-Royal family not happy

 By Nehru Odeh

At first it seemed a tale churned out of the rumour mill. But now a new book, Finding Freedom has confirmed that there was actually a rift between Princes William and Harry, which members of the royal family kept closely to their chests.

And perhaps that was the reason the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, weary of that cold war, abandoned royal duties and sought freedom in the United States. A remarkable thing about the book is that less than 24 hours after it was released, it has become an Amazon bestseller because of pre-orders while it has also hit the number one on the UK and US sites.

Intriguing? The tell-it-all book, Finding Freedom, written by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand and published on Monday 10 August 2020 throws into the open not just the rift between the two princes and their wives but also in graphic details reveals the concerns of the royal family about the bad blood between the two brothers and some intimate details about Megan Markle – the discussion she had with her friend, Jessica Mulroney about what outfit  to wear to see the Queen, her concerns about her son Archie and how she was so free with her friend when she came visiting one day.

The book, for instance, reveals how the rift created fears within the royal family about the seeming end of the British Monarchy and how the courtiers, in order to prevent what they thought could lead to the collapse of the monarchy, “began openly discussing the impact it could have on the monarchy if things weren’t righted,” adding that the courtiers attended a retreat in Spring of 2019 where the concerns were discussed.

The authors also wrote about how aides expressed fears that the growing popularity of Prince Harry and Megan Markle could ruin the royal family, if they were not reined in.

“It’s no secret, the future of this monarchy relies solely on the four people currently in Kensington Palace. The public popularity only lies with them… When he [the Prince of Wales] becomes King, the only way it lasts is if the four of them are not at war. We cannot have them at war.”

According to Daily Mail, the authors also said Harry was upset the rift was already in the public domain and that people working with William had done so to make William look good.

“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.

“He feels there were so many occasions when the institution and his family could have helped them, stood up for them, backed them up, and never did,’ the authors recount, quoting a source.

However, the book also says the biggest row was about money and that courtiers viewed Harry’s position as ‘completely unrealistic’.

Still, some of the intimate details the book reveals about the couple include how they once boasted about their son, Archie’s growth spurt, how he was born looking “alert as soon as he arrived, his eyes wide open”, how he was born weighing ‘seven pounds, three ounces’ in May 2019 and how Meghan boasted to friends that her son was now in the ‘ninetieth percentile for height’ after a growth spurt.

The book also reveals their most intimate moments and explosive rows with the palace. It also lays bare little details such as how palace aides, angered by Meghan’s flashy Baby Shower in the United States, spat out their tea when they saw pictures of the baby shower organized by Serena Williams. The book also details the criticisms Harry received when he flew a private jet as well as the criticisms Meghan got concerning Archie. .

However the book has received scathing criticisms from royal experts. Richard Kay said the biography ‘not only fuels the suggestions that the couple either hand-fed these anecdotes – so precise and so private – to authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand themselves, or allowed others to do so on their behalf, it also invites the kind of intrusion they are so quick to deplore’.

Other commentators have also criticized the book for ‘choking readers’ with it’s ‘exhausting’ and ‘banal detail’, and called it the ‘pure and undiluted voice of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’.

“Because for a couple so obsessive about their privacy, the book is all the more remarkable because it is, from start to finish, an extraordinary invasion of their own privacy,” a critic said.

Still, the authors of the controversial book have confirmed that they spoke with Harry and Meghan when appropriate in the acknowledgements.

“We have spoken with close friends of Harry and Meghan, royal aides and palace staff (past and present), the charities and organizations they have built long-lasting relationships with and, when appropriate, the couple themselves.

‘Some of the scenes in this book have been witnessed personally while for others we have relied on the consistency of accounts provided by sources we have been given access to and come to trust,” they maintained.

Reacting to the hoopla the book has caused, Harry and Meghan claim they were not interviewed for the book and did not contribute to the tale.