Prince Harry felt ‘thrown under the bus' to protect the royal family during #Megxit, claims new book

LONDON: Britain's Prince Harry felt he was “thrown under the bus” to protect the royal family ahead of his exit as frontline royalty with wife Meghan Markle, claims a new unofficial biography of the couple released here on Tuesday.

‘Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family' by royal reporters Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand comes packed with a series of revelations based on interviews with around 100 people, including friends and aides, who are said to be close to Harry and Meghan -- the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

The couple themselves had earlier issued a statement to clarify that they were not interviewed for the book and had no involvement.


The book claims Prince Harry was upset by the very public aspect of a falling out with his older brother and second in line to the British throne, Prince William, after he asked him not to rush things with Meghan – who was his girlfriend at the time.

"Harry was upset that it was playing out so publicly and that so much of the information being reported was wrong,” the authors quote a source as saying.

“There had been moments where he 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. It was a confusing time, and his head was all over the place — he didn't know who or what to believe, and he and William weren't talking enough either, which made everything a lot worse," the book claims.

Some of the other subjects covered in the book focus on Harry's "complicated" relationship with his father, Prince Charles, and his concern for the heir to the British throne when he tested positive for coronavirus earlier this year.

The book also details aspects of actress-turned-royal Meghan Markle's training in everything from curtsying to surviving kidnapping attempts to prepare her for life in the royal family.

It describes how Markle, 39, was "bundled into the back of a car" by a fake "terrorist" and driven to a location before she was saved by officers in a mock training session.

“For the very first time, ‘Finding Freedom' goes beyond the headlines to reveal unknown details of Harry and Meghan's life together, dispelling the many rumours and misconceptions that plague the couple on both sides of the pond.

As members of the select group of reporters that cover the British Royal Family and their engagements, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand have witnessed the young couple's lives as few outsiders can,” the publishers HQ note in reference to the book's release this week.

“With unique access and written with the participation of those closest to the couple, ‘Finding Freedom' is an honest, up-close, and disarming portrait of a confident, influential, and forward-thinking couple who are unafraid to break with tradition, determined to create a new path away from the spotlight, and dedicated to building a humanitarian legacy that will make a profound difference in the world,” it adds.

The publishers, a Harper Collins UK imprint, believe that while the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have continued to make headlines – from their engagement, wedding, and birth of their son Archie to their "unprecedented" decision to step back from their royal lives – few know the true story, which the new book will address.

A number of extracts from the book have already been released over previous months. The authors suggest there were troubles from early on, saying Harry, 35, felt some palace officials "simply didn't like Meghan and would stop at nothing to make her life difficult".

The book also claims that Harry and Meghan got engaged months before they formally announced it in November 2017.

The royal couple, who got married in a grand ceremony at Windsor Castle in May 2018, are now based in the US with their one-year-old son Archie.