docuseries was slammed by the British press.
The show made the number one spot on Netflix's weekly streaming chart in both the U.K. and the U.S. on its release day, maintaining that position in Britain from Thursday to Monday.
The first three episodes of Harry & Meghan were released on Thursday. The final three installments will stream globally on Netflix from December 15.
Newsweek has approached representatives of Bethenny Frankel and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle 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