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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix docuseries, titled Harry and Meghan, has dropped in part today – unveiling dramatic revelations about their time in the UK.

Here, Sky News highlights the key admissions made by Harry and Meghan, along with a few more surprises.

Screen Grabs taken from Harry and Meghan  Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan
PIC:NETFLIX

Episode 1

Harry and Meghan both appear candid from the off and ready to tell their version of events following their 2016 whirlwind romance.

After completing their final stint of royal engagements in March 2020, the 38-year-old prince says it is “really hard to look back on it now and go ‘what on earth happened’? Like, how did we end up here?'”

Harry and Meghan Netflix series – live updates

Women in the Royal Family

Prince Harry spoke about women in the Royal Family and said he had learnt “the pain and suffering of women marrying into this institution”.

He said: “I remember thinking how can I ever find someone who is willing and capable to be able to withstand all the baggage that comes with being with me.”

Harassment of Princess Diana

Prince Harry says his mother, Princess Diana, was “harassed throughout her life”.

He says: “My mum was harassed throughout her life with my dad, but after they separated, the harassment went to new levels.”

Harry goes on to say that the moment his mother divorced, she was “by herself”.

Screen Grabs taken from Harry and Meghan  Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan
PIC:NETFLIX
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The royal couple had a ‘guarded’ relationship at the beginning. Pic: Netflix

Meeting on Instagram

Meghan reveals she wasn’t looking for a relationship the summer they met.

“I was really intent on being single, and just having fun all the time,” she says. “I had my career, I had my life, I had my path, uh, and then came H – I mean talk about plot twist.”

Then Harry reveals how they actually met…

“Meghan and I met over Instagram,” he says.

“I was just scrolling through my feed and someone who was a friend had this video of the two of them, like a Snapchat, with dog ears. That was the first thing – I was like ‘who is THAT?'”.

Archie heard speaking on TV for first time

The couple’s son, Archie, is heard speaking on TV for the first time six minutes into the episode.

As Meghan looks at the sunset, she asks Archie how he would describe it.

“It’s beautiful,” he says.

Screen Grabs taken from Harry and Meghan  Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan
PIC:NETFLIX
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Archie is heard speaking on TV for the first time. Pic: Netflix

Fitting the mould

Harry reveals there was an urge for members of the Royal Family to marry someone who “fit the mould”.

He says: “I think for so many people in the family, especially the men, there could be a temptation or an urge to marry someone who would fit the mould as opposed to someone you are destined to be with.

“The difference between making a decision with your head or your heart.

“And my mum certainly made most of her decisions, if not all of them, from her heart. And I am my mother’s son.”

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Public pressures

How different Prince William and Harry were as children is explored in the first episode, and how the Royal Family reacted to the paparazzi.

Harry describes his childhood as “filled with happiness and laughter”, but added that “the majority of my memories are of being swarmed by paparazzi”.

He also describes how the Royal Family reacted to paparazzi: “Rarely did we have a holiday without someone with a camera jumping out of a bush or something. Within the family, within the system, the advice that’s always given is don’t react.

“Don’t feed into it. There was always public pressure, with its fair share of drama, stress and tears. And witnessing those tears. I could always see it on my mum’s face. And that was when I thought hang on what am I, who am I, what am I part of?”

Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend the 2022 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Award Gala in New York City, U.S., December 6, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

Meghan ‘similar’ to Princess Diana

Speaking about Meghan, Harry says: “So much of how Meghan is, and how she is, is so similar to my mum.

“She has the same compassion, she has the same empathy, she has the same confidence – she has this warmth about her.”

He adds that he accepts “there will be people around the world who fundamentally disagree with what I’ve done and how I’ve done it, but I knew that I had to do everything I could to protect my family”.

“Especially after what happened to my mum. You know I didn’t want history to repeat itself,” he says.

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Harry and Meghan: Key takeaways

Episode 2

Falling in love

Meghan reveals in episode 2 that the beginning of her relationship with Harry was “long distance” and “guarded”.

She says: “Everything was just texts and FaceTimes and we’d just talk for hours and it just felt exciting which is so weird because it wasn’t exciting in the way that people would assume that it would be.”

The former Suits actress describes the start of their romance as “relaxed and easy”.

Screen Grabs taken from Harry and Meghan  Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan
PIC:NETFLIX
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Meghan says her relationship with Harry was ‘easy’ and ‘relaxed’

She says: “We just got to know each other. Truly, like any other couple when you’re figuring out… What do you like to eat, what do you like to cook? What kind of movies do you like?”

Speaking about the relationship, Harry says: “I got to know her more and more, I was like, ‘I’m really falling in love with this girl’. So in spite of my fear, I just opened my heart to see what’s going to happen.”

Meghan meets William and Kate in ripped jeans

Meghan said she found the Royal Family quite formal upon first meeting them, and revealed she first met Prince William and Kate while wearing a ripped pair of jeans.

She says she has always been a hugger and didn’t realise that was jarring for a lot of British people.

“I guess I started to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside,” Meghan says.

“That there is a forward-facing way of being and then you close the door and ‘phew I can relax now’ but that formality carries over on both sides. And that was surprising to me.”

Prince Harry says the Queen was the first senior member of the Royal Family who Meghan met.

First death threat

Prince Harry describes the early stages of his relationship as a “combination of car chases, anti-surveillance driving and disguises”.

Meghan describes how she received a death threat while she was in Toronto after the huge surge of media attention she experienced.

She said when she got her first death threat “things changed because I needed to have security”.

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Prince Harry on ‘race element’

Harry revealed that members of the Royal Family questioned why the Duchess of Sussex should be “protected” when the couple raised newspaper headlines about her.

“The direction from the Palace was don’t say anything,” he says, adding that his family would ask why Meghan should receive “special treatment”.

“I said: ‘The difference here is the race element’.”

Meeting the Queen

In episode two, Meghan says she did not know what meeting the Queen would consist of and describes it as “all a bit of a shock”.

The Duchess of Sussex says: “I didn’t realise I was about to meet Queen, on way to a lunch and Harry asked, ‘You know how to curtsey right?'”

FILE - In this Tuesday, July 10, 2018 file photo Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, and Meghan the Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry watch a flypast of Royal Air Force aircraft pass over Buckingham Palace in London. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are to no longer use their HRH titles and will repay ..2.4 million of taxpayer's money spent on renovating their Berkshire home, Buckingham Palace announced Saturday, Jan. 18. 2020. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)
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Meghan and Harry with the Queen in 2018

She goes on to say: “Now I’m realising this is a big deal, talks about curtseying and meeting the Queen, it was so intense.”

Speaking about introducing Meghan to his family, Harry says: “I remember my family first meeting her and being incredibly impressed, some of them didn’t know quite what to do with themselves.

“I think they were surprised. They were surprised a ginger could land such a beautiful woman, and such an intelligent woman.”

But he says his family’s judgement may have been clouded by the fact Meghan was an American actress, and thought, “this won’t last”.

Episode 3

Engagement interview

In the third episode, Meghan describes her engagement interview as “an orchestrated reality show”.

She said: “It was, you know, rehearsed, so we did the thing out with the press and then we went right inside, took the coat off, sat down and did the interview. So it was all in that same moment.”

The couple announced their engagement in 2017.

Adapting wardrobes

Meghan explains in episode three that she “rarely wore colour” during her time in the UK as she understood you could not wear the same colour as the Queen in a group event.

“But then you also should never be wearing the same colour as one of the other more senior members of the family. So I was like ‘well, what’s a colour that they’ll probably never wear?'”, she says.

Screen Grabs taken from Harry and Meghan  Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan
PIC:NETFLIX
Image:
Meghan and Harry met in 2016. Pic: Netflix

“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.”

Unconscious bias in Royal Family

The Duke of Sussex reveals in episode three there is a “huge level of unconscious bias” in the Royal Family, before the documentary refers to when Princess Michael of Kent wore a Blackamoor-style brooch to an event the Duchess of Sussex attended in 2017.

He says: “In this family, sometimes you are part of the problem rather than part of the solution. There is a huge level of unconscious bias.

“The thing with unconscious bias, it is actually no one’s fault. But once it has been pointed out, or identified within yourself you then need to make it right.

“It is education. It is awareness. It is a constant work in progress for everybody, including me.”

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Prince Harry takes aim at family

Nazi uniform ‘biggest mistake of my life’

Harry says wearing a Nazi uniform to a private party was “one of the biggest mistakes of my life” and that he felt “so ashamed afterwards”.

In 2005, Harry made headlines when he was pictured wearing a Nazi uniform with a swastika armband to a fancy dress party.

The pictures was published on the front page of The Sun newspaper under the headline: “Harry the Nazi”.

Clarence House later issued a statement which read: “Prince Harry has apologised for any offence or embarrassment he has caused. He realises it was a poor choice of costume.”

Googling the national anthem

Meghan opens up about her experience joining the Royal Family, the protocols and how she came to learn the British national anthem.

She says: “Joining this family, I knew that there was a protocol for how things were done. And do you remember that old movie The Princess Diaries, with Anne Hathaway?

“There’s no class, and some person who goes ‘sit like this, cross your legs like this, use your fork, don’t do this, curtsey then, wear this kind of hat’. It doesn’t happen”.

When asked how she learned the national anthem she says: “I googled it, and I’d sit, there, and I’d practice and I’d practice”.

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Tom Cruise leads moment of silence in tribute to ‘dear friend’ Val Kilmer

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Tom Cruise leads moment of silence in tribute to 'dear friend' Val Kilmer

Tom Cruise has paid tribute to Val Kilmer, wishing his Top Gun co-star “well on the next journey”.

Cruise, speaking at the CinemaCon film event in Las Vegas on Thursday, asked for a moment’s silence to reflect on the “wonderful” times shared with the star, whom he called a “dear friend”.

Kilmer, who died of pneumonia on Tuesday aged 65, rocketed to fame starring alongside Cruise in the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, playing Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky, a rival fighter pilot to Cruise’s character Maverick.

Tom Cruise, star of the upcoming film "Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning," leads a moment of silence for late actor Val Kilmer during the Paramount Pictures presentation at CinemaCon at Caesars Palace on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
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Tom Cruise said ‘I wish you well on the next journey’. Pic: AP

Val Kilmer in 2017. Pic: AP
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Val Kilmer in 2017. Pic: AP

His last part was a cameo role in the 2022 blockbuster sequel Top Gun: Maverick.

Cruise, on stage at Caesars Palace on Thursday, said: “I’d like to honour a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer. I can’t tell you how much I admire his work, how grateful and honoured I was when he joined Top Gun and came back later for Top Gun: Maverick.

“I think it would be really nice if we could have a moment together because he loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us. Just kind of think about all the wonderful times that we had with him.

“I wish you well on the next journey.”

The moment of silence followed a string of tributes from Hollywood figures including Cher, Francis Ford Coppola, Antonio Banderas and Michelle Monaghan.

Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes told the New York Times on Wednesday that the actor had died from pneumonia.

Tom Cruise takes part in the Paramount Pictures presentation at CinemaCon at Caesars Palace on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
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Tom Cruise at Caesars Palace on Thursday. Pic: AP

Diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, Kilmer discussed his illness and recovery in his 2020 memoir Your Huckleberry and Amazon Prime documentary Val.

He underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments for the disease and also had a tracheostomy which damaged his vocal cords and permanently gave him a raspy speaking voice.

Kilmer played Batman in the 1995 film Batman Forever and received critical acclaim for his portrayal of rock singer Jim Morrison in the 1991 movie The Doors.

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He also starred in True Romance and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, as well as playing criminal Chris Shiherlis in Michael Mann’s 1995 movie Heat and Doc Holliday in the 1993 film Tombstone.

In 1988 he married British actress Joanne Whalley, whom he met while working on fantasy adventure Willow.

The couple had two children before divorcing in 1996.

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Bruce Springsteen: The Boss to release seven ‘lost’ albums

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Bruce Springsteen: The Boss to release seven 'lost' albums

Bruce Springsteen is to release seven albums of mostly unheard material this summer.

The US singer said the songs, written and re-recorded between 1983 and 2018, were being made public after he began completing “everything I had in my vault” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a short video posted on Instagram, Springsteen said the albums were “records that were full records, some of them even to the point of being mixed and not released”.

The 83-song collection is being released in a box set called Tracks II: The Lost Albums and goes on sale on 27 June.

Some 74 of the tracks have never been heard before.

Springsteen first teased the release on Wednesday morning with a short social media video accompanied by text which said: “What was lost has been found”.

Tracks II is the follow-up to the star’s first Tracks volume, a four-CD collection of 66 unreleased songs, released in 1998.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 26, 2025: Bruce Springsteen took the stage at Carnegie Hall for People Have the Power: A Celebration of Patti Smith, an electrifying tribute to the legendary artist. The event, presented by Michael Dorf, honored Smiths profound impact on music, poetry, and activism, bringing together an all-star lineup to perform her most iconic songs. (Photo: Giada Papini Rampelotto/EuropaNewswire). Photo by: Giada Papini Rampelotto/EuropaNewswire/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
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Bruce Springsteen at New York’s Carnegie Hall at a tribute to Patti Smith last month. Pic: PA

The New Jersey-born rocker, nicknamed The Boss, last released a studio album in 2022.

Only the Strong Survive was a collection of covers, including songs by Motown and soul artists, such as the Four Tops, The Temptations, The Supremes, Frankie Wilson and Jimmy Ruffin.

The late soul legend Sam Moore, who died in January and was a frequent Springsteen collaborator, sang on two of the tracks.

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Springsteen is coming to the UK in May to launch a two-month tour of Europe with his E Street Band.

The shows will include performances at the Co-op Live in Manchester and Liverpool’s Anfield stadium.

The singer-songwriter has sold more than 140 million records since his debut on the music scene in 1973, according to his website.

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Stalker who believed Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas was his aunt avoids jail

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Stalker who believed Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas was his aunt avoids jail

A man who stalked Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas for six years has avoided jail.

Kyle Shaw, 37, got a 20-month suspended sentence and a lifetime restraining order on contacting Ballas, her mother, niece, and former partner.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that he thought Ballas was his aunt and “began a persistent campaign of contact”.

“He believed, and it’s evident from what he was told by his mother, that her late brother was his father,” said prosecutor Nicola Daley.

The court heard there was no evidence he was wrong, and “limited evidence” he was correct.

Ms Daley said Shaw’s messages had accused Ballas of being to blame for the death of her brother, who took his own life in 2003 aged 44.

He also set up social media accounts in his name.

Shaw had pleaded guilty to stalking the former dancer between August 2017 and November 2023 at a hearing in February.

Incidents included following Ballas’s 86-year-old mother, Audrey Rich, while she was shopping and telling her she was his grandmother.

The court heard in messages to Mrs Rich, Shaw had asked: “Where’s my dad?”

Ballas was so worried for her mother’s safety that she moved her from Merseyside to London.

Shaw outside court on the day of his sentencing. Pic: PA
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Kyle Shaw outside court on the day of his sentencing. Pic: PA

In October 2020, Ballas called police after Shaw messaged her and said: “Do you want me to kill myself, Shirley?”

Posts on X included one alongside an image of her home address that warned: “You ruined my life, I’ll ruin yours and everyone’s around you.”

Another referenced a book signing and said: “I can’t wait to meet you for the first time Aunty Shirley. Hopefully I can get an autograph.”

The court was told Ballas’s niece Mary Assall, former partner Daniel Taylor and colleagues from Strictly Come Dancing and ITV’s Loose Women were also sent messages.

‘I know where you live’

On one occasion in late 2023, Shaw called Mr Taylor and told him he knew where the couple lived and described Ballas’s movements.

The court heard the 64-year-old TV star become wary of socialising and stopped using public transport.

Prosecutor Ms Daley said: “She described having sleepless nights worrying about herself and her family’s safety and being particularly distressed when suggestions were made to her that she and her mother were responsible for her brother taking his own life.”

Man accused of stalking Shirley Ballas
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Ballas has been head judge on Strictly Come Dancing since 2017. Pic: PA

Shaw cried and wiped away tears as he was sentenced on Tuesday.

The judge said the stalking stemmed from his mother telling him Ballas’s brother, David Rich, was his biological father.

“I’m satisfied that your motive for this offending was a desire to seek contact with people you genuinely believed were your family,” he said.

“Whether in fact there’s any truth in that belief is difficult, if not impossible, to determine.”

Kyle Shaw leaves Liverpool Crown Court, where he is charged with stalking Strictly judge Shirley Ballas.
Pic: PA
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Shaw pictured at court in February. Pic: PA

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Defence lawyer John Weate said Shaw had been told the story by his mother “in his mid to late teens” and had suffered “complex mental health issues” since he was a child.

He added: “He now accepts that Miss Ballas and her family don’t wish to have any contact with him and, importantly, he volunteered the information that he has no intention of contacting them again.”

Shaw, of Whetstone Lane in Birkenhead, also admitted possessing cannabis and was ordered to undertake a rehab programme.

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