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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
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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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Salt Path author Raynor Winn responds to claims she lied about ‘true’ story

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Salt Path author Raynor Winn responds to claims she lied about 'true' story

Salt Path author Raynor Winn has said claims she lied about her story are “highly misleading” and called suggestions her husband made up his illness “utterly vile”.

A report in The Observer disputed key aspects of the hit book, billed as an “inspiring and life-affirming true story” about a couple’s coastal trek.

Winn released a lengthy statement denying the paper’s claims and shared medical letters apparently sent to her husband, Moth, that appear to support a diagnosis for a rare neurological condition, Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD).

One letter mentions his prior “CBS [Corticobasal Syndrome] diagnosis”, while another concludes he has “an atypical form” of CBD.

The author said accusations he lied about having CBD/CBS are false and have “emotionally devastated” him.

Pic: Steve Tanner/Black Bear
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Raynor and husband Moth (centre) with actors Jason Isaacs (L) and Gillian Anderson (R). Pic: Steve Tanner/Black Bear

“I have charted Moth’s condition with such a level of honesty, that this is the most unbearable of the allegations,” Winn wrote on her website.

The Observer claimed to have spoken to experts who were “sceptical” about elements of his story, such as a “lack of acute symptoms and his apparent ability to reverse them”.

PSPA, a charity that supports people with CBD, ended their relationship with the family following The Observer’s claims.

Winn said she had never suggested walking was “some sort of miracle cure” and that there can be “symptoms for many years before they finally reach a diagnosis”.

“Even then, many sufferers’ symptoms present in an atypical way,” she wrote.

“They might not present with the same symptoms, occurring in the same order, or with the same severity.”

Pic: Steve Tanner/Black Bear
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The memoir was turned into a film, released. Pic: Steve Tanner/Black Bear

Winn also posted the letters on Instagram and said they are grateful Moth’s condition is slow-progressing.

She clarified it is now commonly referred to by specialists as CBS, “which describes the symptoms observed during life”.

The bestselling book was also recently released as a film, starring Jason Isaacs and Gillian Anderson, charting the couple’s 630-mile trek along the Cornish, Devon, and Dorset coast – a journey sparked by the devastation of losing their house.

The Observer claimed the portrayal of a failed investment in a friend’s business wasn’t true, rather they lost their home after Raynor Winn embezzled money from her employer, Martin Hemming, and had to borrow to pay it back and avoid police action.

Winn’s statement said the dispute with Mr Hemmings wasn’t the reason they lost their home – but admitted she may have made “mistakes” while in the job.

“For me it was a pressured time,” she wrote. “It was also a time when mistakes were being made in the business. Any mistakes I made during the years in that office, I deeply regret, and I am truly sorry.”

She admitted being questioned by police but said she wasn’t charged.

Winn added: “I reached a settlement with Martin Hemmings because I did not have the evidence required to support what happened. The terms of the settlement were willingly agreed by both parties.”

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The author reiterated the book’s version of events: that the loss of their home in Wales stemmed from an investment in a friend’s property portfolio that went sour.

Her statement goes into legal detail about how it transpired and admits – as The Observer suggested – that the couple at one point tried to raffle the house.

However, the author said they “quickly realised it was a mistake as it clearly wasn’t going to work. We cancelled it and refunded the few participants.”

The 63-year-old also denied having any outstanding debts and said it was “blatantly untrue” the couple were hiding behind pseudonyms after The Observer quoted people who said they knew them by the surname Walker.

“Winn is my maiden name and like most women who have married I’ve used both my maiden name, Winn, and married name, Walker,” said the statement.

She also explained she preferred the first name Raynor, rather than her birth name Sally Ann, so took that as her pen name; while Moth is an abbreviation of her husband’s name, Timothy.

“The legal names we use on our bank records, our utility bills etc. Our friends and neighbours use Sal and Tim interchangeably with Ray and Moth – there is nothing hiding in our names,” she said.

Sky News has contacted The Observer for a response to Winn’s statement.

Raynor Winn had been scheduled to make numerous appearances over the summer, performing with Saltlines, her collaboration with Gigspanner Big Band.

However, the band has since announced on social media that she will no longer be taking part in the tour.

She was also scheduled to take part in various Q&As, conversations, writing courses and festivals.

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Reservoir Dogs actor Michael Madsen died from heart failure, says cardiologist

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Reservoir Dogs actor Michael Madsen died from heart failure, says cardiologist

Actor Michael Madsen, who starred in Reservoir Dogs and Thelma & Louise, died from heart failure, his cardiologist has said.

The 67-year-old was found unresponsive in his home in Malibu, California, last Thursday and pronounced dead.

His doctor said heart disease and alcoholism will be listed as factors which contributed to the star’s death, reported NBC Los Angeles.

With no suspicious circumstances and the death listed as being from natural causes, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department considers the case closed.

In a career spanning more than 40 years, Madsen’s film credits include Free Willy, Donnie Brasco and Sin City.

He was also known for his collaborations with director Quentin Tarantino, including in Kill Bill: Vol. 2, The Hateful Eight and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.

The Chicago-born actor also linked up with Tarantino when he played Mr Blonde in 1992’s Reservoir Dogs.

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Michael Madsen played Mr Blonde in Reservoir Dogs. Pic: THA/Shutterstock
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Madsen played numerous roles, including Mr Blonde in Reservoir Dogs. Pic: THA/Shutterstock

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His sister, Oscar-nominated actress Virginia Madsen, paid tribute to her brother in a statement to Variety.

She wrote: “My brother Michael has left the stage.

“He was thunder and velvet. Mischief wrapped in tenderness. A poet disguised as an outlaw. A father, a son, a brother – etched in contradiction, tempered by love that left its mark.”

Madsen was preparing to release a new book called Tears For My Father: Outlaw Thoughts And Poems.

A statement by managers Susan Ferris and Smith, and publicist Liz Rodriguez, said the book by “one of Hollywood’s most iconic actors” was currently being edited.

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Fantasy v reality: Lena Dunham’s Too Much is a new spin on the London romcom

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Fantasy v reality: Lena Dunham's Too Much is a new spin on the London romcom

Horse-drawn carriages, picturesque gardens and endless cups of tea are just some of the stereotypical tropes that have shaped America’s romanticised image of England before even stepping foot on the island.

Thanks to classical literature and a steady stream of period dramas, Lena Dunham was no exception.

“I had so many fantasies,” she tells Sky News about growing up slightly obsessed with British culture.

“I loved Jane Austen, I loved Charlotte Bronte, I love British film, I was one of those little Anglophile kids.”

The writer and director believed it would be that area of classically depicted England that would fill her time when she first moved to “jolly old London” as a teenager with her mother for a brief time.

Instead, her attention was taken by another, and possibly equally influential group of artists.

“There was a pop show about S Club 7 and all I did was just sit in the hotel and obsessively watch things relating to [the group],” she said.

“So, I didn’t go home with all this cultural British knowledge. I went home with a deep abiding love of S Club 7 and came back to school when everyone was obsessed with the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC.

“For me, I was literally like, ‘Guys, you got to hear this hot track right off the presses, it’s called Reach For The Stars’.”

Lena Dunham in a clip from Netflix series Too Much. Pic: Netflix
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Pic: Netflix

It wasn’t until her 30s, when the actress moved again to the city, that reality took hold and she quickly learned the difference between the imagined London and the real city.

Some stereotypes hold true, like the universal love for Paddington. Still, TV tropes like renting a flat on a single income in the city does not necessarily mean you’ll be treated to lavish rooms and a picturesque garden.

She says it was social cues she found most challenging to adjust to, as well as the different dictionaries used when speaking, technically, the same language.

“You come to a new country and even though you speak the same language, you’re totally absent from those tools,” she says.

“And I found that really striking as an adult in my 30s, trying to make friends, trying to date. I found it confusing enough to be a person in my own city of origin, so this was extra confounding.”

Too Much, her new Netflix series, is loosely inspired by her own London chapter and follows a workaholic New Yorker in her 30s who is sent across the Atlantic to work on a new project.

The 10-episode show is produced by Working Title – the company behind Bridget Jones, Notting Hill, About A Boy and Love Actually – and stars Hacks breakout actress Megan Stalter and The White Lotus actor Will Sharpe.

Megan Stalter stars as Jessica in Lena Dunham's new Netflix comedy Too Much. Pic: Netflix
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Pic: Netflix

Dunham says she always wanted to write about her time in the UK, but it was a conversation with Irish actor Andrew Scott that got the ball rolling.

“Actually, he’s the reason that I came to know Meg as an actor because he loved her on Hacks and he loved her videos, and he said: ‘Have you watched this woman’s work? I feel like there’s a real connection between you two’, and I started watching because of him and built a show around her.”

In a full circle moment, Scott appears in the series briefly as an arrogantly odd man who crosses paths with Megan Stalter’s character Jessica.

Andrew Scott in Lena Dunham 's new Netflix comedy series Too Much. Pic: Netflix
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Pic: Netflix

The Ridley actor isn’t the only famous face joining the cast in a cameo role. Dunham put a call out to most of Hollywood, and luckily lots were on board.

To name just a few, guest stars include Jessica Alba, Stephen Fry, Adwoa Aboah, Kit Harington, Rita Wilson, Rita Ora, Richard E Grant, Emily Ratajkowski, Andrew Scott, Prasanna Puwanarajah and Jennifer Saunders.

“It was one of those situations where you just reach for the stars, literally, and then you can’t believe when they appear,” says Dunham.

“It was just a non-stop parade of people that I was fascinated by, wanted to be around, completely enamoured of.”

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Lena Dunham speaks to Sky's entertainment reporter Debbie Ridgard
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A whole host of high-profile cameos feature in Lena Dunham’s Too Much

She adds: “I remember asking Naomi Watson, thinking, there’s absolutely no way that you’re going to want to come play this slightly demented woman. And she’s so playful and she’s so joyful and she just wanted to come and engage.

“Also, Jennifer Saunders has meant so much to me for so long, I had the AbFab box set as a kid, and I just think Patsy and Edina are the ultimate kind of messy women.

“She really showed me what comedy could be and… the space that women could occupy in comedy, and so having her come and join the show was really incredible.

“That was an episode that someone else was directing, Alicia McDonald, an amazing director, so I just got to sit and watch at the monitor like I was watching a movie, and it was very surreal for me.”

Too Much is out on Netflix now.

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