The queen gave Prince Harry permission to make his documentary series on mental health with Oprah Winfrey, believing it would focus on military veterans, it was claimed today, and is reported to have been aghast when Harry used the five part Apple TV+ show to slam his father and the monarchy.
“Those around the queen and Prince Charles are absolutely gobsmacked by what has happened,” a source described as being “close to Buckingham Palace” told DailyMail.com, adding, “It is a question of trust, and honestly any of that is hanging by a thread at the moment.
“No one within the Palace circles has anything but sympathy for Harry's trauma and troubled life, but there is upset and discomfort at him sharing it on an international television show.
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“Certainly the intimate detail of his hardships paint a very negative picture of his family and upbringing. Many people have a different view.”
The Mail’s sources claimed that the terms in which Harry had initially pitched the show to the queen were viewed as “clearly misleading.”
The dramatic pushback from palace sources came as Apple announced that Prince Harry and Oprah Winfrey are to host a follow up town hall-style event to their mental health documentary. Apple TV+ also said on Wednesday that the five-part show, The Me You Can’t See drove an increase in new viewers of 25 percent to the platform.
Apple TV+ said that the new single spin-off show, entitled, The Me You Can’t See: A Path Forward will be available for free on Apple TV+ on Friday. It will feature Harry and Oprah talking to some of the “advisers and participants” in the original show for what Apple described as “a thought-provoking, wide-ranging conversation about mental health and emotional well-being, and where we go from here.”
Participants in the series included Lady Gaga, Glenn Close, mental health advocate and speaker Zak Williams (son of the late actor Robin Williams), and celebrity chef Rashad Armstead. Harry and Meghan’s Archewell website said that Friday’s show would feature Close and Williams along with other experts in the field who contributed to the original documentary series.
The post on the Archewell site added, “The subjects go deeper into their own stories from the series, the experts share their guidance, and together they begin to answer the critical question: Where do we go from here?”
Apple said last week’s show was particularly popular in the U.K., with Apple TV+ seeing “a 40 percent increase in average weekend viewership,” in that territory, according to a report in The Times.
The news that Harry is to take to the airwaves again is likely to be received with weary resignation at Buckingham Palace. Although many family members and courtiers would prefer that Harry kept a lower profile, they now accept that is unlikely to happen in the near future.
They will, however, likely hope that Harry will not use the discussion to again heap criticism on his family, specifically his father, who Harry accused of telling him he had to “suffer” in the original show because he had. Harry also suggested that Charles was damaged by the parenting he received from the queen and Prince Philip.
Harry said, “My father used to say to me when I was younger, he used to say to both William and I, ‘Well, it was like that for me so it’s going to be like that for you,’” The Daily Beast reported. “That doesn’t make sense. Just because you suffered, that doesn’t mean your kids have to suffer. Actually quite the opposite. If you suffered, do everything you can to make sure that whatever negative experiences you had, you can make it right for your kids.”
The royals subsequently hit back with a source telling the Mail on Sunday that the queen was “deeply upset” and that Charles was feeling “wretched” about the situation.
However, today’s salvo, which comes close to outright accusing Harry of deceiving the queen, suggests a possible hardening of royal attitudes to Harry’s TV career.
