"Avoid all of these shows," Margaret Lyons says after watching seven of them, from TLC's When Harry Met Meghan: A Royal Engagement to Lifetime's Harry & Meghan: A Royal Romance to CBS' Meghan Markle: American Princess. "The convergence of history, celebrity and glamour should be a fertile area for one-off TV specials, and there’s plenty of genuine information — about rituals, about rites, about politics, about tiaras, about dads — worth acknowledging or exploring," says Lyons. "Also, come on: Weddings are fun! At times, these shows are giddy and fizzy and dorky, and I learned a few historical tidbits along the way. But the claims to personal intimacy ranged from visibly untrue to quietly sad, and the shows all used many of the same talking heads, the same clips and the same dumb, dubious claims (no, Suits is not a celebrity-making show). A boring tabloid is a sin. Worse, the contrived narrative that the shows collectively push — the idea that Harry and Meghan’s romance is 'a fairy tale' — is jarringly backward."
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TOPICS: Prince Harry - Meghan Markle Royal Wedding, CBS, Lifetime, TLC, Harry & Meghan: A Royal Romance, Meghan Markle: An American Princess, Thomas Markle, When Harry Met Meghan: A Royal Engagement, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry