All language subtitles for Harry.and.Meghan.S01E03.1080p.WEB.H264-BIGDOC

- Alright.
- Good morning Sir.

Your Royal Highness
and Meghan Markle,

congratulations to you both.

Thank you.

Can we start with the proposal

and the actual moment of your engagement.

When did it happen? How did it happen?

- It happened a few weeks ago.
- Mm-hmm.

Um, earlier this month.
Here at our cottage.

In your engagement interview, er...

Orchestrated reality show, yep.

It was, you know, rehearsed.

So we did the thing out with
the Press, then we went right inside,

took the coat off,
sat down and did the interview.

So it's all in that same moment.

Well hearts are
broken worldwide this morning

certainly because he's probably the most
popular member of the Royal Family...

The official news

Prince Harry
and Meghan Markle are in an engagement...

Buckingham Palace proudly announces

the engagement
of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

God save the queen.

What like prepping you
that they're gonna ask this, this, this?

Or how does that work?

Yeah. But also, "There'll ask to see
the ring, so show the ring."

So the main stone itself,
I sourced from Botswana.

And the little diamonds on the side
are from my mother's jewelry collection

to make sure she's with us
on this crazy journey together.

What do you think
your mother would have thought of Meghan

or said about Meghan?

At least they'd be thick
as thieves.

Without question,
I think she would be over the moon.

Jumping up and down and so excited for me.

And as I said, would have probably been
best friends, best friends with Meghan.

- I know... I'm sure she's, er...
- She's with us.

I'm sure she's with us,
jumping up and down somewhere else.

I think this is the happy ending

that people have wished for,
for Prince Harry.

They were thrilled.

Absolutely thrilled.

Absolutely thrilled,
it's such exciting news.

His family has been so welcoming.

- Katherine's been absolutely amazing.
- She's been wonderful.

Amazing, as has William, as well.

Have you met each other's families?

My mom, we've been spending a lot
of time with. It was so much fun.

He's talked to my dad, few times.
Hasn't been able to meet him just yet.

Not just a mention of an American bride

but also with a mixed race background.

- First, of mixed race
- Many things about her,

- make her relevant to this generation...
- So much scrutiny...

Do you have that sense
that the combination of the two of you,

your different backgrounds,
that you'll represent something new

for the Royal Family?

Em, you know, we're a fantastic team,
we know we are. And

we hope to, over time,
try and have as much impact

for other things
that we care about as much as possible.

I am very excited about that, yeah.

But yes. We weren't,
so my point is, we weren't allowed to tell

our story because they didn't want.

We are not allowed to tell our story.

That's true.

That's the consistency.

That is consistent. Yeah.

Until now.

I guess that's why we're here.

Yeah.

Meghan!

Who dreamed that Britain
would have a Black princess?

Who could have conceived that?

It was a conclusion
to a history that was so improbable

as to be astonishing.

It is hard to believe the role

that Britain played in modern history.

This little island off the coast of Europe
was at the center of the biggest empire

that the world has ever seen.

But the question we have to ask is,
"Who's paid the cost in all of this?"

It's often said
that Britain had a deep south

that was just as brutal,
that actually enslaved more Africans

than the United states of America did.

But that deep south was the Caribbean.

It was overseas. It was far away.

It was out of sight and out of minds.

Jamaica becomes
this incredibly profitable center

of British slavery.

And then of course,
there's the settlements in North America.

Tobacco in Virginia
and Maryland, rice from the south.

Slavery is fueling
this early British empire.

The first ever commercial
Slave Voyage conducted by Britain,

was personally financed
by Queen Elizabeth I.

And it continued
to be financed by kings and queens,

while up until its abolition.

When I was at school, the only aspect

of the whole story of British slavery

that I was ever told,
was the abolition of slavery.

In 1807, Britain abolished its slave trade

and in the 1830s
Britain abolished its slave empire.

But even when we tell
that very selective slice of the history,

we miss out a critical aspect.

Slavery wasn't just abolished,
the slave owners were compensated.

They were compensated enormously.

Twenty million pounds
for their human property.

It's just another way
in which our memory of British slavery

has been airbrushed
out of Britain's story.

♪ God save our gracious Queen ♪

♪ Long live our noble King... ♪

Growing up in the UK,
I was completely oblivious

to that history and that legacy.

And when I look back
on it, I think a lot of the focus

was put on celebrating our colonial power

and just how important
Britain used to be globally.

I think one
of the oddest things is,

it was only on the very last decades

that imperial epoch,

that Black and Brown people came
to live in Britain in large numbers.

In the mid-twentieth century,
Britain went to the Caribbean Islands

recruiting people to drive buses,

become nurses in the newly

created National Health Service,

teachers in newly expanded schools.

And these were,
on the whole, low-paid jobs.

And this city, London, began
to look for the only time in its history,

like it actually was
the center of an empire

that was mainly
made up of non-White people.

I think what's happened
over the past 50, 60 years,

is that there is a call
to re-imagine the Commonwealth,

to re-imagine Britain.
To re-imagine its institutions.

And so the moment when
I thought, "Well, this is significant."

was when they got engaged.

Could this really be
a moment in which, in essence,

the Royal family
caught up with the rest of Britain?

Nottingham, this morning,

center of attention
on both sides of the Atlantic.

The crowds waiting to take their place

in the fairy-tale of the soldier
Prince and the Hollywood actress.

Harry's brought his bird
to town so I brought mine.

And why are you here?

Um, just to see Meghan.
That's it.

This is the moment which
will be played around the world.

The first Royal test for Meghan Markle.

I never saw pictures
or videos of a walkabout.

Like, what's a walkabout?

I could talk her
through as much as I knew

from my own experience of what I'd seen.

The piece I really didn't
know about was the style, right,

and what a woman needed to,
how they needed to dress and all that.

No, you'd be there with the scissors like,
"Guys, be ready. We have five minutes."

Okay. And I was like,
"Should I wear these earrings?

Are these a British designer?

I just ordered these online. Is this good?
Wait, my tag's on. Cut the tag."

And then the zip breaks, I'm just like...

And he's like, "Okay babes,
safety pin. Just safety pin it."

Well, the whole thing was just ridiculous.

"Ready?" "Yeah." "Okay."

We just sort of went with it.

Just days
since we found out they were engaged,

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
were on their first ever Royal Walkabout.

As an actress,
Meghan Markle is used to

the red carpet and all these crowds.

This however is something else.

- Hey, Meghan.
- Oh, thank you.

They looked perfect.
And she was dressed just on point. Yeah.

- She looked amazing.
- Yeah.

Meghan.

She was delightful. She was lovely.

Meghan, we love you! Ooh!

Meghan!

Everybody was just
so excited and pleased and happy.

And I think people looked at it and went,
"Wow, what a breath of fresh air."

Good addition
to the Royal family.

Definitely.

- An American.
- The mixed kids.

Yeah, mixed kids in the Royal Family now.

What a day for Meghan Markle.

There was no doubt
who sparkled the most today.

I thought to myself,
like, "What a dream."

I found a woman
that not necessarily finds this easy

but is able to do it
and make it look easy.

H, can you DJ?

Mm.

- Elton.
- An Elton? I'll take it.

I mean,
Archie loves Bennie and The Jets.

It is his favorite song.
And to watch a two-year-old go "Bennie.

Bennie."

Daniel was
with me on our wedding.

We've been together
for the progression so much.

- How long has it been now?
- Ten, I think.

- Almost ten years? Over ten years?
- Easy.

Oh my goodness.

- It's so crazy!
- I know.

Nothing has changed,
except for everything.

Um, so maybe
after this we can do a little bit of prep.

Just go through some of
the journalists that post these accounts.

Mostly royal experts?

Is this one mine?

- I don't understand what that.
- Yes.

Someone can
just call themselves a royal expert?

That's a question for my husband.

People can
just call themselves royal experts?

- Well no, it's the same as...
- It should mean something.

It's the same as Royal Correspondent.

Royal Correspondent is a title,

I suppose, that is given
to a selected group of journalists,

so that those newspapers
can use them and their stories

with Royal Correspondent as credible fact.

Just so that whatever the papers
print can come with extra credibility.

I mean, anyone can be a royal expert.

The whole point of it is to try
and lend legitimacy to media articles,

and they get paid for it.

And that press pack of
royal correspondents is essentially just,

an extended PR arm of the Royal Family.

So there's been an agreement
that's been there for over 30 years.

The tabloids in the UK
have a very special relationship

with the Royal Family.

There's a sort of unwritten contract

between the Institution and the Press.

The way it's presented
in the media is, the taxpayer in the UK

pays for the Royal Family.

And in return for those payments...

Can we just see the ring?

...there's an expectation
that the Royal Family

would be available to the media.

And this is a sense of, we pay, you pose.

And they feel
that they have a duty to their readers

to bring private aspects of their lives

to light.

Not all of it always directly
related to the facts on the ground.

If you're part of the royal rota,

you have priority
over the story, over everybody else.

The royal rota is a system

by which certain media are allocated slots

to cover the members of the family.

And however aggressive their
previous coverage might have been,

they still get the right
to be on the rota.

Like so, all royal news goes through
the filter of all the newspapers

within the royal rota of which, apart
from the Telegraph, happen to be tabloids.

It all comes out to control us. Like,

this family is ours to exploit.

That trauma is our story
and our narrative to control.

Cameras poking at you from every quarter,

recording every twitch.

If you don't try to work out in your own
mind some kind of method for existing

and surviving this kind of thing,
you would go mad I think.

Harry and William
are the first generation

that I've seen
grow up under that contract.

And I wish there was
more introspection about the idea

that you could be born into a contractual
relationship with the British media.

Rota!
A couple of steps back, please.

Sorry, keep moving.

I remember doing an event
with both the Duke and Duchess.

And one of the photographers,
almost in jest, said to me,

"Oh, can't you get him to do something
more. He doesn't perform for us anymore."

So I went to Harry and Meghan

and I actually,
regret it wholeheartedly now,

I said to them, "Sometimes,
we just gotta play the game."

And that ultimately,
that game is the invisible contract.

Harry, Meghan and the rest of
the family had an obligation to perform.

And if they didn't,
you would fall out of favor,

and then any opportunity would be used

to write negative
or highlight negative would be taken.

Imagine all of these people

that have published
horrible things about you,

published horrible things
about your family,

have published
horrible things about your mother,

you've got to perform for them.

It's a real cutthroat business.
And with Meghan...

There was no limit.
It was fair game on everyone.

You know, we knew that they would
contact people that Meg was close to.

I didn't know the lengths
that they would go.

There were journalists outside
of my apartment building

There were people trailing us in London.

It was intense.

The Press was ruthless.
They would go to my parents' home.

I remember a friend
forwarded me this article where my mom

was quoted.

It was like, "Oh, Meghan's
obsessed with Princess Diana."

Just things that
never happened and weren't true at all.

I felt unsafe a lot.

I can't just go walk with dogs.
I can't just go to work.

You know, there was always
someone there waiting for me,

following me to work.

I was being stalked by the paparazzi.

Once, I pulled over.

And so he pulled up next to me and said,
"You know,

I just was trying to get a story.

You know you could get
a lot of money for this."

And I just looked at him and said,
"This is my child. Like...

I've nothing to say."

The UK media, I truly believe,
wanted my mom's side of my family

to be the ones that
all this drama could be stirred up with.

And suddenly, you just had my mom
who's classy and quiet in there,

and you had the other side
of my family that is just...

acting differently.

My half-sister who I haven't seen for over
a decade, and that was only for a day,

suddenly, it felt like she was everywhere.

I don't know your middle name.
I don't know your birthday.

You're telling these people you raised me,
and you call me Princess Pushy?

Tom's kids were
a good 17 years older than her.

And Meg and I left when she was two.

I don't remember
seeing her when I was a kid

at my dad's house, if and when
they would come around.

And then the last time that I saw her,

that I remember,
is when I was in my early twenties.

I hadn't had a fallout with her. We didn't
have a closeness to be able to have that.

And I wanted a sister.

My name's Ashleigh Hale.
I'm an immigration attorney.

And I am Meg's niece.

How are you and Meg related?

So Meg is my aunt
on the maternal side of my family.

So she is
my biological mother's half-sister.

My biological mother's Samantha Markle.

And it was agreed by everyone,
by myself and my brother

to be raised by our grandparents.

So they got custody of us
when I was probably around two years old

And ultimately, um, they did adopt us.

So I was raised
by my paternal grandparents.

You know, for me, they were my parents.

My biological mother, I've not
seen her since I was six years old.

And then later in life, around 2007,

we reconnected.

I just remember my dad saying to me,

"Samantha found her daughter."

And I was like, "Oh! If you have
her email address, I want to email her."

It started out with these long emails
back and forth to each other.

And then texts and calls.

After a while, I think we were talking,
on some level, several days a week.

And we just hit it off.

And then she and I just started,
like... I was on Suits at the time.

So I said, "Let's go on vacation."

She took me to New Orleans.

We walked around.
We listened to some good live music.

Ate way too much food.
Had way too many drinks.

It was just the two of us,
which I think was really special.

I think she takes on
a lot of roles for me.

There's a sister element,
there's something maternal.

She's a best friend.
She's kind of all the things...

I think we both craved the same thing.

I wanted a sister,
and she was like a little sister.

Ashleigh was put through quite a bit
by the media, just by association.

And I didn't want...

I didn't want her life
to be plagued with all that drama.

After the news first broke,

Samantha pretty quickly
began expressing a lot of angry words

about Meg towards me.

What was communicated to me
was maybe some resentment.

And it felt like no matter what I said,

you know, her perspective didn't change
and seemed to get angrier and bigger.

And we stopped talking.

You know, some people
you just can't reason with.

It's your future
wife's first Christmas with the in-laws.

All of us have to explain
certain things about our family

to the person we're marrying.

Where there family traditions
you had to explain to her?

Oh, plenty. I think we've got one
of the biggest families I know of.

And every family is complex as well so,

she's done an absolutely amazing job.

She's getting in there
and, you know, it's...

it's the family that
I suppose she never had.

I remember so vividly
the first Christmas at Sandringham.

Calling my mom, and she's like,
"How's it going?"

And I said, "Oh my gosh, it's amazing."

It's just like a big family
like I always wanted.

And there was just
this constant movement and energy and fun.

At dinner,
I was sat next to H's grandfather.

And I just thought it was so wonderful.

And I was like,
"Oh, we chatted and it was so great."

And I talked about this,
and talked about this.

He was like, "You had his bad ear. He
couldn't hear anything you were saying."

I was like,
"Oh. Well, I thought it went really well."

Tonight, there is a new royal scandal.

The wife of one of the queen's cousin,
Princess Michael of Kent,

wore what's called a blackamoor brooch
to the Queen's annual Christmas Lunch.

The jewelry is widely viewed as racist.

And the decision to wear it
quickly drew criticism on social media.

When I heard
about Meghan at an event where

a member of her soon-to-be family
was wearing a blackamoor brooch,

I wasn't hugely surprised

because one of
the realities of life in Britain

is that if you go into a palace,
or a stately home,

or anywhere that represents tradition,

you are likely
to be faced with racist imagery.

There are murals on the wall,
carvings on the ceiling

that depict enslaved people

in a way that glorifies
the institution of slavery.

You could say, "A small thing, a brooch.
She probably didn't mean any harm by it."

If you magnify that thousands of times,

"It was just a painting,
it was just a slave,

it was just a plantation..."

These are the skeletons in the closet that

frequently make
an unwelcome appearance in daily life.

In this family, sometimes

you know, you're part of the problem
rather than part of the solution.

And there is
a huge level of unconscious bias.

The thing with unconscious bias
is it's actually no one's fault.

But once it's been pointed out
or identified within yourself,

you then need to make it right.

It's education. It's awareness.

And it's a constant work in progress

for everybody, including me, you know.

British headline writers
have been salivating today,

Prince Harry's choice to wear
a Nazi uniform earlier this month

to a private party has caused outrage.

Many are questioning
the sensitivity of a 20-year old Prince

who chooses to party in a Nazi uniform.

It was probably one
of the biggest mistakes in my life.

I felt so ashamed afterwards.

All I wanted to do was make it right.

We sat down and spoke
to the chief rabbi in London,

which had a profound impact on me.

I went to Berlin
and spoke to a Holocaust survivor.

I could've ignored it and probably made
the same mistakes over again in my life.

But I learned from that.

Harry, he was not too dissimilar
to a lot of boys I went to school with.

You know, they were
in an echo chamber of absolute privilege

that afforded them
to live a very particular life.

And once you step out of that,

you realize that
there's a much bigger world.

Everyone, the Duke and Duchess.

Hi, how are you?

Okay, thank you.

- Hi.
- How're you doing?

- Hi, guys.
- Hello.

How long have you guys
been sitting in here for?

In silence.

Hello, hello.

Probably having breakfast too.

Yeah.

Hi every body. How are you doing?

I'm never gonna
remember these names so...

Look, we don't know each other.

It is just like speech.

It's so weird.

Watching my husband over there,

you could see how much joy
it brings him to be back on a base.

So he immediately
goes back to military banter.

Everybody, it's amazing how long you all
stay on. The pension's 20 years, right?

Once you get to a certain point,

it's like the point of no return.

You're like, "Oh, 12 years-ish?
Well, may as well stay now."

Well, I signed up with the three.

And then they kept dangling the carrot
of different options in front of me.

And I ended up serving ten years.

My ten years in the army,

it gave me a lived experience that other
members of my family wouldn't have had.

Two tours in Afghanistan, flying
apache helicopters on a military base

means that you grow up pretty fast.

Jeez, I went to war twice.

The people that I met

and the lifelong friends made,

that was my second family.

Because that... for that point.
Yeah, there's still scars left open from

from my mum's awesomeness...
to put it mildly.

Hopefully, she'll be proud.
William sent me a letter

saying how proud he reckons she'll be.

You know, it's one thing that I don't
necessarily think about the whole time

because I've got the guys to worry about.

We've been married ten years and done
five moves since we've been married so...

Three kids in ten years,
and five moves.

Yeah, so we've been busy.

Well, not that way.

Well, in every way.
That's good, that's cool. That's fine.

Working and living with normal people...

and I fully appreciate
that my life is not normal...

Has... certainly has
an effect on you, right?

The bubble within the bubble
that I was brought up in got burst.

Ultimately, I'm so grateful for it.

And that was all before I met Meghan.

What I'd like to say is, depression
is a family secret that we all share.

And sharing our story
allows others to tell theirs in return,

so on behalf of the Bulldogs,

and ur, those
that help generate the airplanes

that deliver hope to others,
I wanna give this to you.

- Thank you very much.
- I appreciate that.

So this coin comes
from the 108 maintenance squadron.

I'm the commander, that
squadron's first female commander.

- Breaking barriers...
- They'll know.

But, uh, it means a lot to me
to be able to give this to you

because of all the barriers
that you've broken for the world.

- And that's very special.
- Thank you.

Sir, no offense, but this is her...

If anyone that starts with that...

Our life was, "Okay,
we're gonna do this job together," and...

that felt great cause I'd been doing
that on my own for so long.

I also think, what she was
already doing, what I was already doing,

that sort of came together
in this beautiful matrimony.

Welcome to
the very first Royal Foundation forum.

Now, the principle of working together

is in the foundation's DNA.
This is the only charity...

The Royal Foundation was
the charity that was originally set up

for William and Harry
to launch their charitable endeavors.

Their Royal Foundation is a team effort,

but we also seem to get an insight

into how Meghan
may want to do things her own way.

Most attention was
on Meghan Markle and

what sort of issues she will take on.

Meghan, it's well known, you've championed
the empowerment of women and young girls,

and promoting their self-worth.

How do you hope to continue
that work with the Royal Foundation?

Um, women don't need to find a voice.
They have a voice.

They need to feel empowered to use it.

And people need
to be encouraged to listen.

And I think right now,
in the climate that we're seeing,

with so many campaigns, I mean MeToo...

there is no better time than
to really continue to shine a light on

women feeling empowered
and people really helping to support them.

This is the first time
that we've heard anyone

associated with the Royal Family
talking about those campaigns.

Kate, for example,
didn't wear black to the BAFTAs.

And Camilla, who also
supports women's organizations

hasn't mentioned MeToo or or TimesUp.
The Kensington Palace stressed...

It's important
to remember the Royal Family in the UK

and the causes that they champion

are deliberately non-controversial.

Meghan was more of an activist.

I didn't know that that...

would be taboo to talk about.

To me, it was just topical.

All the work you do together is great
but working together as family,

do you ever have
disagreements about things?

Oh yes.

Healthy disagreements.

Okay, the last thing
you disagreed on, how did you resolve it?

Uh, I can't remember...
They come so thick and fast!

- But is it resolved? We don't know.
- We don't know.

Oh, you don't know?

Well, you're putting on
a great show if it's not.

The younger Royals held
first event as a foursome this morning.

We were looking at the future
of the British monarchy.

This is the woman who's turning

Britain's most traditional
brand on its head.

Meghan Markle isn't British,
she's been married before,

she's mixed-race,
and she doesn't shy away from politics.

That will have to stop now,
of course, in public at least.

Joining this family,

I knew that there was a protocol
for how things were done.

And, do you remember that old movie,
Princess Diaries with Anne Hathaway?

Me?

A... a princess? Shut up!

I can teach you to walk, talk, sit,
stand, eat, dress like a princess.

There's no class
and some person who goes, "Sit like this.

Cross your legs like this.
Use this fork. Don't do this.

Curtsy then. Wear this kind of hat."

It doesn't happen.

Some people
on Twitter are suggesting it looked a bit

like the Happy Poo emoji.

So I needed to learn a lot.

Including the National Anthem.

How did you learn it?

Oh, I Googled it.

Well, girls, your last day
at the Zermat school for young ladies.

Your final and most important lesson.

[Meghan I Googled it, and I'd sit
there and I'd practice and I'd practice.

She broke Royal protocol by the...

...she and Harry are not yet married.

And then on top of that,
with the press lots of invented protocols.

There was baptism by fire.

Meghan! We love you, Meghan!

Give us a wave!

Meghan!

I have to ask, did anyone
have to teach you how to do the wave?

That's not a thing. You just sort of watch
and go, "Okay, I guess that's what..."

I don't know. I guess you don't wanna wave

like an American. Like, "Hey!"

Everything is just...

...smaller.

- Hello?
- Hello?

- Hi!
- Hi, how are you?

Come on in.

- Should we take our shoes off?
- Ah, yeah. I think it's fine.

It's fine. How are you?

- I'm good. And you?
- Oh my gosh. Look at this.

You too. Come in.

Wow. Look at this piece.

I mean, we really went
from dress to dress.

- Yes? Okay.
- We go dress to dress.

Does it feel tight?

No. Not at all. It feels great.

I step into this?

Have you ever had four people
helping you into a dress?

No! Never!

The safety pins.

Please tell me you're getting that.

There are now three people
under your dress.

Do you have enough light?

- You're offering me a flashlight?
- This is called a rhetorical question.

Good?

The color is amazing.

Most of the time
that I was in the UK,

I rarely wore color.

There was thought in that.
To my understanding,

you can't ever wear
the same color as Her Majesty,

if there's a group event.

But then you also should never
be wearing the same color

as one of the other
more senior members of the family.

So I was like, "Well, what's a color
that they'll probably never wear?"

Camel? Beige? White?

So I wore a lot of muted tones,
but it also was so I could just blend in.

Like, I'm not trying to stand out here.

So there's no version
of me joining this family

and trying to not do
everything I could to fit in.

I don't want to embarrass the family.

Some of
the bride's family don't know yet

if they'll be invited to Windsor Castle,

including Meghan's half-sister,
Samantha Markle,

who's made plenty of her own headlines
in the leadup to the Royal Wedding.

Her half-sister is
also writing a tell-all disparaging book.

Kensington Palace is not commenting.

But you guys, to be a fly
on the wall when he gets to meet

Harry and the Royal Family
for the first time.

We were playing whack-a-mole everyday.

It was like,
"Wait, another one popped up. Wait, stop.

Another story popped." Constant.

They were going through
the woodwork and pulling out people

to create and plant the most
salacious stories that they could.

And then it started to get scary.

Police say a white powder letter

was sent
to soon-to-be-Royal, Meghan Markle...

...package was since learnt to be
some kind of white substance...

...Markle has been subjected to a wave
of abuse and of harassment...

in National newspapers and...

This was on the heels
of those terrorist attacks, right?

So there was so much
concern about the wedding.

And it was just so scary and they
were talking about getting snipers and...

It was a public event, right?

Behind the scenes of all that...

I was just turtling.

Communication with
Meg became... less and less frequent.

My impression was that her relationships

were being managed on some level.

For every duke and duchess,
there is also a communication team.

Comms for the Royal Family
is very similar to a press office,

Press spokesperson for politicians
and businesses, celebrities.

There is a Communications
team at Buckingham Palace,

at Clarence House, at Kensington Palace,

all of whom had a primary duty
to their own principals.

These communications teams
allow the Family

to be one step removed
from dealing with the media.

Overall, there is an aspiration
for a controlled narrative.

Our comms team at that time
was joined with my brother's office.

So in total, there was only
one person really dedicated to us.

So it really was a huge undertaking.

I don't think anyone understands

what that very small
comms team was dealing with.

They just couldn't wrap their heads
around it. And I have compassion for it.

How do we explain that this
half-sister isn't invited to the wedding,

but that the half-sister's daughter is?

And so with Ashleigh,

the guidance at the time
was to not have her come to our wedding.

I was in the car with H. I had her
on speaker phone and we talked her through

what guidance we were being given
and why this assessment was made and...

And that's painful.

I think I said I was hurt
on some level but I...

understood where it was coming from.

To know that it was
because of my biological mother that

this relationship
that's so important to me

was impacted in that way...

To feel like because of her,
it was taken away...

it's been hard.

Across the pond tonight,
a save-the-date notice of sorts,

as the Palace has released new details...

In the run up to the wedding...

the sense of excitement
for the country was incredible.

It's wonderful.
She's different, she's the 21st century.

That's what we need now.

Yeah man,
it's just a good, happy feeling.

You gotta like a good old wedding.

First and foremost, I was pretty surprised
Harry could actually bag a girl like that.

They were just
so evidently really in love.

And I think it radiated out.

Everyone's happy.

Nice.

I'm looking at it through
the lens of my friend, not a Princess.

They as a couple are so tight.

And rely on each other so much,
and are each other's

best, best friends.

I was just super excited.

This is a big day for Meghan Markle.

Just minutes ago,
the Royal Family arrived.

at Westminster Abbey in central London
for a service marking Commonwealth Day...

The many-colored flags were carried

by young nationals of the countries
joining in the celebrations.

It remains a great pleasure and honor
to serve you as Head of the Commonwealth.

Here at Buckingham Palace, in 1949,

my father met the Heads of Government

when they ratified the London Declaration,

which created
the Commonwealth as we know it today.

God save the King.

When you study the transition

from colonialism
to independence in those countries,

you see that Britain
played a very strategic role.

Britain calculated that it needed
to grant these countries independence

in a way that protected
its commercial and capitalist interest.

So it created this privileged club
of formally colonized nations

called the Commonwealth.

Excitement
in Accra, capital of the Gold Coast,

reached its first climax

with the preparations
for welcoming the royal visitor.

The British Monarchy

is different from
the other monarchies in Western Europe

in being an international monarchy,

with the Queen being Head of State to over
a dozen other countries around the world.

On my 21st birthday,

I am 6000 miles
from the country where I was born.

But I am certainly
not 6000 miles from home.

At the center of the argument
for the monarchy in this country,

is the Commonwealth.

The Queen made it her life mission
to fight for this institution.

She's famous for it.

She's deeply respected
for having kept this institution together.

I declare
before you all that my whole life,

whether it be long or short,

shall be devoted to the service
of our great Imperial family,

to which we all belong.

If we all go forward together
with an unwavering faith,

the Commonwealth
will continue to offer stability

and continuity for future generations.

The Commonwealth
is still described as that, you know,

a club of friends who share common values.

I find that language really problematic.

I sometimes call
the Commonwealth "Empire two point zero"

because that is what it is.

Well, it's not changed a thing,
they've just got better PR.

If you look at the Black people
in the Commonwealth,

well their conditions are almost just
as bad as they were 50 or 100 years ago.

And the roots of that poverty

are based on the extraction
of their wealth elsewhere.

Those in Britain who extracted that wealth
continue in inter-generational wealth.

Those from whom it was extracted
continue to be inter-generationally poor.

It's a very clear economic relationship.

And yet, the current narrative
in Britain is that it's old history,

there's no point looking back.

It's incredibly painful for the
very many millions of British people

who have a different memory
of empire in their personal background.

And yet, here was a woman

who just looked like
most of the people in the Commonwealth.

Meghan represented something.

There was a hope,

"Well, maybe this is a way of
having these difficult conversations

that had been pushed away so many times.

Prince Harry
and Meghan Markle will attend

a small special memorial later

to mark the 25th anniversary
of the death of Stephen Lawrence.

An 18-year-old boy
has been stabbed to death

as he waited for a bus
with a friend in Southeast London.

Not far away, he and a friend

were approached
by a gang of up to half a dozen...

...stabbed by a group
of white thugs in an unprovoked attack.

This was a story of two tragedies.

The murder of Stephen Lawrence,
and then the inability

of the legal system
and of the police to provide justice.

No one has ever been
convicted over the death of Stephen.

Local feeling about racist attacks

in this area has been
running high for over two years now.

I'm absolutely shocked.
I didn't expect this to happen again.

How much is it?
How much is a Black life worth?

Pandemonium
outside the Stephen Lawrence enquiry

as the five suspects...

Fighting broke out at
the Stephen Lawrence enquiry today

as the five young white men
fought with an angry crowd.

It was such an egregious,
such an appalling, such a disturbing case

that it became too difficult to ignore.

And it made the complaints,
the observations,

the experiences
of Black people difficult to deny.

Hanging
over this memorial, the terrible fact

that only two of Stephen's killers
have been brought to justice.

I think that
it was really significant

that Meghan and Harry
visited this memorial

because it represented
a direct attempt to speak to the pain

that many people still feel as a result
of the murder of Stephen Lawrence.

A quarter of a century later,

we could only imagine
the man who Stephen would have become.

And that was really welcomed
by many Black communities in Britain.

I always perceived Prince Harry as

just another senior royal
who's a little bit racist,

very ignorant...

But I have watched him on this journey
and seen that he has really embraced

the education that is required
for someone like him,

to transform themselves
into an anti-racist.

The excitement here in Windsor...
it's building.

We've reached the final 12 days.

I cannot believe it's this close.

A hundred thousand people will be trying

to squeeze onto
these pavements on Saturday...

She's going to make history
on the 19th of May.

And we're ever so proud of Meghan.

Is it going to be a wild one?

Aw, definitely!

Meghan Markle's route to the
chapel on the morning of 19th May

will start off unconventionally

because it will be her mother
who will be in the car with her

as she drives here
along the long walk up to the castle.

Meghan will meet her father, Thomas Markle
at the West Steps to St. George's Chapel

before he walks her down the aisle.

But when Meghan's father flies in
on the week before the wedding,

he will be meeting his daughter's soon-
to-be husband for the very first time.

There was excitement
leading up to the wedding

but she also had
to contend with everybody else.

It's amazing what people would do

when offered a huge amount of money.

Fifty thousand, a hundred thousand,
to hand over photographs,

to create a story...

And thank God most of them said no.

The week before our wedding,

We got a call
from our joint communications secretary.

He said, "This story is going
to come out tomorrow

saying your father has been staging
pictures and taking money from the press."

And I was like, "What kind of pictures?"

They were
relatively innocuous enough.

You know, there was...
one of him looking at a book

of the UK.

I remember I naively went into the office

and I said, "Isn't that sweet?"

As I genuinely was in this, sort of,

matrimony love-fest bubble.

And a colleague sort of brought me
down to earth fairly quickly

and said, "That's a setup."

That was
the first I was hearing of it.

And I remember Jason said, "You just need
to call him and find out if this is true

or not because
it could be really damaging."

H and I called my dad.

I said, "They're saying you're taking
money from the tabloids to stage photos.

Is this true?" He says, "No."

And on that call, I'd said to him,
"Look. If they can't stop it this story,

then it's going to come out tomorrow

so whey don't we send someone right now
to your house to get you out of there now

because if that's the case, your house'll
be swarmed by media. We'll get you out."

I was like, "We'll just come and get you
a day early and take you out of Mexico."

And he said,
"No. I have things I need to do."

And it felt really cagey.

I was like, "It doesn't make sense."

And when we hung up,

I looked at H.

I was like, "I don't know why
but I don't believe him."

The buzz, this morning,
centers around Meghan Markle's father.

Mr. Markle allegedly
staged photos of himself for paparazzi,

selling them
for a reported 100,000 dollars.

This is tabloid fodder. They're going
crazy with this story this morning.

Everyone was so frantic
with preparing for the wedding itself.

And then all of a sudden,
it just exploded.

I was absolutely stunned

that Tom would become part of this circus.

As the photo scandal swirls around...

I felt sad that
the media would run with this.

Do you have
any reaction to your ex-husband's

apparently staging
photos for the paparazzi?

That he would capitalize...

Certainly as a parent. It's not...
No. That's not what you do.

That's not parenting.

Paps and journalists immediately
were following him all day everyday.

The unraveling happened that week
when he wouldn't pick up my call.

And instead you're talking to TMZ.

We just broke
a big bad story on our website.

Meghan Markle was supposed to be
walked down the aisle by her father.

And we found out from her father,
not only would he not do that,

he's not gonna attend the wedding at all.

And I'm finding out
that you're not coming to our wedding...

through a tabloid.

Meghan's father,
73 years old Thomas Markle,

reportedly suffering a heart attack,

after enduring
a scandal these past three days

with staged
paparazzi photos that went viral.

And then suddenly
they were saying he was in the hospital.

I said, "What's going on?
Please just pick up the phone.

Like, We're not mad.
Just please pick up the phone."

He told me he had
a heart attack six days ago.

- We need to know what's going on.
- Calling and calling.

This is not him saying,
"I will... I don't wanna be there."

No, I get it. I'm not saying...

The world is watching this drama play out.

For everybody, Thomas Markle

Once it was said in the media,
he just stopped calling

We need to know what's going on.
I don't understand what's going on.

"Are you okay? What hospital are you at?"

We were just trying
to understand what's going on.

How do you not have
your daddy at your wedding?

And then,
someone texted back on his phone.

It was really weird.
You know how people text, right?

Like, you know,
my dad used a lot of emojis

and a lot of like,
ellipses and dot-dot-dot and...

And this was just the opposite.

And it called me Meghan.

I was like, "He's never called me Meghan
in my... any day I've lived on this planet.

Meg. All my friends call me Meg
and my parents call me Meg.

And I was like, "That's not my dad."

So then, we knew that
his phone had been compromised.

And we said, "Pick up the phone.
We need to know it's you."

Never spoke to him.

Of course, it's incredibly sad what
happened. She had a father before this.

And now she doesn't have a father.

And I shouldered that.

Because if Meg wasn't with me,

then her dad would still be her dad.

Okay, great too.

- Hi, Daddy. I got the English award.
- I know.

Okay. Alright. Am I there? I wonder.

Okay. See you later. Bye-bye.
Where's the little button?

Woah.
I gotta zoom back on you.

Gotta push that button in the back.

We're about 24 hours
away from the Royal Wedding and excited...

More than
two billion people worldwide

are expected to watch the wedding on TV.

There is
so much excitement in the air.

In so many ways,
this is a Royal Wedding unlike any other.

The big reveal in just 24 hours.

♪ When the night has come ♪

♪ And the land is dark and the moon ♪

♪ Is the only, only light we see ♪

♪ No, I won't be afraid ♪

♪ No no no no no I won't be afraid ♪

♪ Just as long, just as long
Just as long as you stand by me ♪

♪ Now darling, darling ♪

♪ Whenever I'm in trouble
Darling, won't you stand ♪

♪ I need just a little
Helping hand right now now ♪

♪ And darling, darling
Won't you stand by me ♪

♪ If the sky we look upon now, now ♪

♪ Should tumble and fall
All of the mountains ♪

♪ May crumble, may crumble to the sea ♪

♪ I won't cry, I won't cry... ♪

Subtitle translation by: Regina Njoku