Harry and Meghan felt ‘cut adrift’ and frustrated that William and Kate got best official roles

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle felt ‘cut adrift’ and frustrated that William and Kate got all the best official roles before they decided to leave for America, excerpts from a hotly-anticipated new biography claims.

Extracts of Finding Freedom, published this weekend, will claim the Sussexes felt stifled and ignored in the Royal Family, as reported by The Sun.

It will also say that they butted-heads with palace courtiers over their future plans, who are understood to have stressed ‘service to the Crown’ above all else, leaving Harry and Meghan feeling ‘stonewalled’.

The book will also outline that the couple were upset that William and Kate got more prestigious royal duties than they did. 

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’. 

The authors boast the book published next month has been written ‘with the participation of those closest to the couple’.

Sources have told the Mail that the biography will lay bare the ‘pressure cooker’ of anger and resentment the couple felt as working royals. 

After the 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 book will say they felt ‘unsupported’ in what they wanted to do after that.

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.’ 

The new tell-all biography will also claim that Prince Harry was the primary driver in getting the couple to leave the Royal Family.

According the new book the Queen was ‘blindsided’ when the royal couple on January 8 announced on Instagram they were leaving The Firm.  

The Queen was also understood to be hurt by the ‘suboptimal behaviour’ from the couple.

Insiders told The Telegraph that before even before he met Meghan in 2016, there were tensions between the brothers.

A source said: ‘It wasn’t a rivalry between the brothers but more a sense that they would be competing over who would lead on their various issues,’ said one source.

‘Harry felt awkward as a plus one. They’d turn up at premieres and there was this sense that he felt a bit like a spare part.

‘Long before Meghan he wanted to change things. He wanted to control his own narrative. He would say, ‘Why can’t we use social media or record videos and cut out the press?’

The tensions were exacerbated after William is claimed to have taken his younger brother to one said and asked him: ‘Are you sure about this?’ after the Harry asked Meghan to marry him.

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. 

Another source told the Mail that they had been warned to expect a ‘revisionist’ version of events concerning their engagement, marriage and brief spell as working royals.

‘It’s going to be the gospel according to Meghan and Harry, so to speak,’ they said. ‘Everything that has happened in terms of Megxit will be seen through the prism of their take on events.

‘What it’s unlikely to reveal, however, is how it subsequently emerged that Harry and Meghan had been quietly plotting their ‘exit’ from the Royal Family for at least nine months before they finally announced their decision to quit in January this year.

‘That hurt a lot of people who had bent over backwards to protect them.’ Members of the couple’s circle say that Harry, while loyal to Meghan, was very torn about how to resolve the situation. 

‘But Meghan was extremely vocal about how unhappy she was and Harry, who had always hated the media and the so-called ‘men in grey suits’ [at the palace], eventually saw this as a way out too,’ they said. 

It comes as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have filed a lawsuit in California accusing unnamed paparazzi photographers of taking ‘illegal’ drone pictures of their son Archie.

The lawsuit filed on Thursday alleges ‘serial intrusions’ into 14-month old Archie’s privacy at the LA home where Harry and Meghan have been living since March.  

The couple say they are taking legal action to protect Archie from a ‘manufactured feeding frenzy’ after claiming that the paparazzi had flown helicopters over their home and cut holes in a fence to take pictures. 

They also accuse photographers of putting misleading captions on pictures of Archie in the back garden in order to suggest they were taken in a public place. 

‘The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are filing this lawsuit to protect their young son’s right to privacy in their home without intrusion by photographers, and to uncover and stop those who seek to profit from these illegal actions,’ their attorney said.  

Meghan, Harry and one-year-old Archie have been staying at Hollywood producer Tyler Perry’s $18 million mega-mansion in the exclusive neighborhood of Beverly Ridge since moving to LA in March.

In their lawsuit, they say they took considerable privacy measures at Tyler’s mansion, including the erection of a large mesh fence around the property to guard against telephoto lenses. 

But they can’t protect against drones which are being flown ‘a mere 20 feet above the house as often as three times a day’.

Helicopters have also flown over the residence as early as 5.30am and as late as 7pm, the legal papers allege, which had the effect of ‘waking neighbours and their son, day after day’. 

‘Every individual and family member in California is guaranteed by law the right to privacy in their home. No drones, helicopters or telephoto lenses can take away that right,’ said the couple’s lawyer Michael Kump. 

The duke and duchess say they expect to be followed when they go out in public but state that ‘certain paparazzi and enablers have crossed a red line.’

Harry and Meghan’s complaint accuses the paparazzi of ‘intimidation, harassment and the addition of a very real security threat on top of what already exists’.   

The lawsuit filed by Kump said some some media outlets flew helicopters above the home and photographers had even cut holes in their fence to snap pictures.

They said the behavior ‘crossed a red line for any parent’ by shopping pics of their son.

The couple seeks ‘no special treatment’ and is only seeking the right to be left alone in the privacy of their home as guaranteed under the laws of California, the lawsuit stated. 

Harry and Meghan claim they have ‘done everything in their power to stay out of the limelight’ except in relation to their work, which they accept is newsworthy. 

Harry and Meghan’s suit also claims that the photographer trying to sell pictures of their son claimed they were taken in public, in Malibu. 

But the couple have not been to the area, or in public with their son, since moving to LA and say the snapper is simply trying to hide the fact they  have ‘unsolicited photographs of a young child in the privacy of his own home’ which are ‘very much unlawful.’ 

They have also attempted to try and reduce the ‘bounty’ price of Archie photos by sharing pictures of him on social media. 

Because Harry and Meghan do not know who took the pictures, the lawsuit targets unnamed defendants, which allows the couple to pursue anyone selling the images. 

Harry blames press intrusion for the death of his mother Princess Diana in 1997 and last year alleged that Meghan was ‘falling victim to the same powerful forces’. 

Diana died in a high-speed car crash while her chauffeur tried to escape pursuing paparazzi photographers in Paris. 

A statement from Buckingham Palace after the ‘Megxit’ arrangements were finalised in January said that the couple had ‘experienced challenges’ as a result of ‘intense scrutiny’ since they married in 2018. 

Earlier this year the couple announced they were cutting ties with the UK’s most popular newspapers, a move criticised by royal and media commentators. 

The Sussex Royal website says the couple will instead ‘engage with grassroots media organisations and young, up-and-coming journalists’. 

The couple stunned the world in January by announcing they were ‘stepping back as senior members of the royal family’ and would ‘work to become financially independent’. 

After initially setting up camp in Canada, they moved to Meghan’s hometown of Los Angeles and have remained there during the coronavirus crisis. 

The couple relocated to LA in March, but royal expert Victoria Murphy believes they aren’t looking for a ‘totally private life’. The says they stepped back from the royal family to gain more control over ‘what they spend their time on’.

Speaking to Town and Country, the commentator noted that Harry and Meghan still want a public life but with greater control over their time.

[Harry and Meghan] have stepped back not in search of a totally private life but for a different kind of public life,’ Victoria said.  ‘A public life where they can have more control over who gets access to them and what they spend their time on.’

The pair have only been spotted out a handful of times, most recently leaving an appointment in Beverly Hills, as the friend explained the couple is starting to feel ‘cooped up’, leaving Meghan ready to get out of town for her birthday. 

Royal watchers are meanwhile keenly awaiting the publication of a new biography Finding Freedom: Harry, Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family. 

The authors boast the book published next month has been written ‘with the participation of those closest to the couple’. 

Publishers say the book has ‘unique access’ and will ‘reveal unknown details of Harry and Meghan’s life together’.  

Reports claim that Harry and Meghan have spoken to the authors personally, although this has not been confirmed. 

Separately, it was recently revealed that Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland had moved into Tyler Perry’s mega-mansion to help take care of Archie. 

A friend previously told DailyMail.com that Meghan wants to keep her mother close because she is ‘her rock’ and now ‘doesn’t trust many people’ outside of an immediate circle of family and friends. 

Meghan had the full support of her mother when she and Prince Harry quit as senior royals back in January.

When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex dropped the bombshell news that they were quitting, dividing their time between North America and the UK and would work to become financially independent, the royal family and the rest of the world were caught off guard.

However, Meghan reportedly had the backing of her Los Angeles-based mother, who ‘was really worried about Meghan… and is relieved that her daughter is putting her mental health and well being first,’ the insider said.

The friend added: ‘Doria is very much about being true to oneself and so of course she will continue to encourage Meghan to take the road less traveled.’

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