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Finding Freedom book news – live: Meghan underwent mock kidnapping training before wedding and felt ‘devastated’ over father Thomas Markle
Follow live as we read Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand’s illuminating biography of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex
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Your support makes all the difference.Ever since it was reported that Prince Harry had started dating Suits actor Meghan Markle, the world has been captivated by their relationship. The pair was first romantically linked in 2016, before announcing their engagement in November 2017, marrying at Windsor castle six months later and welcoming their son Archie in May 2019.
However it hasn’t all been smooth sailing, they have also had to cope with significant struggles, dealing with an unprecedented level of intrusion into their lives, navigating racial abuse directed at Meghan and facing rumours of a rift between them and fellow members of the royal family.
On Tuesday 11 August, Finding Freedom, a biography about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, is being published. Written by royal journalists Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, the book documents the reporters’ experience of working in close proximity to the couple.
While a spokesperson for the duke and duchess has told The Independent that they had no involvement in the book – it is “based on the authors’ own experiences” in the royal press corps – it promises insight into their lives, their work, and their decision to step away from royal life, following interviews with over 100 royal insiders.
Here is our report on Finding Freedom as we read the book from start to finish:
Please allow a moment for the live blog to update.
Harry is introduced to the “ugliness of racism”
According to the Finding Freedom authors, when Meghan’s identity as Harry’s rumoured girlfriend was revealed, the Suits star was deemed “fair game” to some British tabloids keen to learn as much as they could about the Californian actor. But it wasn’t just a case of Meghan having to get used to an inordinate level of attention on a daily basis. She also began experiencing racial abuse in the media, the authors recalled.
“Harry was incandescent with rage,” the authors claim. “For the prince, Meghan was his personal introduction to the ugliness of racism.”
Harry did not take racial discrimination or disrespect against Meghan lightly. The authors claim that the prince “immediately cut off” a friend who made “disparaging remarks about her Hollywood background”. A former senior courtier allegedly told the authors that the mass attention on Meghan was making Harry “relive what happened to his mother at the hands of the tabloid press”.
Addressing the public
In a time of turmoil, Harry reached out to his elder brother William for support, the authors state. Meghan reportedly met her future brother-in-law in November 2016, exactly a year before she and Harry would announce their engagement.
Although she may have been worried about how William would perceive her as his younger brother’s new girlfriend, the Duke of Cambridge was reportedly extremely amicable with her, putting her at ease by stating: “I was looking forward to meeting the girl who has put that silly grin on my brother’s face.”
Harry made the decision to issue a public statement about the way the press had been treating Meghan, heading over to the Kensington Press Office to make his request. According to the authors of Finding Freedom, Prince Charles, who was on a tour in the Middle East at the time, found out about the statement 20 minutes before it was released.
The statement called out the “racial undertones” of some of the media coverage of his relationship with Meghan, and criticised the “abuse and harassment” his girlfriend had suffered. “Prince Harry is worried about Ms Markle’s safety and is deeply disappointed that he has not been able to protect her,” it said. “It is not right that a few months into a relationship with him that Ms Markle should be subjected to such a storm.”
Prince William also released a follow-up statement, saying that he “absolutely understands the situation concerning privacy and supports the need for Prince Harry to support those closest to him”.
Dashing through the streets
For their first Christmas as a couple, Meghan was going to fly home to Los Angeles while Harry celebrated with the royals at Sandringham, as is tradition. But before that, they had some time to spare in London together.
One evening when making their way to watch The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in the West End, Meghan and Harry allegedly found themselves stuck in traffic. The couple reportedly “hopped out of the nondescript minivan” they were being driven in and “started to walk briskly” to the theatre, a “brief moment of freedom they hadn’t experienced in a while” as they rushed through the crowds.
However, unbeknownst to them, a photographer saw it all, taking the first photographs of the couple together, the authors write.
The meeting of the duchesses
Having already met Prince William, in January 2017 Meghan reportedly finally met Kate, her future-sister-in-law, for the first time.
Meghan is said to have brought a birthday gift for the Duchess of Cambridge, a Smythson notebook that “helped to break the ice”, while Meghan “cooed” over Princess Charlotte, who was 20 months old at the time.
Although the Duchess of Cambridge “is an extremely guarded person”, a friend told the authors, she reportedly told Meghan that “she was always welcome to contact her if she needed anything”. A welcome friendly gesture from an individual who knew all too well what it was like to be the girlfriend of a member of the royal family.
Enough is enough
While attending the wedding of a close friend of Harry’s in Jamaica in March 2017, he and Meghan were assured they would not be disturbed by members of the public. Just a day after their arrival, a Los Angeles-based photographer was discovered close by.
Harry was reportedly irate the paparazzi had followed them to the resort, a side of Harry that Meghan “had never seen before”.
“Although Meghan had never seen this side of Harry before, she wasn’t put off by it,” the authors state. “Instead, she was sad to see him so affected.”
Voices of concern
Discussions of wedding bells happened early on for the new royal couple, the authors state in Finding Freedom. According to the royal journalists, the couple were discussing their future wedding “as an absolute” by June 2017. And in May that year, Harry had begun looking for a conflict-free diamond for an engagement ring during a trip to Botswana (the same place he took Meghan on their third date).
Harry was reportedly warned by a close friend to “be careful”, as they were worried the royal was “rushing into things”. And even William, who had got on well with Meghan during their first meeting, wished to speak to Harry about his concerns, the book states.
“As William didn’t know a whole lot about Meghan, he just wanted to make sure that Harry wasn’t blindsided by lust,” the authors write. According to sources who spoke to the authors, William told Harry: “Take as much time as you need to get to know this girl,” a phrase Harry allegedly took umbrage with as he felt it demonstrated a “tone of snobbishness”.
Strained relationships
The book claims that tensions were high between Harry and William in the aftermath of their discussion about Meghan, with Harry’s visits to the Cambridges coming to a “virtual halt” by the summer of 2017, according to Scobie and Durand.
Prince Harry and William have never publicly addressed rumours of a rift although, three years later, in January 2020 they issued a joint statement dismissing a “false story” published in a UK newspaper with regards to their relationship. The statement read: ”Despite clear denials, a false story ran in a UK newspaper today speculating about the relationship between The Duke of Sussex and The Duke of Cambridge. For brothers who care so deeply about the issues surrounding mental health, the use of inflammatory language in this way is offensive and potentially harmful.”
However, in the ITV documentary about his and Meghan's royal tour to South Africa, Harry acknowledged that he and William were going down "different paths".
“We don’t see each other as much as we used to because we are so busy but I love him dearly," he said. “The majority of the stuff is created out of nothing but as brothers, you know, you have good days, you have bad days.”
As for the relationship between Meghan and Kate, although the Duchess of Cambridge had offered to be a helping hand to Meghan as she navigated royal life, they allegedly didn’t have much common ground for a friendship, as the former was “shy and quiet” and the latter was “an extrovert”.
Going public
Amid the secrecy and privacy that came with their relationship, in June 2017, Meghan was interviewed by a Vanity Fair reporter about her relationship with Harry, a significant move for a woman who was not technically yet a part of the royal family.
Keen to ensure her “real self” was portrayed, Meghan reportedly asked the photographer, the late Peter Lindberg, to not Photoshop away her freckles.
The cover story was released in September, with Meghan describing herself and Harry as “two people who are really happy and in love”. Despite the fanfare that came with the frenzied lives, they were indeed still just two human beings trying to figure out a relationship.
Walking out hand in hand
In November 2017, Meghan and Harry announced that they were engaged to be married, taking part in a photocall at Kensington Palace to share their news. But the couple actually became engaged a couple of months prior, the authors claim, a secret they kept to themselves and among a few close confidantes. In fact, when Meghan made a surprise appearance alongside Harry at the Invictus Games in Toronto in September 2017, they were already betrothed, according to Finding Freedom.
One UK journalist was given the heads up that Meghan and Harry were going to be appearing together publicly for the first time at the Games, with only 10 minutes to spare before the couple walked out hand in hand to face the world. Despite other moments of their relationship being leaked to the press – their attendance at the wedding in Jamaica and the first photograph of them together to name a few – this moment was expertly orchestrated, according to the authors, and significant considering it took place at an event that Harry cares about so dearly.
Meeting Granny
A positive moment of Harry’s union with Meghan came when his partner met the Queen for the first time. Not only did the monarch’s corgis reportedly demonstrate their affection for Meghan “right away”, but the Queen also chatted with the future Duchess of Sussex for 10 minutes longer than the hour that had been planned. “The Queen, arguably the busiest woman in the country, never ran over schedule,” Scobie and Durand say. “It was a good sign.”
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