Harry, Meghan's Relationship With Press Started To Implode After This Moment, Documentary Claims

A new documentary may have pinpointed the moment Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's relationship with the British press started to turn sour.

In the first episode of the two-part BBC documentary "The Princes and the Press," which aired Monday, host Amol Rajan and other royal journalists suggested that the event announcing the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's engagement in November 2017 was the point at which things started to fracture between the couple and the U.K. press.

The host claimed that the way that Prince Harry and Markle arranged the moment set the tone for their relationship with the media in the years that followed.

"A royal engagement is typically an opportunity for the bride to meet the press informally," Rajan was quoted by News.com.au as saying in the docuseries. "But this one was different. Harry and Meghan stuck a pond between them and the reporters. This was not the type of celebration they [the press] were used to."

The Telegraph royal correspondent Camilla Tominey noted in the documentary that the press conference had been "done from a distance" and that no "proper meet and greet" between Markle and reporters took place.

"Maybe the lack of understanding of what Meghan was all about might have been down to the fact they never introduced her to the press properly," Tominey suggested.

Richard Palmer, the royal correspondent for the Daily Express, shared Tominey's views, saying in the series that "not engaging at all with the media" had been a mistake for the Sussexes.

The way Prince Harry and Markle's engagement event was carried out was different from that of Prince William and Kate Middleton, who faced royal reporters during a brief press conference and photocall at St James's Palace in London in 2010. Tominey previously wrote that Middleton had shown her her huge sapphire and diamond engagement ring following the press conference.

The documentary also touched on Prince Harry and Markle's alleged rift with the royal family. BBC royal correspondent Jonny Dymond claimed that negative stories about how Markle behaved toward royal staffers started coming out just "days" after she and Prince Harry tied the knot on May 19, 2018.

Tominey also alleged that she and other reporters "were getting briefings that all was not well with the relationship between William and Harry, Meghan and Kate and the relationship between Harry and Meghan and the royal household."

Markle's lawyer Jenny Afia said in the documentary that the claims that the former actress had bullied staff were "false," adding, "This narrative that no one can work for the Duchess of Sussex, she was too difficult and demanding as a boss, and everyone had to leave, it’s just not true."

Scobie also claimed in the series that there were some who felt that Markle "needed to be put in her place" and would punish her by "leaking a negative story," Town & Country reported.

Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Kensington Palace have since released a joint statement denying the claims made in the documentary.

"A free, responsible and open press is of vital importance to a healthy democracy," read the statement, which was featured at the end of the first episode, according to Evening Standard. "However, too often it is overblown and unfounded claims from unnamed sources that are presented as facts and it is disappointing when anyone, including the BBC, gives them credibility."

The second episode of "The Princes and the Press" is set to air on BBC Monday.