By: Cydneii Lung’aho
While the new year motto is oftentimes “new year new me,” it seems this year is already off to a repetitive start. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, took 2022 by storm with a recent Netflix documentary named after them. While the world responded with much interest, and possibly even excitement, there were plenty of those who found the miniseries as yet another extravagant cry for help by the infamous couple.
The new documentary wasn’t the first time the Duke and Duchess had spoken their minds publicly. In March of 2021, the Duchess sat down with Oprah in a tell-all about the whirlwind fairytale seemingly turned nightmare that was her marriage. In the interview, Markle details mental health struggles due to isolation during her time in the United Kingdom, similar to her late mother-in-law Princess Diana. The Duchess expressed her continual unhappiness which eventually led to Prince Harry’s spring to action and the couple’s subsequent step-down from royal duties. Towards the end of 2022, the two royals made a fascinating docu-series that aired in December on Netflix that described their joint experience but found themselves facing the same if not more scrutiny than before.
This week, the scrutiny took an all-time high when Prince Harry’s newest memoir “Spare” hit shelves. The book, meant to be a detailed account of the 38-year-old royal’s turbulent life, has been received in various ways since its release on Tuesday. While many have shown their interest and excitement over the last few years, many have grown tired of the Sussexes’ constant attention. Recent polls in the UK found that the Sussexes rank lower in popularity than Prince Andrew, the UK’s third-born prince who found himself in some incriminating positions in the last decade. With the release of the book, Prince Harry’s press tour found him in the seats of some heavy hitters. Anderson Cooper and Stephen Colbert were among the journalists chronicling the Prince’s accounts but ultimately couldn’t dissuade the negative controversy following him.
Nevertheless, despite the constant and harrowing opinions of the media, the Duke and Duchess have shown no signs of letting up. The Prince has said that he will continue to make sure “history gets it right” and protect his family.