Meghan biography bombshell for Royals

Just days after Sussexes cut off UK press, MoS is told they’ve helped two ‘friendly’ journalists write their story

The 320-page book is set to be a global bestseller

THE Duke and Duchess of Sussex have co-operated with the authors of an explosive new book that risks inflicting further anguish on the Royal Family, it was claimed last night.

Palace insiders expect the biography – provisionally entitled Thoroughly Modern Royals: The Real World Of Harry And Meghan – to paint a flattering portrait of the couple.

But there are fears it will also be a score-settling exercise in which Harry and Meghan’s strained relationship with the Royal Family and painful decision to quit Britain are revisited in uncomfortable detail.

The Mail on Sunday has been told that before moving to North America, the privacy-obsessed Sussexes gave an interview to the book’s authors, both journalists. One of them, Omid Scobie, is an acknowledged Meghan cheerleader and was one of the favoured journalists given details of the couple’s video call to the Queen last week in which they wished her a happy 94th birthday.

Echoing Princess Diana’s secret involvement in the blockbuster biography, Diana: Her True Story, when she encouraged her friends to speak to author Andrew Morton, questions are being asked whether members of Meghan’s inner circle were being urged to help Scobie and his American coauthor, Carolyn Durand.

The 320-page biography, due to be released on August 11, is expected to be a global bestseller.

Last week, Harry and Meghan launched an extraordinary broadside against the British media from their Hollywood hideout, announcing they would no longer ‘engage’ with certain newspapers in protest at the way they claim their lives are covered.

To the dismay of courtiers, the diatribe was issued on the eve of the Queen’s birthday and with the country paralysed by Covid-19.

News of the book comes as the first round of a legal dispute between the Duchess and The Mail on Sunday reached the High Court last week. The Duchess is suing this newspaper for publishing parts of a letter she sent to her estranged father, Thomas Markle, three months after he missed her wedding following a heart attack.

In court, claims that Mr Markle was harassed and exploited were disputed by Antony White QC for The Mail on Sunday.

He pointed out that it was ‘very curious’ the claims were ‘put on the record’ by the Duchess even though she had not contacted her father to see if he agreed with them and had not in fact spoken to him for two years.

According to sources, the book charts the Sussexes’ story from the outset of their romance. It was due to be published by New York-based Dey Street Books in June but was delayed, presumably because of the pandemic. While the publishers are keeping details of the biography under wraps, the ebook version is available to pre-order for £7.49.

Given the candour with which the Duke has spoken in recent months, those close to the Queen are concerned about what the couple might have divulged to the authors, both on and off the record. Earlier this year, the couple’s friend, ITV anchorman Tom Bradby, warned that a tell-all interview might irreparably damage a monarchy still reeling from Megxit and the scandal over Prince Andrew’s friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. It was during Bradby’s own interview with the couple in southern Africa last autumn that Harry confessed to a rift with Prince William.

Meghan also faced the cameras and complained about the pressures of motherhood under the media spotlight. ‘Not many people have asked if I am okay,’ she told Bradby. ‘It’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes.’ She added: ‘I really tried to adopt this British sensibility of a stiff upper lip. I tried, I really tried. But I think that what that does internally is probably really damaging.’ Scobie, who writes about the Royals for Harper’s Bazaar website, and Durand, a former producer with US network ABC, began work on the project in the summer of 2018.

At the time, the Duchess was

struggling with the realities of her new life and no longer enjoying the universal adulation generated by her wedding a few months earlier.

Revelations about the Duchess’s apparently high-handed manner were causing unease. It emerged that there had been a row between Harry and one of the Queen’s closest aides over the tiara the Duchess wanted to wear at her wedding.

Several tiaras had been considered, but the Queen did not want to lend the one Meghan preferred. Words were exchanged and Harry backed down.

Meanwhile, it was reported Meghan had complained about the mustiness of Windsor’s St George’s

Chapel and wanted it sprayed with air freshener before the ceremony.

There was further trouble over the bridesmaids’ dresses, which was an early sign of the great tensions to come. It was reported that Meghan had reduced Kate, her soon-to-be sister-in-law, to tears, because of her manner.

Against this background of negative publicity, the authors launched their enquiries and, seeking assistance, approached the Palace. Some

Suddenly a rich seam of drama has unfolded