Duchess Meghan and her husband Prince Harry are used to accusations from the British press. But such a broadside was rare. The tabloids aren’t the only ones happily spreading a plethora of accusations against the couple, which are being leveled in two new books about the inner workings of the palace. The Queen was “hurt and exhausted” by Meghan and Harry’s decision to end their royal life, it says. Or that Meghan wanted to be rejected by the royal family from day one – and therefore did not accept any help (read more here).
As soon as the national mourning for the deceased Queen is over and the couple has returned to their adopted home in the US, the poison darts fly across the Atlantic. The shared grief over the death of Queen Elizabeth II, which had visibly shaken grandson Harry, raised hopes of reconciliation.
So spoke the new King Charles III. in his first speech to the nation of his “love for Harry and Meghan (…) who continue to build lives overseas”. The Duke of Sussex, as Harry’s official title is, walked behind the coffin alongside his estranged brother, Prince William. Together with their wives, the brothers looked at the flowers offered by the mourners in demonstrative unity in front of Windsor Castle.
But appearances could be deceiving. “When actions speak louder than words,” commented Royals expert Peter Hunt during the mourning period on a report that Meghan and Harry had been unloaded from the reception for heads of state and government arriving at Buckingham Palace for the state funeral. When the Queen was still dying, Charles is said to have instructed his son to travel to Scotland with the family without Meghan.
It was also irritating in circles critical of the royal house that Harry of all people, unlike father Charles and brother William, was not allowed to take part in the mourning ceremonies in uniform – because he is no longer an active member of the royal family. Harry served in the army for ten years, served twice in Afghanistan and was promoted to captain.
In the conservative press, on the other hand, personal allegations against the 38-year-old are widespread. Harry was “just as absent” as Meghan and wrote “mean” emails to high-ranking employees, the “Sun” quoted from the new book by former Royals reporter for the “Times”, Valentine Low. The Sunday Times printed page-long excerpts from “Courtiers: the Hidden Power Behind the Crown.”
There Low repeatedly emphasizes how rude Meghan and Harry would have been towards employees. These in turn would have condemned the Duchess as a “narcissistic sociopath”. Meghan is said to have moaned on a trip to Australia, Fiji and Samoa in 2018: “I can’t believe I’m not getting paid for this.” The servants are said to have referred to themselves as the “Sussex Survivors’ Club” – as those who survived the Sussexes.
Low’s fierce allegations, as well as another book by royal expert Katie Nicholl, The New Royals: Queen Elizabeth’s Legacy and the Future of the Crown, show how much the crisis continues within the inner circle of the royal family. The fact that the conservative press, which has been sharply criticized by Harry for years, so relish spreading the allegations against the Queen’s grandson, could be a kind of forward defense.
Because Harry’s memoirs, which he had announced for this year, are expected soon. New, sharp attacks against the palace are feared in London, as the couple has repeatedly raised since the explosive interview with US presenter Oprah Winfrey in March 2021. The “Mail on Sunday”, with which Harry has had several legal skirmishes, has now reported that the Duke of Sussex is trying to make changes at lightning speed. After the death of the Queen and his father’s assumption of office, he wanted to adopt a more soothing tone. “But it could be too late,” the tabloid quoted an insider as saying.
