In the first episode of the explosive new Netflix documentary, Harry and Meghan, which documents their story and their relationship, Prince Harry, 38, is seen comparing his wife to his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, detailing their similar attributes after explaining how he was terrified that she would be "driven away by the media" when they got together.
Keeping their relationship a secret for as long as possible was the key to their success, said Harry, and the couple married on Saturday, May 19, 2018 in a lavish and elegant ceremony in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. They share two children together Archie and Lilibet - who was named after the late Queen Elizabeth. In the documentary, Harry reflected on how his wife shares the same emotional warmth to his mother, who died in a car crash in August 1997.
He explained: "So much of what 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. I accept that there'll 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. I didn't want history to repeat itself."
Read more: Princess Diana confronts cameras in remarkable footage telling them to leave Harry and William alone
Remembering the aftermath of Diana's death, Harry recalled how he and William were to behave, feeling torn between the two parts they needed to play in facing the public. He said: "When my mum died, we had two hats to wear. One was two grieving sons wanting to cry, grieve and process that grief because of losing our mum. And two was the royal hat: show no emotion, get out there, meet the pople, shake their hands.
"The UK literally swept me and William up as their children. With an expectation to see myself and William out and about, [it] was really hard for the two of us."
Before this, Harry was seen discussing the hardship the women who marry into the royal family face, recalling how Diana was treated after his mother and father separated in 1992 - saying how she left to face things on her own and how he was worried of finding love in such a scenario. He explained: "I saw things, I experienced things, I learnt things. The pain and suffering of women marrying into this institution. 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'?
"Every relationship that I had within a matter of weeks or months was splattered all over the newspapers and that person's family harassed and their lives turned upside down. So, after one or two girlfriends, the third or fourth girlfriend, they're going to be like 'hang on a second, I don't know if I want this'.
So when I got to meet M [Meghan], I was terrified of her being driven away by the media, the same media that had driven so many other people away from me."
The first three episodes of Harry and Meghan are available to stream on Netflix now.
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