The Star Early Edition

HARRY WAS IN A 'BIG HURRY' TO BAIL

Bombshell biography reveals prince had to be persuaded to agree to Megxit review period as he wanted ‘clean break’

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PRINCE Harry was so keen on quitting the royal family that he initially refused the offer of a trial period which could have seen him and Meghan return to the UK after Megxit, royal sources have claimed.

The review was insisted upon by courtiers and other royals, with the queen keen to let Harry know he could return to the fold if he changed his mind.

However, the Duke of Sussex was keen to make a “clean break” and had to be persuaded to agree to the trial period.

A source said: “He was adamantly opposed to the review process.”

Harry is thought to have been against the idea because it came from

“the institutio­n” and he feared that a review would lessen the impact of their departure, allowing the media to write they could return.

According to bombshell biography

Finding Freedom, Harry believed the “old guard” at Buckingham Palace disliked Meghan and wanted to make her life difficult. That belief is thought to have fuelled his desire to not include a review option in Megxit. The latest claims come after days of revelation from the

Finding Freedom biography, which has laid bare Harry and Meghan’s increasing­ly fractious relationsh­ip with the palace.

The book has aired the divisions between Prince Harry and other royals, including his brother Prince William, with a source admitting: “People are aware that this does not look good for anyone.” However, some have suggested that the revelation­s aren’t as bad as expected, according to the Times.

It was reported that the book, which Harry and Meghan insisted had nothing to do with them, had “torpedoed” their chances of returning to the royal family after the trial period.

However, sources have now refuted the idea, pointing out that the Sussexes have shown no sign of wanting to return from California while revealing that

Harry had been opposed to the review in the first place. One said that “under no circumstan­ces would they ever admit ‘this was a big mistake’.” However, a source close to Harry and Meghan said: “Do I rule out them taking on roles for the family in the future? Absolutely not.

“But a full-scale return soon is not likely. That is not down to animosity or anything like that. They have not yet reached what they were seeking to do.”

They also insisted that Harry and William’s relationsh­ip isn’t as bad as portrayed by the book.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s biography is already the bestsellin­g book on Amazon UK, two weeks ahead of its release. Finding Freedom, by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, is not released until August 11 but is already top of the media giant’s bestseller­s list as royal fans rush to pre-order their copy. The book is at number 14 on the US chart at the time of writing. Scobie and Duran said they have spoken to more than

100 sources including “close friends of Harry and Meghan’s, royal aides and palace staff (past and present)”, with all the informatio­n in the book having “at least two sources”.

They deny giving any interviews or contributi­ng to the book directly, but the intimate nature of some details raises questions over who the sources were – and whether Harry and Megan gave them their blessing before they revealed such closely guarded insights to the couple’s private lives.

In the latest extract, they delved deep into the story of how Harry and Meghan became a couple, their first dates, her first visit to Kensington Palace and how Harry said “I love you” just three months into their relationsh­ip, to which Meghan quickly responded with “I love you, too”.

The book has also discussed Harry and William’s relationsh­ip, as well as the Duke of Sussex’s relationsh­ip with his father. Harry felt Prince Charles valued his own public image above their fatherson relationsh­ip, the biography claimed.

Harry was also “p **** d off” with “snob” William as he was warned to take things slow with “this girl” Meghan. And William reportedly questioned Meghan’s intentions and feared that Duke of Sussex was being “blindsided by lust”.

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