Topics: Royal Family, Celebrity, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Charity, Documentaries, TV And Film, US News, UK News, World News
Despite fleeing the UK in an attempt to secure 'more privacy' for their children, the 'lavish California lifestyle' of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex has been 'exposed' in a shocking new documentary this week.
Titled Harry: The Lost Prince, the one-off special was released in Germany last night (2 Dec), and hears a royal expert accusing both Meghan Markle and Prince Harry of exhibiting 'hypocrisy' in their move to the States.
In 2020 - two years after tying the knot - Harry and Meghan announced their plans to step down from official duties.
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In several books, a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, and a Netflix documentary, they claimed to have been made victims of repeated maltreatment at the hands of some members of Harry's family, name-dropping his brother William in particular.
Most shocking was their claim that a high-ranking member of the British royal family made harmful comments about the colour of their now five-year-old son Archie's skin.
Harry and Meghan fled to the US, where they set up shop in California, and have since embarked on several professional missions - some respectively, and some jointly as part of their not-for-profit organisation Archewell.
As we say, however, the pair have hit headlines today after a new German documentary alleges that they've continued to enjoy an 'elitist' lifestyle across the pond, despite no longer fulfilling any royal duties.
Filled to the brim with plenty of damning comments and accusations, the documentary slams the Sussex's 'portrayal' of themselves as activists and charity campaigners.
Addressing their frequent visits to poverty-stricken countries, the series compares their charitable missions with 43-year-old Meghan's alleged adoration of pricey designer clothes.
Interviewing British royal expert Russel Myers, he tells viewers: "If you're going to places like Nigeria, like Colombia, which have huge socio-economic problems, some of the world's poorest communities in these countries, and you're turning up wearing tens of thousands of pounds worth of designer clothes - it really doesn't send the right message."
Documentary-makers also interviewed former British solider Ben McBean, who shared a flight home with Prince Harry after they both served in Afghanistan in 2008.
While touring, McBean was severely injured in a landmine blast, losing his arm left arm and needing to have his right leg amputated as a result.
Despite having worked together in the Middle East, the programme hears the former military man slam Harry, 40, for the claims he made about his family in his 2022 memoire Spare.
"I just thought, with him kind of whinging about his family and he was saying something about his brother pushing him over or something like that, I was just like, 'Mate, just leave it out'," McBean hit out.
"You and your brother had a little fisticuffs…but family's family, you know."
He added: "If one of my friends fell out with his partner and started posting things on social media and saying my ex is this and that, I'd have told him to shut up as well."
In another segment, the programme accuses the Sussexes of using their former roles as prominent members of the Royal Family as a means of making money in order to support their high profile lifestyle in Montecito.
One of their neighbours, Richard Mineards, discusses the couple's plush way of living, in the documentary.
"It doesn't come cheap," he began. "I mean…most houses are about eight or nine million dollars.'
"I personally don't think that Meghan is an asset to our community… She doesn't really go out or get involved with the community.
"Harry has to a certain extent, because he's quite jolly…but Meghan doesn't seem to get seen anywhere…. And you don't see him either."
Producers also remind viewers, however, that the pair previously confessed to only spending one hour per week working on their joint not-for-profit company Archewell, which they founded in 2020.
And it points out the colossal difference in the amount of money that the charity donated in 2021 (£13 million) compared to the following year, when just £2 million was raised.
Another royal commentator, Jack Royston, also chimes in, discussing the couple's 'half in half out' attitude towards the monarchy.
"If you have a situation where Harry and Meghan are earning huge amounts of money in Hollywood trading off their reputations, but then they're also bolstering their reputations by working for the Queen - they're able to present themselves on the world stage as being these working members of the royal family who are also available for a price," he can be heard saying.
"That is a huge compromise to demand off the monarchy. If they were to be perceived to be promoting their commercial projects while representing the Queen, then that's also... starting to border on corruption there because they should never be using the monarchy as a platform.'
"The particular way in which Harry and Meghan crashed out of the Royal Family, firing hand grenades at Harry's relatives, caused their reputation to be significantly damaged."
Meghan and Harry are yet to address the new documentary.
Tyla has reached out the Sussexes' representatives for comment.
