Prince Harry ‘DIDN’T warn Charles about $20m book deal’

by CHARLIE LANKSTON for DailyMail.com

Prince Harry has once again sent shockwaves of fear through the Royal Family after it was revealed that he is planning to release a tell-all memoir about his life in the Monarchy and his bombshell decision to quit his royal duties. 

The Duke of Sussex, 36, has secretly working on the memoir for the past year and has since sold the book to publishers at Penguin Random House for an undisclosed amount. 

His book marks the first time that a senior royal has written this kind of tell-all, and the news of its existence comes amid an ongoing, and increasingly-bitter, rift between Harry and Meghan, and the rest of the Royal Family. 

Thus far, few details about the book’s exact contents have been shared, however Penguin Random House issued a statement in which it revealed Harry’s book will provide an ‘intimate and heartfelt’ look into his life.

‘In an intimate and heartfelt memoir from one of the most fascinating and influential global figures of our time, Prince Harry will share, for the very first time, the definitive account of the experiences, adventures, losses, and life lessons that have helped shape him,’ the blurb reads. 

‘Covering his lifetime in the public eye from childhood to the present day, including his dedication to service, the military duty that twice took him to the frontlines of Afghanistan, and the joy he has found in being a husband and father, Prince Harry will offer an honest and captivating personal portrait, on that shows readers that behind everything they think they know lies an inspiring, courageous and uplifting human story.’

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have already rocked the Royal Family to its very core with a series of very damaging allegations about the Monarchy, many of which were made during their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March.

The Duke then added more fuel to the fire during his mental health-focused Apple TV+ special, The Me You Can’t See, with Oprah, 67, which premiered in May. 

But the embittered Harry will no doubt have plenty more to share in the pages of his book – which is currently due to be published in late 2022 – and which will no doubt plunge the Royal Family into further controversy. 

So what bombshell revelations can be expected from the Duke’s upcoming tell-all – and will Harry choose to name and shame the people involved?   

The identity of the royal who made remarks about Archie’s ‘dark’ skin

One of the most damaging allegations to come out of Harry and Meghan’s primetime interview with Oprah Winfrey was the couple’s claim that a senior member of the Royal Family questioned ‘how dark’ their son Archie’s skin would be. 

Meghan claimed during the sit-down that member of ‘The Firm’ had ‘several’ conversations with Prince Harry about the color of their son’s skin when she was pregnant, saying: ‘All around this same time, we have in tandem the conversation of he won’t be given security, he’s not going to be given a title and also concerns and conversations as how dark his skin might be when he’s born.

‘That was relayed to me from Harry from conversations that family had with him.’  

She refused to identify the person in question, saying only that it ‘would be really damaging to them’ if their name was to be revealed.  

The allegation sparked a furious controversy – with many demanding to know exactly who had made the comments.  

After the interview aired, Oprah revealed that Harry had made clear to her that the comments were not made by the Queen or her late husband Prince Philip. She did not share any other details about their identity. 

However, given the increasingly acrimonious relationship between the couple and the rest of the Royal Family, Harry may well choose to name the person involved in his memoir – which would no doubt spark a furious backlash, and could well prompt an investigation into that royal’s behavior.  

The truth behind Harry’s bitter rift with his brother Prince William 

There has been plenty of speculation about what exactly caused the fall-out between Harry and his older brother William, 39, with the former giving little information away during recent interviews – only telling Oprah that there is ‘space’ between the two of them and that they are on ‘different paths’. 

‘We’ve been through hell together, we have a shared experience, but we were on different paths,’ he said.  

The rift between the brothers has certainly been made all the more severe by Harry and Meghan’s decision to repeatedly blast the Monarchy in such public forums and it is understood the relations between the siblings are at their lowest point. 

Father-of-three William was said to have been left ‘reeling’ by Harry’s comments to Oprah – as well as his younger brother’s decision to share private details about a conversation between the brothers with CBS This Morning anchor Gayle King, who revealed to the world on live TV that the chat was ‘not productive’.  

However it is understood that tensions between the once-inseparable Harry and William began long before the former sat down in front of a camera to air his grievances about The Firm to the world. 

The widening rift between the brothers has been the subject of much speculation – and is even the subject of a book, Battle of Brothers, by royal historian and biographer Robert Lacey, who claimed that the feud began long before Harry even met Meghan. 

According to Lacey, signs of tension between Harry and William began in the early 2000s, when the younger sibling found himself at the center of a drugs scandal and then, months later, became embroiled in furious controversy after he was pictured wearing a Nazi uniform at a costume party.  

Lacey’s book suggests that Harry felt abandoned by his brother during this time and this resulted in a serious rift between the siblings. 

However, it has been widely reported that their most recent rift began amid ‘bullying’ accusations against Meghan, who is alleged to have pushed several staff members at Kensington Palace into quitting – claims that she has vehemently denied. 

Lacey has claimed that William approached Harry to discuss a ‘dossier of distress’ that had been compiled about Meghan’s behavior – however that conversation quickly turned into a bitter row, which became so heated that William ‘threw Harry out’.   

Harry’s decision to step down as a senior member of the Royal Family and move to the US with his wife and son only served to worsen the rift between the brothers – neither of whom have ever addressed the fall-out in any detail. 

Although Harry hinted at the rift in his interview with Oprah, his book could well offer much more detail about his relationship with his brother – and finally bring to light the Prince’s views on what exactly sparked the fall-out in the first place.  

An attack on Charles’ parenting: How did the Prince of Wales cause Harry ‘genetic pain and suffering’ 

Another shock allegation made by Prince Harry during his interview with Oprah was his claim that his father had ‘stopped taking his calls’ during the build-up to Megxit – before ‘cutting him off financially’ when the Sussexes moved to the US. 

Harry claimed that his brother and father are both ‘trapped’ in the Royal Family, before revealing that he and Charles were not on speaking terms after his father stopped picking up the phone, adding: ‘There’s a lot to work through there. I feel really let down.’

The Duke claimed that he’d had ‘three conversations’ with the Queen and ‘two conversations’ with Charles about his desire to step down as a senior royal, but insisted that his father ‘stopped taking his calls’ after that second chat. 

According to Harry, Charles refused to continue speaking with his son about his plans for Megxit after he ‘took matters into his own hands’ out of concern for his own mental health, and that of his wife and son. 

‘It’s really sad that it’s gotten to this point, but I’ve got to do something for my own mental health, my wife’s, and for Archie’s, as well, because I could see where this was headed,’ he said. 

‘I feel really let down because he’s been through something similar, he knows what pain feels like, [and] Archie’s his grandson.

‘But at the same time – I will always love him – but there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened and I will continue to make it one of my priorities to try and heal that relationship.

‘But they only know what they know, or what they’re told.’

Much like William, Charles has never addressed his relationship – or rift – with Harry, however it may be that the Duke of Sussex has plenty more to say on the matter, and he could well choose to once again blast his father’s behavior, this time in the pages of his book, rather that in a TV interview.  

The book could also provide Harry with the opportunity to address his upbringing, something that he touched upon briefly during an appearance on Dax Shepherd’s mental health-focused podcast, Armchair Expert, when he blasted his father’s parenting, suggesting that it left him with ‘genetic pain and suffering’. 

During the interview, Harry claimed that Charles had ‘suffered’ because of his upbringing by the Queen and Prince Philip, and that the Prince of Wales had then ‘treated me the way he was treated’, calling it ‘genetic pain’. 

”I don’t think we should be pointing the finger or blaming anybody, but certainly when it comes to parenting, if I’ve experienced some form of pain or suffering because of the pain or suffering that perhaps my father or my parents had suffered, I’m going to make sure I break that cycle so that I don’t pass it on, basically,’ he said. 

‘It’s a lot of genetic pain and suffering that gets passed on anyway so we as parents should be doing the most we can to try and say, ‘You know what, that happened to me, I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen to you.”

Meghan v. Kate: What really happened between the two women to cause such acrimony? 

In the opening minutes of her interview with Oprah, Meghan made a shock claim about her relationship with Kate Middleton, accusing the Duchess of Cambridge of making her cry in the lead-up to her wedding to Prince Harry. 

Rumors of a row between Meghan and Kate, 39, made headlines around the world after the couple’s royal wedding in May 2018 – however it was initially reported that the argument over a flower girl’s dress had left the Duchess of Cambridge in tears, and not the other way around as Meghan told Oprah. 

A source said at the time: ‘Kate had only just given birth to her third child, Prince Louis, and was feeling quite ­emotional.’ 

When asked about the fall-out, Meghan insisted that ‘the reverse happened’, saying: ‘I don’t say that to be disparaging to anyone, because it was a really hard week of the wedding.

‘And she was upset about something, but she owned it, and she apologized.

‘And she brought me flowers and a note, apologizing. And she did what I would do if I knew that I hurt someone, right, to just take accountability for it.’

Meghan added that it was ‘shocking’ that the ‘reverse of that would be out in the world’.   

Harry has never addressed the rumors and reports about a fall-out between his wife and his sister-in-law, however his new book could well mark the first time that he chooses to voice his own opinions about the relationship between the two women.  

He may also choose to speak out about speculation that Meghan did not feel she received enough ‘support’ from Kate in her early days within the Royal Family, something that has been claimed by several sources over the years. 

Harry’s return to London: How the Duke was perceived during reunions with his family in the wake of bombshell Oprah interview

In the wake of his bombshell TV and podcast interviews, Harry has returned to the UK to reunite with his family on just two occasions.

The first reunion took place in April, when the Duke of Sussex flew to London to attend the funeral of his grandfather, Prince Philip, who was in hospital recovering from surgery when Harry and Meghan’s Oprah interview first aired. 

His second trip home took place earlier this month, when he traveled to the UK in order to unveil a statue in honor of his late mother Princess Diana.  

On both occasions, there was a great deal of speculation about the reception that Harry might have received from his relatives, many of whom are said to be incredibly upset and angry over the public bashings dished out to the Monarchy by Harry and Meghan over the past year. 

Although the Duke is said to have met privately with his brother William, his father Charles, and his grandmother the Queen during these trips, Harry himself has never spoken out about what it was like to reunite with the royals following the furious controversy that arose from his numerous interviews. 

Did Harry and Meghan really ask the Queen’s permission before naming their second child Lilibet? 

The Sussexes’ decision to name their daughter Lilibet after the Queen’s childhood nickname sparked furious debate – and much backlash – with many questioning whether they had sought permission from the Monarch before announcing their second child’s moniker publicly. 

In the days after Lilibet ‘Lili’ Diana’s birth, a briefing war broke out between the couple and the Palace, after senior Buckingham Palace sources told the BBC’s royal correspondent Jonny Dymond that the Queen was ‘never asked’ for her opinion on the couple’s choice of name. 

However, Harry hit back within 90 minutes of the BBC’s report being published through a statement from his and Meghan’s close friend Omid Scobie that insisted the Queen was the first person the Duke called after the birth of his daughter.

Omid, who wrote the bombshell Finding Freedom biography of the couple, also claimed the Sussexes would not have used the name Lilibet unless the Queen had supported the move. 

Harry, who together with wife Meghan announced they were expecting a girl during their interview with Oprah in March, took things a step further mere hours after his rebuttal of the report, threatening the BBC with legal action through law firm Schillings.

Notice of the legal action was followed by a carefully-worded statement that raised more questions than answers over whether the Queen did give permission or if the couple simply informed her of their intentions in a fait accompli. 

The statement insisted that the BBC report was wholly wrong and read: ‘The Duke spoke with his family in advance of the announcement, in fact his grandmother was the first family member he called.

‘During that conversation, he shared their hope of naming their daughter Lilibet in her honor. Had she not been supportive, they would not have used the name.’ 

Meghan’s ‘bullying’ controversy: Harry’s take on claims his wife made several Kensington Palace staff members quit – and who they are

Days before Meghan and Harry’s bombshell interview with Oprah was due to air, The Times published an article in which it claimed that the Duchess of Sussex had been accused of ‘bullying’ several members of staff at Kensington Palace. 

The Times reported that a complaint had been lodged against Meghan in October 2018 by a senior member of staff at the Palace – the Sussexes’ former communications secretary Jason Knauf.

Knauf is said to have made the official complaint following an allegation that the Duchess ‘drove two personal assistants out of the household and was undermining the confidence of a third staff member’.

The article said that Knauf seemingly acted to make Buckingham Palace aware of the need to protect staff who claimed they were coming under unbearable pressure from Meghan. It further claimed that Harry ‘pleaded’ with him not to pursue the allegations.

In his email Knauf also made clear he was concerned nothing had been done, or would be done in future, to protect palace staff. 

The Times quoted from his email, which is alleged to have said: ‘I am very concerned the duchess was able to bully two PAs out of the household in the past year. The treatment of X was totally unacceptable.’ 

He added: ‘The duchess seems intent on always having someone in her sights. She is bullying Y and seeking to undermine her confidence. We have had report after report from people who have witnessed unacceptable behavior towards Y.’ 

However, soon after the report was published, Harry and Meghan hit back in a statement issued by their lawyers, who accused Buckingham Palace of ‘using’ The Times to ‘peddle a wholly false narrative based on misleading and harmful misinformation’ about the Duchess of Sussex just days before the couple’s CBS interview was due to be broadcast. 

Her lawyers said the former actress was ‘saddened by this latest attack on her character, particularly as someone who has been the target of bullying herself and is deeply committed to supporting those who have experienced pain and trauma’. 

The statement added that the former actress was ‘saddened by this latest attack on her character, particularly as someone who has been the target of bullying herself and is deeply committed to supporting those who have experienced pain and trauma’. 

Buckingham Palace refused to comment but senior royal sources told MailOnline that complaints being made by ex-staff members were not in any way being orchestrated by the palace or members of the Royal Family, who were at the time focused on Prince Philip’s health problems in hospital.  

During their interview with Oprah, both Harry and Meghan accused the Palace of failing to ‘protect’ them against the media, with the latter saying: ‘I think that was really hard to reconcile because it was only once we were married and everything started to really worsen that I came to understand that not only was I not being protected but that they were willing to lie to protect other members of the family, but they weren’t willing to tell the truth to protect me and my husband.’

However, the couple did not address the ‘bullying’ allegations specifically during their interview – which is understood to have been taped before the accusations were publicly reported – and the book would therefore give Harry the perfect forum to air his opinions on the scandal publicly for the first time.  

Which ‘senior’ staff member knew that Meghan was struggling with suicidal thoughts? 

Meghan’s confession to Oprah that she had battled suicidal thoughts during her time within the Royal Family was one of the more shocking revelations to come out of the interview – particularly given that the Duchess of Sussex alleged that her pleas for help were ignored by the Monarchy. 

The Duchess of Sussex said that she ‘couldn’t be left alone’ and that she told her husband she ‘didn’t want to be alive anymore’ before claiming the Buckingham Palace HR department ignored her plea for help because she wasn’t a ‘paid employee’. 

She said she didn’t want to tell Harry at first because of the loss he had suffered as a result of his mother’s death, but she did and he ‘cradled me’. 

Meghan said she begged a senior member of the royal to assist her get help for mental health issue but she was left to suffer alone. 

Describing how she considered ending her life believing it ‘was better for everyone’, Meghan said: ‘I knew that if I didn’t say it, that I would do it. I just didn’t want to be alive anymore. And that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought. I remember how he just cradled me. 

‘I said that I needed to go somewhere to get help. I said that ‘I’ve never felt this way before, and I need to go somewhere’. And I was told that I couldn’t, that it wouldn’t be good for the institution’. 

The couple has never gone into further detail about who Meghan spoke to while struggling with her mental health issues – and which person or persons inside the Palace told her that she couldn’t seek professional help. 

However Harry also laid into his family, claiming their ‘lack of support and understanding’, the couple’s mental health problems and fears ‘history repeating itself’ with Meghan like his mother Diana, who died in 1997.

Who expressed jealousy of Prince Harry and Meghan after their return from their Australia tour in 2018? 

If Harry chooses to use his book as an opportunity to name and shame the people who have come under attack from the Sussexes, then he may well take the chance to call out the members of the Royal Family whose attitudes towards the couple ‘changed’ in the wake of their official tour of Australia in 2018. 

The Duke hinted that certain royals were jealous of his wife following the success of the couple’s trip – and the incredibly positive reaction that Meghan received during their tour. 

‘You know, my father, my brother, Kate and and all the rest of the family, they were really welcoming,’ he said of his wife’s introduction into the royal family. ‘But it really changed after the Australia tour, after our South Pacific tour.’

He continued: ‘It was the first time that the family got to see how incredible [Meghan] is at the job.’ 

Oprah then drew parallels between Harry’s accusations and scenes from the most recently series of The Crown in which Charles is seen growing increasingly jealous of Princess Diana and the incredibly positive reception she received as the couple took part in their own tour of Australia in 1983.

She asked Harry whether his and Meghan’s tour of Australia ‘brought back memories’ of his parents’ trip, saying: ‘Your father and your mother went there, and your mother was bedazzling. So, are you saying there were hints of jealousy [from the rest of the royal family]?’

Harry refused to confirm whether he thought other royals were envious of Meghan, but said: ‘I just wish that we would all learn from the past’.

‘But to see the… to see how effortless it was for Meghan to come into the family so quickly in Australia and across New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga, and just be able to connect with people…’

He did not disclose whether the ‘changes’ in attitude he was referring to applied to the entire Royal Family, or whether he was commenting on the behavior of specific people – something that may well be brought to light in his as-yet untitled memoir. 

Harry’s real feelings about the Royal Family’s treatment of his late mother Princess Diana

The Duke made expressly clear his fears about ‘history repeating itself’ in regards to Princess Diana’s death and Meghan’s treatment at the hands of the media, telling Oprah during their Apple TV+ series that his mother was ‘chased to death while in a relationship with someone who wasn’t white’. 

Diana died in 1997 alongside Egyptian film producer Dodi Al Fayed, who she had been dating for several months.

Although an inquest ruled that Princess Diana and her partner died as a result of the ‘grossly negligent’ driving of Henri Paul, who was three times over the drink-drive limit at the time of the crash, Harry said he felt there were clear parallels between himself and his mother, particularly after he began dating a person of color. 

‘My mother was chased to her death while she was in a relationship with someone who wasn’t white,’ he said. ‘And now look what’s happened.

‘You want to talk about history repeating itself, they’re not going to stop until she dies. It’s incredibly triggering to potentially lose another woman in my life. Like, the list is growing.

‘And it all comes back to the same people, the same business model, the same industry.’ 

Harry admitted he wished he had called out racism when he first started dating Meghan, but said he would no longer accept it.

‘My biggest regret is not making more of a stance earlier on in my relationship with my wife and calling out the racism when I did,’ he said. 

Harry also admitted during the series that he turned to alcohol and drugs to help him cope with the trauma of his mother’s death, saying: ‘I was willing to drink, I was willing to take drugs, willing to try and do the things that made me feel less like I was feeling.’

However the Duke has not yet spoken out in great detail about his mother’s experiences within the Royal Family, or her treatment at the hands of the Monarchy – much of which has been compared in great detail to Meghan’s statements about her life in the Palace. 

Several parallels were pointed out between Meghan’s sit-down with Oprah and the interview that Diana did with BBC journalist Martin Bashir in 1995. 

But Harry has remained fairly tight-lipped about his own views on the way in which his mother was treated by the Monarchy, both during her marriage to Prince Charles and in the years after they separated. 

The book’s blurb notes that his tell-all will touch upon the ‘losses’ that have ‘helped to shape him’, suggesting that his mother’s life and death will be featured in some capacity – providing him with the chance to speak out about her experiences in the Royal Family.