Today the first three episodes of Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary were released.

It is educational in terms of the history of the Commonwealth and the couple’s charitable work, both individually and as a couple.

Harry is compassionate, self aware, and protective of his family.

Meghan is stunning. She is well-educated (we love Northwestern grads in my family!), philanthropic, and a girl’s girl. I agree with you, Prince Harry, I think she and your mum would have been thick as thieves.

Much of the three episodes focused on Meghan’s upbringing. She was very close with her father, spending weekdays with her mom and the maternal side of her family, and weekends with him. She talks a lot about her friendships, and the camaraderie she had on set or in any work endeavor.

There has been much speculation that the Royal Family would be vilified through-and-through. The only touch of smirk in the first three episodes is Meghan describing the formality of The Firm, something she thought would be different “behind closed doors”. The image of Meghan barefoot in her kitchen meeting Princess Kate for the first time didn’t conjure images of fast friends.

The vilification didn’t come. Yes there were digs at The Firm’s 30+ year unspoken agreement with the British press, but there were no signs of the grenades, no less the unpinning of one.

What did strike me was Meghan’s relationship with her half niece, Ashleigh. Similarly to my own story, Meghan was raised as an only child, with half siblings who are a generation older. The first domino to fall before Meghan’s dad famously staged photos for a reported $100,000 paycheck two weeks before the wedding and didn’t attend said wedding, was the venom in the press from Meghan’s half sister, Samantha.

The part of the story I didn’t know is Samantha had a daughter, Ashleigh, who was raised by her paternal grandparents. As adults Meghan and Ashleigh connected and became the “sisters” they both craved.

Ashleigh talks fondly of the first trip Meghan took her on, their close relationship, and the bond they shared, independent of last name.

For me, the saddest part of the first part of the series was that Ashleigh wasn’t invited to the wedding. In the lead-up to May 19, 2018, the scandal-loving step sister, Samantha, obviously didn’t get a wedding invitation. Meghan describes she and Harry calling Ashleigh with the news she, too, wouldn’t be invited, as there was too much noise around her biological mother’s venom towards Meghan in the press.

In what was a beautiful love story, this was the only part that I found sour. Wasn’t Meghan and Ashleigh’s relationship their own. With a million daggers being thrown in the couple’s direction, Ashleigh’s invite was the sword they decided to fall on?

So yes, I enjoyed the episodes, and I learned something having watched them. And a fellow “A-S-H-L-E-I-G-H” tugged my heartstrings.