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As royal pariahs, Harry and Meghan sell a sympathy vanity project they are being called out for blatant lies found in their feature.

On Thursday Netflix is debuting the opening entry in its two-part “documentary” centered on the life and the supposed trauma this coddled couple supposedly endures. While not the biggest celebrities in this country, this video profile spends time attempting to position the undynamic duo as the central focus of our entire media complex. That the production resorts to fabricated presentations to “prove” their plight is just the start of the unintended comedy.

As far as the import of this pair, it eludes me. A dispatched British monarch and a third-tier American actress are not the types to move the cultural needle, but ever since their documented flight from the British royal family, we have been told we have to care about them. Making this tougher is the fact that by all appearances Harry and Meghan possess all the expected hallmarks of vacant celebrity; they have names and exposure, but little in the way of accomplishment.

It is apparent by the trailer (Netflix is not offering advance screenings) that part of the sale is the same storyline we have been given about these two – how gruesome their life is under media scrutiny. The first problem with this is that we have to believe they are allegedly badgered by the very media attention they so obviously crave. When Markle showed up in Uvalde Texas after the school shooting the response to the photos of her there was a uniform – “But, why?” Even when she made a surprise visit to a volunteer food and blood drive it was sold as an incognito visit, as reported in Buzzfeed, complete with photo evidence.

Harry and Meghan inject themselves into the media cycle repeatedly, and very often that involves complaints of what they endure from the very same media. The trailer displays these oppressive conditions with the paparazzi, but with some telling details now emerging. It appears that in the numerous trailers the “evidence” of the swarming press throngs is highly embellished. One shot of a supposed herd of photojournalists covering the couple is actually from a red-carpet premiere of a Harry Potter film.

Image of Harry and Meghan being stalked by paparazzi in new Netflix film really from ‘Harry Potter’ premiere https://t.co/aNPDxJMRen pic.twitter.com/kfRHGK3lnn

— New York Post (@nypost) December 5, 2022

They are selling how they have to suffer this press attention with a photo that was taken five years before the couple had even met? Another shot appears like an ominous rooftop stalker is taking stealth surveillance photos, when in fact it was reported this was from an official event and the pictures came from approved credentialed pool journalists.

This photograph used by @Netflix and Harry and Meghan to suggest intrusion by the press is a complete travesty. It was taken from a accredited pool at Archbishop Tutu’s residence in Cape Town. Only 3 people were in the accredited position. H & M agreed the position. I was there. pic.twitter.com/nvjznlloLF

— Robert Jobson (@theroyaleditor) December 5, 2022

One glaring example shows Harry in a picture, seemingly distressed at the intrusive press, his hand up defensively. What is not revealed in the old cropped photo is that his other hand is clutching his then-girlfriend, Chelsy Davy. 

You just can't make this sh*t up. For Harry and MEGHAN's Netflix teaser they included a cropped picture of Harry… with Chelsy Davy! LMAO

WHAT IS THIS 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/eVgLLG78c8

— Jesús Enrique Rosas – The Body Language Guy (@Knesix) December 4, 2022

If we are to believe that Harry and Meghan are under such perpetual press duress why the need to go to the lengths of fabricating their proof? When you resort to submitting approved photo-ops and, hilariously, 15-year-old paparazzi shots with an old flame it means you do not have the evidence at the ready. It has been years since their departure from Windsor, so the production should be sitting on piles of valid examples. This shows that their claimed victimhood is their own branding.

None of this tracks because we are told how they endured these terrorizing events while a part of the royal family. They have been stateside now for some time, so their life should be one of contentment. Here in the U.S., they would not merit much attention at all and would be largely left to themselves, were they capable of resisting the magnetic pull of cameras. 

Last summer, Harry was scorned when he lamented the fact that Americans enjoy First Amendment freedoms, something not in play in his former home country. This instantly brings forth feelings of incompetence. You are fleeing from an insufferable press presence, so your solution is to run to a country with more open policies?! But as we have learned from this pampered pair, they actually love our freedom of expression; they have not been able to shut up since they arrived.

For a family we are told is suffering from unimaginable media focus they cannot seem to stay out of the media on a voluntary basis. They sell us their tale of wanting to be left alone by appearing on primetime with the anonymous interviewer Oprah Winfrey. They deliver perpetual press releases on their activities and strike production deals with streaming platforms. This is the couple, after all, that long denied involvement in the aggrandizing biography Finding Freedom, only to have it revealed in court that they in fact did work with the writers.

It appears that everything about this couple is contrived and controlled, and they are cultivating an image that is both scripted and contradictory. The media is an oppressive force in their lives, yet they cannot enact the one solution at their disposal – removing themselves from the media. Meghan needs the attention, and they build up the scripted image of perpetual victimhood, told from their villa down the road from Oprah. Sorry, the reality defies sympathy.

To look at how obtuse all of this is for the Markles, they complain about all of this attention, while at the same time demanding said attention. In the States, fewer people would even be interested in this duo if they would just subside. We cannot leave you people alone if you do not leave, after all.

Prince Harry complains constantly about the press intrusion into their lives.
So…he invites the press into their home life on Netflix.
K-then… pic.twitter.com/iIqQYZYsr7

— Brad Slager: Polling For Soup (@MartiniShark) December 6, 2022