When Meghan Markle married Prince Harry, she thought she would be the “Beyoncé of the UK,” but she subsequently discovered that she detested the rigid standards of royal life and sensationally resigned from her position as the Duchess of Sussex, according to a shocking new book.
The excerpts from Valentine Low’s upcoming book Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown have just been released.
According to insiders, the duchess thought she would marry the Queen’s grandson and become Britain’s Beyoncé, but she became disenchanted by the rigid conventions and guidelines of life as a working member of the royal family felt more “cornered and misunderstood” by The Firm.
.At the crucial Sandringham summit, when the royals discussed Harry and Meghan’s future, the Queen was allegedly compelled to put her foot down over Megxit and tell the Sussexes they were “either in or out.”
According to Mr. Low, the royals convened for a ‘Sandringham summit’ five days after the Duke and Duchess announced their intentions to leave the European Union on January 8, 2020.
The Queen urged the four royal families to get together promptly in the early discussions to find a solution.
Secretaries from the four families attended meetings conducted in the days that followed at Clarence House, then Prince Charles’ residence, before the talks were relocated to Buckingham Palace.
Simon Case, Prince William’s secretary, was also involved and “spoke to both sides.”
These featured five potential outcomes, such as allowing the Duke and Duchess one month each year for their own interests or accepting few engagements and spending most of their time on other pursuits.
A general prohibition on making decisions for monetary or material gain – either for oneself or friends – would be one of these alternatives.
One person, however, claimed that it was an impossible endeavor since the two realms of monarchy and fame couldn’t understand one another.
According to them, the Duchess would not be able to conform to the stereotype of a working royal since the palace would not accept “who she wanted to be.”
According to Mr. Low, the monarch herself believed that the pair would “not be able to carry out official tasks” unless they were prepared to abide by the regulations that apply to all working royals.
‘There was a very clear view: you can’t be in and out,’ a source told Mr Low. ‘And if you’ve got such clarity of view, it’s very difficult to say, ‘Why don’t we go 10 per cent this way instead of 20 per cent?”
The author said that this indicated the Queen had eliminated the possibility of compromise.
He said that the Palace’s ‘initial inflexibility’ over the couple’s request left them feeling ‘cornered and misunderstood’ by the institution.
Regarding their worries and desire to go to the US, Prince Harry first emailed his father, then Prince Charles, but was informed that it required a “proper family conversation” that could not be had until at least January 29, 2020.
The couple, who had intended to address the situation in response to their request swiftly, felt this was poorly received, Mr. Low wrote.
The prince set up a private meeting with the Queen as a result of her response, but it was canceled after Harry was informed that she was no longer accessible and had been perplexed by her diary arrangements.
Courtiers viewed the encounter as an opportunity for the Duke to earn the Queen’s favor before starting more extensive negotiations with the royal family.
According to the book, Harry thought about traveling to Sandringham unannounced to meet the Queen but decided against it.
In Mr. Low’s book, Meghan allegedly bullied staff members and threw fits while complaining that she wasn’t compensated for royal visits, agreed to do the Oprah interview six months before Megxit, and made them cry.
The new book alleges that Meghan could not get why she had to shake hands with people or go on walkabouts during the royal trip of Australia in October 2018.
She allegedly said, “I can’t believe I’m not being paid for this,” according to staff.
Mr. Low writes on the Duchess of Sussex’s treatment of her staff, including a meeting when Meghan is said to have berated a young female employee in front of other members of the team over a proposal she had made.After the woman told her that it would be difficult to execute a new plan, Meghan said: ‘Don’t worry. If there was literally anyone else I could ask to do this, I would be asking them instead of you.’
According to reports, Meghan has often reprimanded staff members, including when a worker offended the duchess due to a mix-up involving the press at an engagement.
Last year, the Duchess’s attorneys disputed that any staff members had experienced bullying and expressed their appreciation for Miss Cohen’s commitment and assistance.
In other places, it was stated that the couple’s US team was working on many deals in August 2019 before to their trip to Africa, including ones with Netflix, Harry’s mental health series for Apple+, Meghan’s Disney voiceover, and an interview with Oprah Winfrey scheduled for the fall.
Samantha Cohen, a former assistant private secretary to the Queen, suggested they do an interview with Tom Bradby of ITV for the British media.
The Duke of Sussex consented, despite Meghan’s reluctance, on the condition that they did not conduct the interview together or appear in the same frame because doing so would be against the terms of their Oprah arrangement.
Additionally, according to palace insiders, the couple received frequent presents from jewelry, perfume, and fashion firms when they were residents at Kensington Palace.
Since it is customary for members of the royal family to decline commercial presents, their PA’s refusal of the opulent gifts is said to have strained relations with Meghan.