Harry and Meghan: Netflix series reveals how couple are reclaiming the 'freedom' Diana never obtained

Harry and Meghan's Netflix documentary has arrived on Netflix today (December 2022) with the first three episodes of a six-part series.

The themes of sacrifice are strong in the first episode. Harry tells us in the first few minutes: "She sacrificed everything she knew and the freedom she had to join me in my world, and then pretty soon after that I ended up sacrificing everything I know to join her in her world."

He speaks of his wife, Meghan Markle, the former actress in Suits, but he could be talking of his mother, the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

Diana gave up her independent life, she was only 19 when she became engaged to a 31-year-old Prince Charles. She was living in a shared flat with other young women making her way in London and finding her feet.

Then she became a focus for a possible match with Charles, as he was struggling to meet the 'right' woman - someone who had a fairly blank canvas in terms of romantic history. Diana fitted the job description and she, luckily for the royal family, feel in love with Charles.

As we all know, unfortunately the love Charles felt for Diana was more like fondness rather than genuine 'in-love' feelings as he'd met Camilla Shand and was having an on and off relationship with her. Camilla wasn't deemed Princess material by royal advisors.

What followed was many years of press hounding and Diana unable to lead a life away from the gaze of the world's media. She died in Paris in August 1997 as the car she was in was being chased by paparazzi through a tunnel.

Harry draws parallels of his own nature being like his mother's. "My mum certainly made most of her decisions, if not all of them, from her heart. I am my mother's son."

He also views Meghan as being very similar to his mother in terms of 'compassion and empathy', he says. "So much about Meghan is like my mum."

It's very clear that Harry and Meghan's departure from royal duty and life in the UK was a way to reclaim the freedom that Diana never managed to obtain. The couple, who met in July 2016 as part of a blind date set-up, were given huge media coverage.

The couple have spoken publicly of what they regard as racist media stories and racism within the royal family, which has been denied by the royal family - including Prince William who spoke out in the days after the Oprah interview of 2021 (in which Harry and Meghan said they have encountered racist attitudes within palace walls). They confirmed that the late Queen Elizabeth II and the late Prince Philip were not the ones who had said racist comments.

Harry remembers seeing his mother's anguish as the media snapped images of them on private holidays when he was a child. "I would ask myself, 'What am I? What am I a part of?" He clearly has huge trauma around the death of his mother, as he was only 12 when she was killed.

Prince William and Harry talked on the 20th anniversary about their mother's death and how it affected them. He also opened up more about this in Bryony Gordon's podcast in 2017.

Harry said: "I can safely say that losing my mum at the age of 12 and therefore shutting down all of my emotions for the last 20 years has had quite a serious effect on not only personal life but also my work as well."

A boy who lost his mother at such a formative age and who saw the worst of what happens when someone is silenced. Harry and Meghan are continuing Diana's legacy of openness and warmth. Harry was given a chance of freedom when he met the confident Meghan Markle. He has picked that opportunity and is running with it. A choice he claims his brother and father are unable to make and with which he sympathises.

Oscar nominee Liz Garbus directs this six-episode chronicle featuring interviews with the couple and their inner circle. The second episode is released a week later on Thursday 15 December.