Meghan Markle told a friend ‘I gave up my entire life for this family’, book claims
Meghan Markle told a friend ‘I gave up my entire life for this family’ and said she was ‘ready to do whatever it takes’ to avoid Megxit but ‘frustrated’ Prince Harry drove decision to quit, book claims
- Meghan Markle said in March she was ‘willing to do whatever it takes’ to not quit
- Remarks came months after couple announced they would step down as royals
- Finding Freedom suggested Harry largely behind couple’s decision to leave
By Faith Ridler For Mailonline
Published: 20:26 EDT, 24 July 2020 | Updated: 21:14 EDT, 24 July 2020
Meghan Markle tearfully told a friend ‘I gave up my entire life for this family’ and said she was ‘willing to do whatever it takes’ to avoid quitting, according to a bombshell biography.
Extracts from Finding Freedom claim an emotional Meghan made the confession in March, months after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they would step down as senior royals.
‘I was willing to do whatever it takes. But here we are,’ she told a friend. ‘It’s very sad.’
The passage, published by the Times, also suggests Prince Harry was a driving force behind the couple’s shock decision to stand down from the royal family and move to Los Angeles.
‘Fundamentally, Harry wanted out,’ a source said. ‘Deep down, he was always struggling within that world. She’s opened the door for him on that.’
Meghan Markle (pictured with Prince Harry in March) tearfully told a friend ‘I gave up my entire life for this family’ and had no choice but to quit, according to a bombshell royal biography
Finding Freedom: Harry, Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family was written by royal watchers Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, described as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s ‘cheerleaders’.
The biography, published next month and written ‘with the participation of those closest to the couple’, charts the Sussexes bitter exit from the monarchy.
Sources have told the Mail that the tell-all biography will lay bare the ‘pressure cooker’ of anger and resentment the couple felt as working royals.
After their spectacular wedding in May 2018, Harry and Meghan were seen as the future of the Royals and saw a surge in popularity, including a marked increase in social media following.
But the tell-all biography will claim they felt ‘unsupported’ in what they wanted to do afterwards.
A source told The Sun: ‘They feel they were owed an awful lot of credit for their popularity and success of the wedding — which led to a public outpouring of support — that they did not get.’
Extracts from Finding Freedom claim an emotional Meghan (pictured with her father Thomas) made the confession in March, months after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they would ‘step down’ as senior royals
Finding Freedom: Harry, Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family, has been written by royal watchers Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, described as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s ‘cheerleaders’
Excerpts from the sensational book claim Harry and Meghan felt ‘cut adrift’ and frustrated that William and Kate got all the best official roles before they decided to leave for the US.
Finding Freedom also described how relations between the Sussexes and the Cambridges grew so bitter that by March the couples were barely speaking.
The biography claims the royals hardly spoke at the Commonwealth service at Westminster Abbey despite not having seen each other since January.
The book’s authors, Scobie and Durand, said: ‘Although Meghan tried to make eye contact with Kate, the duchess barely acknowledged her.’
Mr Scobie told the Times: ‘To purposefully snub your sister-in-law… I don’t think it left a great taste in the couple’s mouths.’
The authors describe a culture of increasing tension between the Sussexes and other members of the royal family.
Pictured: Meghan with the Queen during a visit to Cheshire in June 2018
They say the Sussexes felt their complaints were not taken seriously and believed other royal households were leaking stories about them to the press.
‘There were just a handful of people working at the palace they could trust,’ the authors write. A friend of the couple’s referred to the old guard as ‘the vipers’.
‘Meanwhile, a frustrated palace staffer described the Sussexes’ team as ‘the squeaky third wheel’ of the palace.’
Harry and Meghan ‘liked being in control of their narrative’ in the early days of their marriage, the authors say.
But being told to operate under Buckingham Palace’s umbrella after splitting their household from the Cambridges’ was ‘a big disappointment to them’.
‘As their popularity had grown, so did Harry and Meghan’s difficulty in understanding why so few inside the palace were looking out for their interests. They were a major draw for the royal family,’ the authors write.
Meghan and Harry have only been spotted out a handful of times since their move to Los Angeles in March, most recently leaving an appointment in Beverly Hills
The tell-all biography will outline how the couple were upset that William and Kate got more prestigious royal duties than they did. Pictured: Meghan and Harry with Archie
The book says the Sussexes even considered breaking protocol by springing a surprise visit on the Queen when they believed they were being blocked from seeing the monarch.
The Mail understands that Buckingham Palace fear the book will destroy any hope of Harry and Meghan repairing their relationships with the rest of the Royal Family.
A spokesman for Harry and Meghan said the couple did not contribute to the book, but he did not deny the content of The Times’s extracts.
A statement said: ‘The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were not interviewed and did not contribute to Finding Freedom.
‘This book is based on the authors’ own experiences as members of the royal press corps and their own independent reporting.’
