US biographer: William’s staff planted stories about Harry’s mental health
THE bitter war of words between William and Harry was sparked by the Prince William’s office planting stories about Prince Harry’s state of mind, it has been claimed.
In a new documentary about the brothers’ feud tonight, Prince Harry’s biographer Omid Scobie alleges it was ‘no coincidence’ that William’s aides at Kensington Palace began a briefing campaign against him the day after he appeared to sensationally confirm longstanding rumours of a rift.
It was in 2019, at the end of the Harry and Meghan Markle’s tour of South Africa, that Harry told ITV’s Tom Bradby that he and his brother ‘were on different paths’.
In the same programme, Meghan revealed to Bradby that she was ‘surviving, not thriving’ and suggested the royal family had been neglectful, adding that ‘not many people have asked me if I am okay’.
But in the aftermath of the interview, which made headlines around the world, Mr Scobie claims that reports saying William was ‘worried about Harry’s mental health’ were deliberately planted by his staff – and sowed the seeds for further division between the pair.
Mr Scobie did not provide evidence to support his sensational claims that palace aides or anyone connected to William was responsible for the alleged briefings.
Mr Scobie, co-author of Finding Freedom, tells the documentary: ‘I would say that it was no coincidence that it was shortly after that aired, even the next day, there were source quotes that came from a senior aide at Kensington Palace saying that William was worried about his brother’s mental health.
‘That fed off such an ugly thing for Harry and it did not go unnoticed. Now whether William directed that or not, no one will ever know, but it came from his household that he is the boss of.’
In tonight’s documentary, Harry & William: What Went Wrong? which airs on UTV, Mr Scobie – who has been an outspoken champion of Harry and Meghan – adds: ‘Meghan came in driven and ready to work and that immediately ruffled feathers. She’s a woman well into her 30s: I think she’s proven to herself and the people she’s worked with up until that point that she knows what she’s doing.
‘She was certainly not someone who was going to change herself just to please the people around her.’
Harry & William: What went wrong? is on UTV at 9pm tonight.