Buckingham Palace is ignoring the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s racism allegations in the hope they ‘go away’, an updated biography by her friends claims.
A source told Finding Freedom the Royals ‘by now should have learned that never happens’ and said they were ‘horrified’ by the row.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry made the incendiary claim during their sit down with Oprah Winfrey earlier this year.
They said the suspect inquired into what colour skin her son Archie would have while she was pregnant with him.
The updated Finding Freedom chapter claims the Palace now think they can ignore the explosive claims and they ‘will go away’.
A source claimed to authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, who are seen as being close to the couple: ‘There is a feeling that if it’s ignored it will go away but surely by now they should have learned that that never happens?’
The writers claimed the insider had been ‘horrified’ by Meghan and Harry’s allegation.
A source told Finding Freedom the Royals (pictured, the Queen) ‘by now should have learned that never happens’ and said they were ‘horrified’ by the row
Meghan made the incendiary claim during her sit down with Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry earlier this year (pictured)
The updated Finding Freedom (pictured) chapter claims the Palace now think they can ignore the explosive claims and they ‘will go away’
Earlier this week extracts from the revised chapter were leaked, claiming the Sussexes considered naming the royal who allegedly asked the question.
The authors reported that the couple weighed up ‘sharing this detail’ during Oprah sit down.
But Meghan ultimately told Oprah revealing the individual’s identity would be ‘very damaging to them’.
A leaked epilogue to the update of Finding Freedom makes a series of dramatic claims about the couple, the state of their relationship with the Royal Family.
It says Prince William was left ‘furious’ by the broadcast – but Meghan found it ‘cathartic’ and ‘liberating’.
It also quotes a friend of the Duchess as complaining that, several months later, ‘little accountability’ had been taken by the monarchy over her allegations.
Harry and Meghan have repeatedly insisted Finding Freedom was unauthorised and they had not offered any co-operation.
But the authors are seen as being close to the couple. The updated edition, with a new epilogue, is due to be published next week.
The sensational claims made in leaks of the epilogue included:
- Members of the Royal Family were ‘quietly pleased’ the Duchess of Sussex missed Prince Philip’s funeral as they ‘didn’t want a circus’ and feared she might ‘create a spectacle’;
- While Harry and his brother have spoken on at least two occasions since Prince Philip’s funeral, Harry and his father Charles were only on ‘light speaking terms’;
- The book alleges Palace courtiers lied to the media over Meghan and Harry’s wishes on the issue of Archie not being made a prince;
- It criticises the monarchy after courtiers ordered an inquiry into claims of bullying against the Duchess while the couple’s racism claim did not get one;
- The book claims Harry was left ‘deeply saddened’ after he was refused permission to have a wreath laid in his name on Remembrance Sunday last year;
- The authors offer a new take on Harry’s financial situation in the run-up to ‘Megxit’, saying the couple ‘wouldn’t have survived’ without his inheritance from Diana;
- The epilogue also claims Meghan had no idea diamond earrings given to her as a wedding present were from Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi prince accused of ordering the murder of a journalist.
Meghan and Harry considered naming the royal they alleged made a racist remark before their son Archie’s birth, according to the new chapter of biography Finding Freedom
The updated edition of the controversial biography is likely to trigger intense debate over the state of Harry and Meghan’s relationship with senior royals.
It claims although emotions within the Royal Family are still ‘raw’ over the Oprah interview, it quotes a source close to the couple saying ‘it will force people to talk in order for the healing to begin’.
In a sign relations remain frayed, the source tells the authors ‘it will take time to get past the hurt’.
‘There has to be some acknowledgement of understanding about what the Sussexes went through in order for there to be progress,’ the source is quoted as saying.
The book also suggests Meghan personally contacted one of the authors to see if they were OK after they allegedly received abuse on social media.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the claims earlier this week.
The new epilogue also suggests Harry and Meghan feared courtiers were trying to damage them even though they have moved to the US.
It says more than a year after their decision to leave their royal roles, the couple felt ‘courtiers inside the institution’ were still ‘appearing to actively undermine Harry and Meghan by deliberately leaking information to discredit them’.
On the issue of the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral, it says Meghan hoped to return with Harry but adds: ‘In truth, several members of the Royal Family are understood to have been ‘quietly pleased’ that Meghan stayed in California because they ‘didn’t want a circus’ or, commented a senior royal source, ‘the duchess creating a spectacle’.’
Pictured: Harry and Meghan at the tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Wellington, New Zealand, in October 2018
On the allegations of racism in the Oprah interview, the book criticised the fact that the Buckingham Palace response to the claims contained no condemnation, and that the phrase ‘recollections may vary’, contained in a statement, meant ‘full ownership was not taken’.
The authors claimed that William was ‘furious’ that family matters had been discussed publicly during the March broadcast.
Shortly after the interview went out, he was asked about the couple’s allegation that a senior royal had expressed ‘concern’ about Archie’s skin colour before he was born.
As William left a school he had visited in east London, a reporter asked: ‘Is the Royal Family a racist family, sir?’ He replied: ‘We’re very much not a racist family.’
Harry’s Remembrance Day wreath was ultimately left in its box at a branch of the Royal British Legion in Kent.
A source close to the prince is quoted in Finding Freeedom saying that ‘ten years of service and a lifetime of commitment to the military community and this is how it’s been acknowledged by the family’.
Lawyers for Harry and Meghan have distanced themselves from Finding Freedom, describing it as unauthorised, and saying the authors ‘do not speak for our clients and seem to rely on unnamed sources’.