Royals Meghan Markle Was a 'Scapegoat' for the Palace, Friend Says: 'They Would Feed Stories...True or Not' In a new trailer for Netflix's Harry & Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex claims that Buckingham Palace used her to shield other members of the royal family from bad press By Janine Henni Janine Henni Twitter Janine Henni is a Royals Staff Writer for PEOPLE Digital, covering modern monarchies and the world's most famous families. Like Queen Elizabeth, she loves horses and a great tiara moment. People Editorial Guidelines Published on December 14, 2022 10:02 AM Share Tweet Pin Email Meghan Markle isn't holding back. In the latest trailer for volume two of Harry & Meghan, which premieres on Netflix Thursday, friend Lucy Fraser and attorney Jenny Afia allege that the Duchess of Sussex, 41, was used by Buckingham Palace, which perpetuated negative and untrue news about her to avoid unfavorable stories about other royal family members making headlines. "There was a real kind of war against Meghan, and I've certainly seen evidence that there was negative briefing from the palace against Harry and Meghan to suit other people's agendas," Afia, a partner at Schillings Law Firm in London, said at the start of the clip. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex retained Schillings as their representation for their 2019 suit against the Mail on Sunday, Lawyer Monthly reported. Netflix Fraser, a friend, spoke next in the new trailer, saying, "Meg became this scapegoat for the palace. And so they would feed stories on her, whether they were true or not, to avoid other less favorable stories being printed." Inside Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's Netflix Series — and the Palace Reaction "You would just see it play out," Meghan said in an on-camera interview. "A story about someone in the family would pop for a minute, and they'd go, 'We gotta make that go away.' " For more on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Netflix docuseries, listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day. "But there's real estate on a website homepage, there's real estate there on a newspaper front cover. And something has to be filled in there about someone royal," she continued, as footage rolled of U.K. negative newspaper headlines about her, printed while she was living in England as a senior working royal. Lucy Fraser. Netflix "This barrage of negative articles about the breakdown of the relationship with her father was the final straw in a campaign of negative, nasty coverage about her," Afia added as the trailer cut to black. Prince Harry Says People Were 'Happy to Lie to Protect My Brother' in New Netflix Trailer Meghan and Prince Harry, 38, previously alluded that the second volume of their docuseries would address what went wrong regarding their relationship with the rest of the royal family. In a trailer released Monday, Prince Harry spoke about the level of press intrusion he believes the couple suffered as working members of the royal family. He also claimed that he and Meghan were treated differently than his brother, Prince William. Netflix "They were happy to lie to protect my brother," Harry said, arguing that he and Meghan were the victims of "institutional gaslighting." "They were never willing to tell the truth to protect us," he continued. Meghan also addressed the impact that the decision to step back had on their personal lives — most notably a U.K. government decision to remove their 24-hour police protection because they were no longer entitled to tax-payer-funded security. "Our security was being pulled. Everyone in the world knew where we were," she said. Chris Jackson/Getty Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more! "I wasn't being thrown to the wolves. I was being fed to the wolves," she stressed. Volume one of Harry & Meghan is now streaming on Netflix. Volume two drops Thursday.