'Upset': Harry and Meghan accused of leaving royal family racism 'smears to linger'
A biographer of King Charles and Prince William has criticised Harry and Meghan for failing to provide more details about claims concerning race and mental health in their Netflix show.
Robert Jobson, the royal editor at the Evening Standard who has written more than 10 biographies about the Royal Family, said he was left "upset" that allegations of racism at unnamed members of the royal family made in last year's Oprah interview were not addressed more fully in the latest documentary.
Jobson also said that some of the allegations touched on in the documentary were "serious" but little context was provided for them.
Read more: Video resurfaces of Meghan making claims that royal staff 'lied' to protect others
Harry and Meghan's documentary series explored the couple's war with the media and allegations that royal households have briefed the press against each other. Prince Harry claimed that aides continued in this practice to ensure negative stories about their own principles didn't make the front pages.
It also revealed Harry's perspective on the breakdown of his relationship with his brother, as well as providing intimate glimpses of the couple's life behind closed doors, using footage they had filmed themselves and private photographs.
The documentary, which has so far amassed 28 million viewers, marks the first significant time the couple have spoken out about their royal exit since their interview with Oprah last year.
Then, the couple made a series of allegations, including that a family member had expressed "concerns" over how dark Archie's skin would be before he was born, and that Meghan had struggled mentally whilst pregnant with her first child, to the extent that she had suicidal thoughts.
The couple's struggle with mental health in the spotlight was revisited during the documentary, with further insight provided from friends and family and the couple delving deeper into the factors that began their journey away from life in the UK.
However, as Jobson noted on BBC's Newsnight, the couple did not provide any further detail on which member of the Royal Family may have made the racist comments.
Read more: 'Wow': Harry left visibly upset by text message from William after Oprah interview
"What upset me a little is the allegations that were said on the Oprah interview, very serious ones about race, very serious about mental health, needed to be taken seriously. Six hours of television, not one of them has been addressed and yet the smear of racism and the Royal Family is left to linger.
"They should have clarified that and dealt with it. It's not fair to do that and it's not fair either to brandish his brother a bully, a 'terrifying' bully without giving [William] a right to reply."
The right to reply has been somewhat of a sticking point around the documentary. Royal sources initially claimed that they had not been asked for comment, despite a disclaimer at the start of the series saying they had refused the opportunity.
This was later clarified that a third party production company had contacted the palace, but that they had been unable to verify the request with Netflix and Archewell. A Netflix source has insisted that both Buckingham and Kensington Palaces had been asked to comment on the claims made in the series.
Yahoo UK have contacted Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, and Archewell for comment.
