A controversial biography of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was finally released today after weeks of revelations about the couple’s departure from the Royal Family and rift with Prince William and Kate.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex say they were not interviewed for the book and did not contribute to the tale by authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand which provides a dramatic and personalised account of the events leading up to the Sussexes’ dramatic departure from royal life.
Palace insiders have described the book as ‘score settling’ after Harry and Meghan left the Royal Family for a life in Los Angeles after suddenly announcing their intentions in January.
The book also offers new insights into Harry falling out with William, which allegedly started when his older brother referred to Meghan as ‘this girl’ and voiced concerns that he might be rushing the romance.
The authors say Harry ‘felt people working with his brother had put things out there to make William look good, even if it meant throwing Harry under the bus’.
The book has already revealed many inside details about the couple’s departure from the Royal Family, including how the couple considered driving straight to confront the ‘devastated’ Queen about Megxit after returning from Canada in January.
Sources close to the couple also claim in the book that royal aides feared Meghan and Harry’s popularity was eclipsing that of the Royal Family itself – and says the couple were jealous of William and Kate getting the best roles and ‘didn’t feel supported’ by the royals.
Among the fresh revelations in the book are:
- Meghan Markle formed such a close bond with Prince Charles that she considers him her ‘second father’;
- Meghan was often seen carrying binders full of research on Royal protocol so she didn’t put a foot wrong;
- The Queen gave Meghan a royal masterclass in protocol and described Meghan as ‘very clever and good;
- Harry felt he was ‘thrown under the bus’ by aides working for his brother Prince William;
- Royal courtiers feared the brother’s falling out could spell the end of the monarchy;
- Meghan left the UK ’emotionally bruised and exhausted’ after her last frosty event with William and Kate.
The book tells how Meghan formed such a close bond with Prince Charles that she considers him her ‘second father’.
Meghan Markle sees Prince Charles, who walked her down the aisle at her wedding at Windsor Castle in 2018, as a ‘second father,’ the book claims. She is said to have found him ‘supportive and loving’ from the moment she was introduced to him
The Duchess of Sussex received a ‘master class,’ on royal protocol from The Queen during a trip to Chester in 2018 (pictured), during which Her Majesty gave Meghan a pair of pearl-and-diamond earrings, the new book Finding Freedom claims
She is said to have found her father-in-law ‘supportive and loving’ from the moment she was introduced to him. A source told the authors that Meghan doesn’t consider Charles a father in law but a ‘second father’.
Charles had walked Meghan down the aisle at her Windsor wedding when her own father Thomas Markle was forced to pull out due to health reasons.
He had also embarrassed the soon to be wed couple by colluding with a photo agency for a series of staged shots, leading to a rift between father and daughter.
The book says Charles was equally fond of Meghan who a friend of the Prince described as a ‘sassy, confident beautiful American.’
The authors write: ‘Meghan had her own reasons for admiring her father-in-law, who had poignantly walked her down the aisle when her own father let her down.’
At the time, a trusted confidant said Meghan ‘found such a supportive and loving father in Charles, which has really changed her life for the better.’
Not a father-in-law but a ‘second father,’ according to the source.
A friend of Charles’s said that the Prince of Wales had ‘taken a real shine to Meghan. She’s a sassy, confident, beautiful American. He likes very strong, confident women. She’s bright, and she’s self-aware, and I can see why they’ve struck up a very quick friendship.’
Charles liked Meghan’s energy. ‘The Prince of Wales has always been fond of people from the Arts, like Emma Thompson, who he’s been mates with for years,’ another source said.
‘Meghan ticks the boxes. Most of all she’s married to his beloved’
The book says Meghan enjoyed a close friendship with Camilla and struck up a close rapport with the Queen with the former actress keen to learn everything about royal life.
They had their first engagement together on June 14th 2018 on a trip to Chester with a source telling the authors the Queen had confidence in Meghan as she is ‘very clever and good at understanding what’s required.’
Writing about the visit authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand wrote: ‘The Queen was wonderful, warm, and generous toward the new Duchess,’ a source close to Her Majesty said.
‘She made sure Meghan knew what was going on and made her feel very much at home because it was her first trip.’ Indeed, before the two stepped off the train, the Queen gifted Meghan with a delicate pair of pearl-and-diamond earrings.
Meghan, an avid learner studying all she could on royal protocol, was often seen carrying binders full of research so she didn’t put a foot wrong. She took her new role incredibly seriously. That day was different, though; she was getting a royal master class in training from the Queen herself.’
Meghan left the Royal Family ’emotionally bruised’
The Duchess of Sussex burst into tears after the ‘raw emotion’ of leaving the royal family hit home on one of her final engagements.
The authors of ‘Finding Freedom’ revealed that tears flowed as Meghan said farewell to close members of her support team after Harry had joined her at Buckingham Palace following a presentation ceremony.
It was her penultimate royal engagement and Meghan had met with 22 students who had received scholarships from the Association of Commonwealth Universities. Meghan was patron having taken over from the Queen in 2019.
After the ceremony Prince Harry quietly slipped into room 1884 – where the Queen often receives her most important visitors – to see his wife.
His appearance and the reality that ‘Megxit’ was happening led to all Meghan’s pent up emotion coming out, according to the authors.
Meghan Markle is said to have burst into tears after a frosty Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey on March 9, where she sat with Harry just behind Prince William and Kate, as the ‘raw emotion,’ of leaving the royal family hit home
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with their baby son Archie at St George’s Hall in Windsor Castle on May 8 last year
The authors wrote: ‘After the meeting it was time to move on to the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey. That was when Harry quietly slipped through the door of the 1844 Room to say hello, and the reality—and the emotions—finally set in
‘Meghan turned around to hug goodbye the last remaining people in the room, including an author of this book. With the state room almost empty except for a few familiar faces, the tears the duchess had been holding back were free to flow.
‘She embraced some of the dedicated team members whose tireless efforts—to promote the couple’s work, launch landmark projects, and deal with the near-daily crises brought on by the tabloids—had come to an abrupt end. ‘I can’t believe this is it,’ she said, hugging one the young female aides she had become close with. Though Team Sussex was a much smaller operation than the more sophisticated offices at Clarence House and Kensington Palace, in the short space of a year since setting up, they had become like family.
At the end of the engagement, Harry joined Meghan and gave her a hug before she quickly changed into her clothes for the Commonwealth Service. ‘The last hat for a while, guys!’ Meghan said with a smile, her tears now wiped away.’
It was at the Commonwealth service that the frosty relationship between brothers William and Harry and their wives was laid bare.
Kate was said by the authors to have avoided eye contact with Meghan with her husband simply nodding towards Harry.
After the service Meghan booked the first flight to Canada and left the UK ’emotional bruised and exhausted’.
Meghan and Harry would ‘binge watch’ Game of Thrones
Harry and Meghan would snuggle up in a sofa and ‘binge watch’ the TV series ‘Game of Thrones’ as their romance blossomed
The couple also enjoyed watching the hugely popular crime drama ‘Breaking Bad’ and Disney movies such as ‘The Lion King’
The viewing tastes of the royal couple were revealed in the eagerly awaited biography ‘Finding Freedom’ which is published today.
The authors said the couple spent much of their time during the early days of their romance ‘curled up’ in Harry’s modest living room watching TV.
They said they would emerge ‘from time to time’ to visit a nearby cinema in Notting Hill and afterwards grab a bite to eat.
The authors write:’ London was starting to feel like home. On many nights, she and Harry curled up in his modest living room, binge-watching TV (Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad were favourites).
‘They also had the same taste in films. Fans of Disney, they loved to watch movies like Moana and The Lion King.
‘And thanks to the arrival of awards season in the United States, Meghan was also in possession of a stack of screeners sent out to voters and SAG-AFTRA members. Because Meghan was a member, the pair were able to view the year’s best cinema from the comfort of their own home.
‘They emerged from time to time, visiting the Notting Hill movie theatre the Electric Cinema to see Hidden Figures or grabbing a bite to eat.
They had their tried-and-true spots, including Soho House, the site of their first meeting, and the Sands End, a rustic style gastropub in Fulham owned by Mark Dyer. The former Welsh Guards officer—who accompanied Harry on his gap year—had always been on hand to offer the prince advice and support.’
The book reveals that while in London Meghan was able to fly under the radar and make regular shopping trips to Whole Foods in Kensington High Streetin West London.
But with huge press interest in their romance Harry was left ‘angry and shouting’ after a paparazzi photographer captured the couple in a ‘steamy embrace on their private balcony while attending a wedding in Jamaica.
The couple had flown out for the nuptial of Harry’s close friend Thomas Inskip and had purposely booked a secluded room at the Round Hill Hotel in Montego Bay.
As they embraced on the balcony a photographer was able to get his shots – despite Harry being assured all 110 acres of the resort would be closed to the public.
Meghan was also photographed in her tiny swimsuits’ frolicking in the sea with the prince, according to the book.
Harry was ‘apoplectic with rage and told palace aides to make sure the photos were never published.
‘Do whatever needs to be done’ Harry is reported in the book as saying.
The authors continue: ‘In their villa bedroom, Harry was angry and shouting while Meghan was concerned. She more than understood his feelings about media intrusion, how that deep distrust had formed after his mother’s death and had never gone away, bubbling up each time a reporter took their efforts to get a story too far.
The Duke of Cambridge, the Duchess of Cambridge, the Duchess of Sussex and the Duke of Sussex arrive to attend the Christmas Day morning church service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk, on December 25, 2018
‘But she had never seen him like this. In past incidents with the paparazzi, Meghan had usually been able to find the right words to soothe his anger.
‘Often, she was the only one able to calm Harry down when he got into one of his moods. In Jamaica, however, he remained frustrated for days. He was in such a state that even his buddies remarked on his dour mood.
‘Although Meghan had never seen this side of Harry before, she wasn’t put off by it. Instead, she was sad to see him so affected.’
The book also details how Harry cut off contact with his friend Inskip after he voiced concern that he was rushing into romance with Meghan.
The pair later got back on speaking terms.
Meghan got SAS training
The Duchess of Sussex underwent SAS training after being sent ‘absolutely terrifying and stomach churning’ threats when she joined the royal family, according to the sensational book Finding Freedom.
She took part in a mock kidnapping and taught how to establish a relationship with her abductors as well as being ‘saved’ from a hostage situation by officers firing fake guns.
The book, which is published today, revealed that Meghan was rushed into her two day training session after she and Harry received a large number of threats when their relationship became public.
A source told authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand that Meghan found the experience ‘ extremely intense and scary’.
Senior members of the Royal family such as Prince Charles and Prince William have undergone the training course at the SAS HQ in Hereford.
The authors said Meghan’s took place before she was officially a member of the royal family due to the high level of threats received by Palace staff.
An aide said: ‘There have been some absolutely terrifying and stomach churning threats made to Meghan since she started dating Harry.
‘Unfortunately, they continued for some time.’
The hate mail culminated with security teams intercepting an envelope that was feared to contain the deadly toxin Anthrax.
The authors write:’ While on the outside it seemed to be much like any other piece of mail received by the busy mail room based at Clarence House, this one was filled with racist musings and unidentified white powder.
‘The material feared to be anthrax, turned out to be harmless. At least physically.
‘The night of the incident, though, Meghan barely slept, later admitting to a friend that she worried the incident was her ‘new normal’.
‘A good friend of Meghan’s called her Grace Under Fire, because despite whatever pressure she was under, she didn’t fall apart.’
The bombshell biography also reveals how Russian hackers were able to steal hundreds of personal photos in September 2018 after gaining access to an online account set up to hold photos of the couple.
Among those stolen in the devastating data breach were unseen photos of Harry and Meghan and the Queen taken at their wedding.
While some of the images were leaked online they were dismissed as fake.
A source told the authors the data leak was a ‘wake up call’ for the couple and they improved security.
The authors wrote:’ On September 12 2018, a computer programmer based in Russia managed to hack an online cloud storage account that contained over two hundred unseen photos of Harry And Meghan that had been taken by the photographer Alexi Lubomirski.
‘Among the stole images were pictures of the couple sharing personal moments during their engagement photo series as well as others from their wedding day reception( including some of the Queen).
‘The large set also included outtakes with eyes half closed and other unflattering moments meant for the trash can.
‘The hacker leaked a handful of photos to Tumblr ( photo sharing site) Many fans assumed they were fake, photo shopped images but behind the scenes there was concern at Kensington Palace when they received a tip about the security breach.
‘Harry and Meghan were ‘alarmed to hear that it was so easy to get such personal files of theirs’.
Concern over their safety was also behind the move from rented country home in Oxfordshire to Nottingham Cottage,part of Kensington Palace in London.
A source told the authors pregnant Meghan felt ‘vulnerable’ in the countryside and it prompted their move back into London.
The source said while the area was safe ‘being out in the middle of the countryside, where you don’t know who is out there at night or if someone has managed to sneak nearby’ was enough for them to move out.
Meghan’ faith in God plays a ‘central role’ in her life and has got her through the ‘darkest moments’
Meghan Markle’s faith plays a central role in her life while prayer and conversations with God have got her through the ‘darkest moments’, a source claims in Finding Freedom.
In the hotly-anticipated biography by authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, which is out today, the insider claims the Duchess of Sussex’s ‘spirituality’ saw her gather her Suits castmates for a ‘prayer circle’ before they began filming.
According to the source, who is reportedly a close friend and has often prayed with Meghan, 39, both she and Harry have been on a ‘journey of faith together’ during their relationship.
The Sussexes, who stepped down as working royals in March after a series of final engagements in the UK, recently moved to a 14-acre estate in the famed 90210 postcode of Beverly Hills after flying from the Vancouver Island they were living on in March.
Finding Freedom provides an intimately detailed and personalised version of the events leading up to the Sussexes’ dramatic departure from royal life, with co-authors Scobie and Durand insisting ‘all information in this book has at least two sources’.
Discussing the perceived betrayal of her old school friend Ninaki Priddy, who claimed she wasn’t shocked at all by the news of Meghan’s engagement because ‘she was always fascinated by the Royal Family’, the friend of the duchess told the authors: ‘Part of what helped Meghan get through this difficult time was her faith.
‘Her relationship with God and with her church is extremely important to her. That’s something most people do not know about her. It plays a central role in her life, as an individual, as a woman.’
(From left) The Duke of Cambridge, Sir David Attenborough, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex arrive to attend the global premiere of Netflix’s ‘Our Planet’ at the Natural History Museum in Kensington, West London, on April 4, 2019
They added: ‘When I talk about her faith being a big part of her life, it’s her faith in God. It’s her faith in her family. Her faith in the people closest to her.’
A further source claimed: ‘It’s prayer and conversations with God that have gotten her through the darkest moments.
Finding Freedom has been released today
‘That’s something that plays a significant role in her life and her relationship with Harry. The two have been on a journey of faith together.’
The book also goes on to discuss the duchess’ regular meetings with the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby ahead of her baptism into the Church of England prior to her wedding, with whom she formed a ‘close bond’ according to a royal aide.
Meghan’s family wasn’t overly religious, however she was raised with an ‘awareness of God’, according to the book,
Her mother Doria Ragland was brought up Protestant and her father Thomas Markle became a confirmed member of the Episcopal Church at the age of 14, but Meghan attended a Catholic school for educational reasons.
According to Mr Markle, Meghan was not christened as a child because he and Doria did not share the same faith. A family friend claimed religion was ‘not pushed on her’, but her spirituality is ‘born out of her own individual experience’.
While studying at Northwestern, one of Meghan’s best friends came from a Christian family and the pair would reportedly ‘often pray together while at school’.
This cemented prayer as a tool for Meghan to help her face life’s challenges, write the authors.
‘She used to gather the cast and crew of Suits for a prayer circle before starting work,’ they claim. ‘Her invocations on set were never about a specific theology. Instead, she wanted to bring everyone together during moments of transition or difficulty.’
Meghan’s choice to be baptised before marrying Harry was apparently her choice out of respect for the Queen and a ‘step forward on her own spiritual journey’, according to a friend.
During her meetings with the Archbishop, the pair would reportedly discuss ‘many personal matters’, including her previous marriage to producer Trevor Engelson, with Mr Welby asking her ‘what she learned from her divorce’.
Speaking about her baptism, one of the 18 guests described the service, held at At James’ Palace’s Chapel Royal in March 2018, as ‘uplifting’.
Finding Freedom: Harry, Meghan, and the Making of a Modern Royal Family by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand was released today for £20 RRP