This week, Meghan won the right to keep secret the identities of the five friends who anonymously spoke to People magazine to defend her from what she previously addressed as “bullying”. The judge, Mr Justice Warby, however, warned their names may need to be made public in the future. The most recent development is just one in a string of controversies that Meghan and Harry have found themselves at the centre of.
Last month, day Times serialised extracts of the bombshell book ‘Finding Freedom’ by royal commentators Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand.
Although the writers did not talk to any members of the Royal Family, they claim to have carried out over 100 interviews with close friends of the family and royal insiders.
The biography pits Kate Middleton and Prince William against Meghan and Harry, claiming that the Cambridge’s were “snobs” over the former Suits star’s background.
The revelations have reportedly wedged an already growing gap between Meghan and Harry and the rest of the Royal Family, especially between the two brothers, with one comment from William said to have particularly enraged Harry over Meghan: his warning to “take as much time as you need to get to know this girl”.
The book says Harry reacted furiously to what he perceived as a “condescending” comment.
During their first ever interview with the BBC in 2017, the royal revealed how he had told himself he needed to “up his game” after the “beautiful surprise” he had had – a nod to Meghan’s appearance.
He said: “I’d never even heard of her until this friend said ‘Meghan Markle’ – I was like ‘right OK give me a bit of background.’
“I’d never watched any of Suits. I was beautifully surprised when I walked into that room and saw her.
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“Because if he wasn’t kind it didn’t seem like it would make sense.”
The pair also revealed where and how they had met, as well as how Meghan had coped with a year and a half of royal life.
Following a few initial dates, Harry invited the actress out to Botswana where they spent a week in splendid isolation and got to know each other.
The last time the pair visited the UK was in March where they attended the annual Commonwealth Day celebration at Westminster Abbey with the Queen.
Their absence has been made all the more obvious as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown.
Lockdown has, reports suggest, proved difficult for Harry, who was said to be struggling to adjust to life in LA and the distance between himself and his family.
It transpired that he was finding life in their £14.5million Malibu mansion “a bit challenging”.
According to The Daily Telegraph’s Celia Walden, the royal “cannot believe how his life has been turned upside down”.
She added that he “misses the camaraderie of life in the British forces,” and that he would have been “better protected from recent turmoil in the Army”.
