A culture of bitterness had grown up between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and other members of their family in the period before they stepped down from royal duties, according to a new book.
Extracts from Finding Freedom, a biography of the couple, are being serialised in The Times and The Sunday Times ahead of its publication in August.
Its authors describe a wall of resentment gradually growing between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and other members of The Firm.
Royal reporters Carolyn Durand and Omid Scobie write that the Sussexes felt their complaints were not taken seriously and believed other royal households were leaking stories about them to the press.
The authors write: “There were just a handful of people working at the palace they could trust. A friend of the couple’s referred to the old guard as ‘the vipers’.
“Meanwhile, a frustrated palace staffer described the Sussexes’ team as ‘the squeaky third wheel’ of the palace.”
It is further claimed that relations between Harry, the Duke of Cambridge and the princes’s wives deteriorated to such a degree that by March this year they were barely on speaking terms.
The couples hardly interacted at an engagement at the Commonwealth service at Westminster Abbey despite not having seen each other since January, Finding Freedom claims.
The Sussexes “liked being in control of their narrative” in the early days of their marriage, the authors say. However, having to operate under Buckingham Palace’s umbrella after splitting their household from the Cambridges was “a big disappointment to them”.
Durand and Scobie write: “As their popularity had grown, so did Harry and Meghan’s difficulty in understanding why so few inside the palace were looking out for their interests. They were a major draw for the royal family.”
Harry and Meghan have distanced themselves from the book.
A spokesperson for the couple said: “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were not interviewed and did not contribute to Finding Freedom.
“This book is based on the authors’ own experiences as members of the royal press corps and their own independent reporting.”
Additional reporting by Press Association
