'They're calling us racist': Nigel Farage hits back after appearing in Harry & Meghan documentary

Nigel Farage has accused Netflix's new documentary Harry & Meghan of implying those who voted for Brexit were racist.

The issue of racism directed at the Duchess of Sussex featured prominently during the first three episodes of the tell-all documentary, released on the subscription service on Thursday morning.

Part of the second episode linked this alleged abuse to the culture wars sparked by the divisive Brexit referendum of 2016.

Two short clips of Farage featured amid footage of people protesting "illegal immigration".

Read more: Prince Harry says wearing Nazi uniform to party was 'biggest mistake of my life'

In the first, taken from BBC News, the former UKIP leader describes immigration as the "number one issue" in the UK. The second shows him holding a sign reading 'We want our country back'.

On Thursday, Farage hit back at the inclusion of Brexit in Harry & Meghan, claiming the couple was blaming the 2016 referendum for racist media coverage.

In a video posted to Twitter, he said: "What they're really saying, is that 52% of Prince Harry's country of birth are bad, racist people," referencing the percentage of voters who backed the UK leaving the European Union.

Watch: Farage accuses Meghan and Harry of thinking over half the UK is racist

Farage also claimed that the documentary's main purpose was financial and that Meghan's real goal was a political career.

He said: "Make money out of dissing the Royal Family and the United Kingdom and then long-term give a political platform from which Meghan can launch her career in the USA."

In Harry & Meghan, the duke and duchess reflect on their royal exit in 2020, with Harry discussing the "hate that has been stirred up" against Meghan in the press.

Read more: The 12 biggest revelations from Harry and Meghan's tell-all Netflix documentary

Harry claims that when he approached his family about the abuse, some members asked why Meghan should be "protected" or given "special treatment" when their wives experienced similar issues.

The prince said that he responded by saying the criticism with Meghan had a "race element".

He also cited a report released by the European Commission for Racism and Intolerance in 2016, the same year the couple went public. The ECRI found that the reporting of the tabloid press, in particular The Sun and Daily Mail, was "inflammatory" and "unscrupulous".

"Hate speech in some traditional media continues to be a serious problem, notably as concerns tabloid newspapers," the report said.

James Holt, a former palace spokesperson, called the conditions around the 2016 referendum "a perfect storm".

When the UK voted to leave the EU, Holt said, those perpetuating racist discourse were emboldened, adding that it "gave credence to jingoism and nationalism".

Historian David Olusoga argued these conditions were not conducive to a good start to Meghan and Harry's "fairytale".

Harry talked about unconscious bias, and although he thought he was aware of it before meeting Meghan, his relationship with his wife opened his eyes to how much such bias goes on.

The documentary also focused on how this manifests in the Royal Family itself, with examples given of how prevalent racist imagery is in palaces, such as historic artworks of enslaved people, or Princess Michael of Kent's infamous blackamoor broach.

Harry said: "This family sometimes, you know, you're part of the problem rather than part of the solution. And there is a huge level of unconscious bias. The thing with unconscious bias is it's actually no one's fault. But once it's been pointed out or identified within yourself, you then need to make it right."

He discussed how he had to point out the ways in which the treatment of Meghan in the press was racist, after his family dismissed the negative coverage as a "rite of passage".

Harry said in 2021, in footage that didn't make the cut of the couple's infamous interview with Oprah Winfrey, that he firmly believed the people of the UK are not racist or bigoted, but the tabloid press are.

He said: "Unfortunately, if the source of information is inherently corrupt or racist or biased then that filters out to the rest of society."

But the prince placed the blame on the media landscape rather than the British people.

This week, Harry released a scathing statement in response to a tabloid report that he had accepted the interview with Oprah to teach Britons "a lesson".

It read: "To accuse a man who spent 10 years serving his country of wanting to teach that same country a lesson is not only an attempted distraction but an unfortunate and predictable tabloid strategy.

"To pit him against his country is shameful and manipulative, especially when Prince Harry has never spoken ill of the British public."