Prince Harry’s memoir will cause ‘further damage’ to his relationship with his family

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Prince Harry’s explosive memoir about the royal family will only ‘further damage’ his relationship with his brother and father, an expert has claimed.

The Duke of Sussex, 36, has been secretly working on a book for nearly a year which he has since sold to Penguin Random House. 

It will tell the story from his childhood growing up in palaces, to his time in Afghanistan and his decision to leave the royal family in 2020. Sources close to Prince Charles said Harry’s father was ‘surprised’ at the news and that the royals had not been warned that a book was in the offing until the news broke tonight.

Speaking to FEMAIL, royal expert Robert Jobson said the book will only ‘lead to conflict’ and will be ‘hugely damaging to the House of Windsor and Monarchy as an institution.

The author, who wrote bestseller ‘Prince Philip’s Century’, added that Harry is already ‘rich and famous’ and the book serves no purpose but to ’cause damage’. 

‘As night follows day, this was always going to happen,’ he told FEMAIL.

‘It will become an international bestseller, but at what cost to the monarchy? There will be nowhere to hide’.

He also compared Harry to his great-grandfather’s brother Edward, who abdicated so he could marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.  

‘It is not the first time an “exiled” senior royal has written a memoir, the former King Edward VIII wrote one.

‘His book “A King’s Story: The Memoirs of HRH the Duke of Windsor, KG” was published to a media storm in the 50s. It caused a sensation.

‘But this is bound to cause mayhem amongst the House of Windsor. 

‘If Harry, which seems inevitable, goes into detail about mental health issues involving his wife and alleged racism at the heart of the royal family, it will be hugely damaging to the House of Windsor and the Monarchy as an institution.

‘Harry is already hugely rich and famous so apart from damaging his family – which a book like this will inevitably do, I am not sure what he is trying to achieve. Whatever he says will lead to conflict.

‘No wonder there is a rift between the royal brothers and problems with his father. 

‘How can any bridges be built when he is doing this? ‘.

The brothers have been separated by a rift that began in March 2019 when William reportedly threw Harry and Meghan out of Kensington Palace over the alleged bullying of staff, with the Sussexes breaking up their joint foundation and setting up a new office at Buckingham Palace. 

The claims emerged in Robert Lacey’s book Battle of Brothers, published before Harry and Meghan went on Oprah to accuse the Royal Family of racism and claim they were abandoned when the Duchess of Sussex was suicidal and six months pregnant.

Harry also said his brother and father were ‘trapped’ by the institution of monarchy, and that feels ‘really let down’ by his father Charles.

In a series of astonishing claims, Harry revealed the Prince of Wales cut off contact with him in the wake of his decision to step away from the royal family. 

He told how, during his time in Canada, his father refused to answer his calls as tensions within the family rose and their relationship soured. 

Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams, added to FEMAIL that Harry uses media appearances as a ‘form of therapy’.

‘It’s not being published globally until late 2022. I do think that it is very important that an accommodation should be reached between the royal family and the Sussexes between now and then. 

‘He is donating the proceeds to charity. It is however worth remembering that the knowledge he is writing it, and that it could be explosive and that it will be widely read worldwide, is something members of the royal family will be bearing in mind when dealing with the Sussexes between now and then. 

‘The Sussexes problem is they keep going public. Harry has an extraordinary habit of getting headlines – Oprah, James Corden, celebrity podcasts, AppleTV and he sees these appearances as a kind of therapy. 

‘It’s very difficult when you’re dealing with the Sussexes, that you don’t know what’s coming next. It might not be published until 2022. 

‘It’s so far in the future, it’s a potential lever if they want something from the royal family.  

‘He’s exorcising his demons, and he doesn’t see it as disruptive at all. He sees it as becoming a new person – escaping being trapped like Charles and William.

‘But he’s still sixth-in-line to the throne, a significant royal even if he’s not a working royal.

‘He wants an audience to understand how he can become a new him, and we don’t know that will be yet.

‘Will it be his truth or the truth? And will they be the same or different?

‘A lot of his Oprah interview didn’t pass a fact check, and it’s difficult for the outside world to tell what is true, which is a big concern.

‘They still see themselves as victims , my hope is that it’s constructive and won’t lead to further revelations that will damage his family

‘It appears it was written before the rift was healed – so it could be extraordinary.

‘He’s saying the book is written from the perspective of ‘the man he’s become’, and this is certainly what he feels at the moment.

‘It’s hard to see exactly what Harry and Meghan want and we might not know until we see what in the memoir is going to include and what might embarrass his father and what’s going to be about their time as working royals.

‘He has talked a lot about healing, but what do the Sussexes want from the royal family?’ 

Harry has been working with Pulitzer-winning ghostwriter J. R. Moehringer and the first draft of the manuscript, currently untitled, is said to be almost completely written with the deadline in October.

The proceeds of the deal are likely to be worth millions and, although the exact financial terms were not disclosed, Prince Harry will donate proceeds to charity, according to Random House.

He has himself confirmed: ‘I’m writing this not as the prince I was born but as the man I have become. I’ve worn many hats over the years, both literally and figuratively, and my hope is that in telling my story— the highs and lows, the mistakes, the lessons learned — I can help show that no matter where we come from, we have more in common than we think.

‘I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity to share what I’ve learned over the course of my life so far and excited for people to read a firsthand account of my life that’s accurate and wholly truthful.’

The proceeds of the deal are likely to be worth millions and, although the exact financial terms were not disclosed, Prince Harry will donate proceeds to charity, according to Random House. 

Experts have told DailyMail.com that Harry will have been given ‘at least’ a $20million advance for the memoir with millions more to be made in sales. 

Dozens of royal experts were shocked by the news, with some calling for Harry to be stripped of his titles.  

Royal editor at the Daily Mirror, Russell Myers wrote:  ‘After recent events I’m sure a few of Harry’s family and friends would have something about to say about the man he has become’. 

Richard Palmer, royal correspondent at the Daily Express simply reacted to the news with ‘blimey’ while Queen’s biographer Angela Levin wrote: ‘Wow and wow again’. 

REVEALED: Prince Harry’s memoir ghostwriter is Pulitzer-winning author behind Andre Agassi’s Open and Nike co-founder’s Shoe Dog – as experts say Harry will have been paid a $20million advance ‘at least’ and could earn millions more

The author ghostwriting Prince Harry‘s new book is J.R. Moehringer, a Pulitzer-winning journalist and writer who previously worked with Andre Agassi and the co-founder of Nike on their own money-spinning memoirs.  

Harry has been working on the book for the last year and a first draft is due by October.  Penguin Random House has purchased the rights, Page Six reports. 

It’s unclear how much exactly he’s being paid for it but Penguin Random House previously paid the Obamas $65million for their dual deal. 

Experts tell DailyMail.com that Harry will have been given ‘at least’ a $20million advance for his memoir, with millions more to be made in sales. 

It is unclear if Meghan has plans for her own memoir.  

Moehringer’s previous books include Andre Agassi’s biography, Open, and Nike co-founder Phil Knight’s Shoe Dog. Page Six first reported that he was working with Harry on his book. 

Moehringer has not commented on the partnership and it is unclear how it came about. His agent did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s inquiries on Monday. 

He lives in Berkley, California, around 300 miles from Harry and Meghan’s Montecito compound.  

Before ghost-writing, Moehringer worked as a reporter for The New York Times and L.A. Times.   

He describes his ‘big break’ as an article in 1997 for the Times about the 1950s boxer Bob ‘Bombardier’ Satterfield, who he’d discovered was sleeping on benches in L.A. 

The article he wrote – Resurrecting The Champ – became a movie later starring Samuel L. Jackson.

Moehringer’s own memoir, The Tender Bar, told the story of his New York upbringing and how he spent it in a bar. 

He was a finalist for the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for his story on Satterfield and he was awarded the prize for his story on Gee’s Bend, a river town in Alabama. 

The story also appeared in The Los Angeles Times.