Yahoo TV

STORY: The British royal family dismissed race-related hounding of Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle by the press as a rite of passage.

That's one of many critiques delivered by Prince Harry in a fierce attack on the media in the documentary, Harry & Meghan, released on Thursday (December 8).

Harry said it was his duty to expose the "exploitation and bribery" of the press in his new Netflix series.

The Duke of Sussex drew comparisons with Meghan's treatment by the papers and the intense media intrusion that his mother Princess Diana had suffered. Diana was killed when her limousine crashed, speeding away from chasing paparazzi photographers.

Britain's royal family had been braced for renewed criticism from the couple, who have delivered scathing attacks on Harry's relatives, including his father King Charles and brother Prince William.

But little came during the first volume of episodes.

Commentators, too, were split in their reviews.

Nick Bullen is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of True Royalty TV.

''I think the new series of Harry and Megan is possibly the most self-serving piece of television I’ve seen in quite a while. I mean it really is the Harry and Megan story. I mean the title says what it is. I’m not sure I’d call it a documentary, I think it’s really a reality show and it is literally me me me the whole time.''

Lester Holloway is editor of The Voice.

''It was hyped up beforehand as being a full bloodied attack on the Royals and certainly the first three episodes weren’t that. It was largely focused on the media and in many ways the media is a partial reflection on society so in that sense I think that this was not just about Meghan and Harry and the media it was also about us as well it's about British society."

Buckingham Palace said it would not be commenting on the series.

Netflix said that members of the royal family had declined to comment within the series.

But a royal source said neither the palace nor representatives of Prince William or other royals had been approached.

The couple stepped down from their roles as senior working members of the royal family two years ago and moved to California, in an act the media dubbed Megxit.

There will be further revelations from the couple next week when three more episodes are released, while Harry's memoirs "Spare" will be published in January.