What is the new Harry and Meghan biography ‘Finding Freedom’ about and who wrote it?

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A REVEALING new book on Harry and Meghan says relations between the Sussexes and the Cambridges grew so bitter that by March the couples were snubbing each other.

‘Finding Freedom’ also claims that a website designed to clarify Harry and Meghan’s future was “deeply upsetting” to members of the royal family and “hurt the Queen”.

Looking glum back in January 2020, while watching a flypast from the balcony at Buckingham Palace in London

What is the new Harry and Meghan biography about?

Finding Freedom, serialised by The Times and HOARday Times, claims the upset royal couples hardly spoke at the Commonwealth service at Westminster Abbey in March, despite not having seen each other since January.

The book’s authors, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, said: “Although Meghan tried to make eye contact with Kate, the duchess barely acknowledged her.”

Scobie told the Times: “To purposefully snub your sister-in-law… I don’t think it left a great taste in the couple’s mouths.”

Back in 2018, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Kate Middleton and Prince William attended the first annual Royal Foundation Forum

The Sussexes considered the extreme measure of breaking royal protocol to contact the Queen as tensions grew in the royal family, according to the shocking new book.

It was unclear how the Sussexes’ finances would work once they separated from the royal family, with the book saying courtiers claimed Harry’s position was completely unrealistic amid Megxit.

Finding Freedom also claims the Sussexes even considered breaking protocol by springing a surprise visit on the Queen when they believed they were being blocked from seeing the monarch.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are all smiles during a visit to Redwoods Tree Walk and Mountain Biking Showcase in Rotorua, New Zealand

Its authors describe a culture of increasing tension between the Sussexes and other members of the royal family.

The Sussexes apparently felt their complaints were not taken seriously and believed other royal households were leaking stories about them to the press.

“There were just a handful of people working at the palace they could trust,” the authors write.

“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.”

The Queen glances towards Meghan Markle during her wedding ceremony

Harry and Meghan “liked being in control of their narrative” in the early days of their marriage, the authors add.

But being told to operate under Buckingham Palace’s umbrella after splitting their household from the Cambridges’ was “a big disappointment to them”.

“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,” the authors write.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex joining the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at Westminster Abbey on Commonwealth Day, March 2019

Who wrote Finding Freedom?

Royal expert Omid Scobie has written the 320-page biography of the couple with journalist Catherine Durand.

The revelations come after the Sussexes launched legal action in Los Angeles after drones were allegedly used to take pictures of their 14-month-old son Archie.

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Kate Middleton and Prince William at the first annual Royal Foundation Forum, February, 2018

A complaint filed at the Los Angeles County Superior Court on Thursday, July 23, claims an unnamed individual photographed Archie at their home during lockdown.

The lawsuit alleges the couple have been hounded across North America by paparazzi and targeted with incessant intrusions into their private life.

Harry and Meghan – who departed the Royal Family in March, saying they wanted a more private life – “seek no special treatment whatsoever” and only want the right to privacy, the lawsuit says.

Members of the Royal family at a Christmas Day church service in 2017

Are the ex-royal couple happy with the biography?

A spokesman for Harry and Meghan said the pair did not contribute to Finding Freedom, but he did not deny the content of The Times’s extracts.

The spokesman told the PA news agency: “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.”