I really didn’t cover much of the dumb drama around Andrew Morton’s 2019 book, Meghan: A Hollywood Princess. Morton has lost his touch in recent years, and there were clearly a million other things going on that year. Morton’s book had the feel of mostly tabloid fiction. Well, his book is being reissued with six new chapters, because Meghan is still big business for the royal industrial complex. The new chapters are being serialized in the Mail on Sunday, which is how you know that Morton is mostly toeing the Windsor line. Truly, when I first glanced though the Mail’s coverage, I thought it was an all-Windsor narrative, especially since he’s still banging on about crying over bridesmaids’ dresses, the story which absolutely will not die. But Morton gave the Sussex Squaders some red meat too.
Mr Morton, who created a publishing sensation in 1992 with Diana: Her True Story, says: ‘Far from abandoning Meghan, the Palace had a team which spent ‘hundreds of hours monitoring social media accounts’ and ‘violent threats were reported to police’;
‘Harry was the ‘prime mover’ in souring relations between the Sussexes and the Royal Family, but it was Meghan who ‘took the hit’;
‘The Duchess of Cambridge’s coolness towards Meghan, and William’s alleged bullying contributed to a devastating ‘Cain and Abel’ fallout between the brothers.
Mr Morton says there was ‘no real rapport’ between Meghan and Kate and there were claims of bullying against William. ‘The Sussexes felt that they had been driven out by the “bullying” attitude of Prince William.’
A Royal source last night firmly denied any bullying by William and insisted the family had done all it could to support Meghan.
Doesn’t it feel like Harry and Meghan have spent the past two years figuring out their lives and doing the work to move on emotionally, financially and physically and the Windsors are still banging their heads against the same wall, wailing about who bullied whom and who cried over the fakakta bridesmaids’ dresses? Jesus Christ, it’s exhausting. And yes, for the love of God, William bullied Harry and Meghan. William is the bully. Breaking news! William has been a contemptuous prick his entire life. He is permanently incandescent with rage.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, WENN and Backgrid.
Duh, everyone with common sense knows this
Morton saying this is…interesting. I suspect reporters are itching to cover the temper of the FFK than price his sister-in-law’s wardrobe.
The tide could be turning…as all the usual Sussex nonsense keeps getting more and more pushback.
It certainly matches the sentiment behind the tweet sent by that financial times reporter saying he can’t wait until they could freely report on William. (Of course later deleted).
They know William is behind a lot of this.
The fact that it was a Financial Times reporter who made that comment, and that FT is a highly respected business and finance periodical, makes me think that there’s some sort of financial chicanery going on that would not only bring down the BRF but the government as well. I can’t wait to find out what.
I don’t understand why they won’t. I know the RRs are invested in protecting the royal family to a certain extent bc they think that’s the long game. I know publishers and the like are scared of the BRF’s lawyers and so on.
But at the end of the day -the real story about what’s going on with William is going to make them all SO much money. A book telling the real story about what happened behind the scenes would be a huge bestseller (except of course it would probably make the royals look bad and completely exonerate H&M, which the british press doesnt want, but lets get over that for a minute.)
I think there is definitely more to what is being hidden than just some affairs. Celebrities having affairs is a well-trodden scandal by this point in time. Even if it would kill some of William’s “family man” image, he just has to talk about marriage counseling and being stronger than ever and people would get over it. It wouldn’t bring down the monarchy.
I don’t understand the hesitation either. I think about back when Diana died–the press had no problem reporting against the queen herself. But this crop of reporters all walk around on egg shells with the entire RF, particularly William. There is so much money to be made for them if they’d tell the truth about what’s really going on.
L84tea- I wonder if the reluctance is because this crop of reporters loves having a hold over the BRF. And enjoys having royal connections.
And is maybe afraid that with the internet, they could be out a job if the BRF decides to shut out RRs.
I also wonder if the stuff going on is just so bad that the reporters are simply scared to be first to break it? Like, everyone wants to talk but nobody wants to be first?
@Becks1 … I was surprised by how much time Robert Lacey spent on William’s temper and rage in “Battle of Brothers” (well, that and Carol Middleton and Kate’s long game campaign to get William).
Lacey went into great detail about how Camilla has reportedly told several people that William stormed over one day and raged at Charles–the Prince of Wales, next in line to the Throne, and his father–yelling and lecturing him on something Charles had done that William didn’t approve of. Camilla was shocked and said it was terrible to witness. Lacey also wrote about William raging at Diana once in that manner, enough to make her cry, and then brought her flowers the next day.
I wonder if Morton goes into some detail about William’s temper as well?
I agree @Becks1, I think it’s more than an affair. It could be that he’s bisexual, and that’s why they don’t write about it as long as the queen lives. I for one thinks it’s something more sinister. Everytime this comes up I wonder what happened to that woman who were found dead in the Kensington Gardens.
I don’t think there’s some big secret scandal at all. Prior to Meghan, the tabloids were happy to rip into the royals. Brits would be all over stories involving how much they cost, affairs, anything remotely negative.
Then the Harry & Meghan issue caused so many issues that if the press had sided with them, there’s a good chance there wouldn’t be a monarchy anymore. The tabloids don’t want to lose their money makers, so they’ve switched to trying to promote them. They’re simply protecting them out of their own self interest.
Maybe Willy has a drug problem and he isn’t just incandescent with rage but gets physical with it
Prior to the first Andrew Morton book on Diana, everything in the book was being highly discussed by the Royal Rota reporters over lunch and/or drinks but not printed per A.N. Wilson.
@GraceB – no. There’s been enough hints over the past few years that there is something big that is being actively covered up by the press. Harry – “if you know what I know.” Tom Bradby – “things were said that cannot be unsaid.” Keir Simmons telling someone at a bar that there was something that could not be discussed. the morning show clip of the person saying that there is something big they cannot discuss for legal reasons. And finally most recently the Times reporter tweeting “god I can’t wait until we can report freely on William” and then deleting it about an hour later. He knew what he was doing with that tweet. We’ve also heard from a few different people that there is a 100% media blackout on William’s affair, the press won’t even discuss the rumor, so no, the British press clearly is not all over anything negative about them. Hell they barely even talk about Andrew.
Even if half those things refer specifically to H&M and Sussexit – Bradby’s quote, Harry’s quote – we still have the other quotes that have nothing to do with Harry and Meghan (the morning show quote I think was specifically about how the public would be more likely to side with H&M if they knew the full story.)
The press was a huge part of the “Harry and Meghan issue” so it wasnt a matter of the press siding with them. They created a large part of the problem so they were unable to fix the “issue.”
No, there is clearly something big that involves William (at least in part) and is being actively covered up by the british press.
I still think they are just biding their time with William. They know that all the real dirt lies with the Keens but they are not ready to pull the trigger yet. They have to milk them for all they are worth first. The editors of these papers know that there are benefits to having the future king as their little bitch, but also know Willie is too volatile to be relied upon, and will soon enough mess up.
Whilst they keep his dirty secrets they own him, once they reveal them he will be free on them, but still have to face the consequences of the public. I just wanna know what else he’s hiding, because it must be way worse than an affair.
Kevin Maguire is a political reporter and he is the one who was on GMB saying that if the public the whole story they would be much more sympathetic to why Harry and Meghan left the family.
But yes, there is something there. We had someone pop in here and say they were a journalist and that William’s issues relate to connections with Russia. Maybe it’s not that, but when the financial times reporter tweets about William it is more than just an affair.
And in other news, water is wet. Yes, William is a bully and has been his entire life. Remember his mother’s nickname for him? Billy the Basher. While he’s an overt bully, Kate is a covert bully, a smug, sneering, passive-aggressive mean girl — small wonder their marriage is on the rocks. If they put half the effort into actually working rather than sh*tting all over the Sussexes via the tabloids they could start to redeem themselves in the public eye, but work is jUsT So hArD!!
He’s got the brains to match his emotional maturity.
Yup, and that’s doesn’t give him much to work with. It’s incredibly difficult to have relationships with an ego and narcissistic tendencies when you are that immature. In addition to being constantly angry and having temper tantrums as well!
Morton is just repeating the story that came out in the Sunday Times the day before the meeting at Sandringham. Nothing new here.
Yes it’s all the same recycled stories for clicks and money. No one has yet to lay it all out. I’m sure we’ll get another book in a few months saying the opposite and round and round we go until Harrys book (which I can’t wait to read.)
“Done all it could to support Meghan”
“Spend hours reporting social media trolls to the police”
The way these people just LIE!
First of all if you are part of a social media team reporting and blocking trolls is part of your job. To pretend that its somehow going above and beyond is ridiculous. Plus, its simply not true because the abuse is still there on their socials for everyone to see.
And since when is denying someone who wanted to be hospitalized for her suïcidal ideation doing all that you can to support someone?
The rewriting of history these people are doing is truly something to witness.
The great thing is none of this is getting traction. Omid got more traction for his book then all the others combined.
They can try to rewrite it all they want but we have Meghan and Harry’s own words. We know how valuable that has been with Diana.
At minimum they could have blocked the trolls from IG but they never did. They focused only on clearing comments about Rose.
And to this day there are still nasty comments there.
@Nic919 … And the ‘source’ didn’t mention which palace was trying to help the Sussexes. There are three Palaces with their own Communications arm. We all now know that all the lies and leaks that started the day after Meghan and Harry returned from their successful Pacific tour came from Kensington, so which Palace was trying to help while Kensington hindered?
“Done all they could do” is meaningless – it could be anywhere from 0% to 100%. The main thing is “what they wanted to do” and Meghan told us that.
Spent hours? reporting to the police? Wow. I’d be far more inclined to believe that statement if they took the most basic BASIC step of removing trolling statements about Meghan from their own social media accounts. They make sure to remove insulting remarks about Kate and the others but not about Meghan, that sends a message — and they know it.
This is classic deflection and gaslighting. Meghan asked for very specific things; eg, she asked to meet with her staff daily. She asked for permission to check into an inpatient facility for her mental health. Her staff reacted to the former by whining, sandbagging, and accusing her of being a bully. The latter request was flat-out refused.
It’s like going to a restaurant, ordering a BLT, and having them bring you a burger. Or a grilled cheese. Or a taco plate. Then, when you complain, having them say, “But we FED you!!” While technically that’s true, it’s apples and oranges (or rather BLTs and burgers). The bottom line is that, while the BRF might have done some nice things for Meghan, they didn’t do what SHE SPECIFICALLY WANTED them to do, even though her wishes seemed more than reasonable by sane people’s standards.
I believe that, prior to marrying, Harry and Meghan discussed at great length the type of work they wanted to do, how much access the media should have, etc. Harry naively thought that, because we was already part of The Firm, he and Meghan would be able to implement their plans with no problem. I can’t imagine how disappointed and disheartened he must feel at his family’s betrayal, and his anger at how they’ve abused the love of his life and mother of his children.
Ha, well at least we’re getting something more than “the royal family is perfect.” Kate was cool towards Meghan and William is a bully. Who here could have predicted that?!?!
Richard Palmer was going crazy last night spouting nonsense about how the whole family was there for the couple but it was their behavior that made things difficult. While is own paper was gleefully reporting that nobody in the family liked the couple and specifically Meghan from 2018-2020. The rewriting of history these people are attempting is so frustrating
Richard Palmer himself has that tweet from a few years ago about how no one in the family supported the Sussexes!
Becks1: well, according to Palmer those tweets were regarding “the couples decision to start a war with the media”. In private the family was apparently very supportive.
Palmer let trolls post every conspiracy theory and tasteless comments about Meghan on his Twitter feed without calling them out. He’s a royal racist hack.
This is curious to me. We all know William is a bully, but with the “Meghan took the hit” language, plus what we now know about the tightsgate crying incident (“the reverse happened”), PLUS we know reporters are dying to report the truth about William…this feels more significant than meets the eye.
What if the allegations of bullying are true, but made against William, not Meghan? I don’t doubt that courtiers were nasty about working with Meghan & unused to doing actual work anyway. But I wouldn’t put it past Jason Knauf to spin the truth about William into a lie about Meghan.
I honestly think that the “bullying” that they are accusing meghan of was done by either william or kate. That is why im happy her lawyers are involved and as soon as 2022 arrives i want them to lay it all out in the open. What actually happened? Who made who cry? What was in those emails and why wasn’t it properly reported in 2018, but instead right before the oprah interview? Putting that investigation in hands of an independent law firm might have been the dumbest (and the best for is) thing they’ve ever done.
Ooh, yes. I’m very curious about what her lawyers will uncover.
Didn’t the staff that Jason named say the rescinded the claim? What if instead of being wholly made up the claims were against William but, just like the tights, KP claimed they bullying claims were against Meghan? Since her lawyers are involved the truth might actually come out. I think this is why they are rebranding away from ‘Kensington’, not just because they want to move but if there is blow back about the bullying claim they will say, well that office no longer exists.
Interesting theories from you all. So of course the claims were rescinded bc who wants to follow through with a bullying claim against the future future king? And in that office, we all know who the biggest bully is/was. So it makes sense that the bullying allegations against Meghan were leaked to make her look like the bully, so that any claims against William wouldn’t carry weight, because it would look like revenge from H&M. Kind of like how even now some diehard cambridge supporters insist that Kate really did cry and Meghan was just trying to cover it up in the oprah interview .
Lizzie, as far as I know, the staffers never officially made claims about Meghan bullying. Jason Knauf (?) made an informal complaint, I think by email? It was all very vague and unofficial, I think deliberately so because it was just an oppo drop and whisper campaign.
American conservatives are powered in part by projection, and I can see Jason doing the same thing.
The dam will break about William at some point, and I am very much looking forward to it.
That’s one of the only constants with narcissists: pure, transparent projection.
So very true!
The Palace team did all they could to protect Meghan online? Whatever….Daily Mail is scraping the bottom of the bullshit barrel. The Sussex’s are major league now and the salty folks are having a conniption fit. Harry and Meghan stated what they needed to during the Oprah interview and moved on. While the Daily Mail continues to act like a psycho ex who can’t get over the fact that they were dumped.
The Mail on Sunday is not going to go deep and expose William as the bully he is. We have to wait for an American source to spill the whole truth. Or Harry, after the Queen is no longer here. Or Meghan, who I am sure will publish her side of the story one day.
Based on weekend Twitter and the DM, it appears folks are shook by the Sussexes NYC visit, their reception and more importantly, the serious people paying attention to their contributions to the conversation.
At some point, even the RR will have no choice but to acknowledge the vast difference between the Sussexes and the Cambridges. All the family dinners in the world cannot bridge the gap between the serious and frivolous.
Please excuse me if this turns out to be thread jacking but five days ago I saw where Google had joined the coalition with Prince Harry’s new charity Travalyst. You can see the announcement on the Travalyst web site. This connection is huge.
The good thing is, the British tabloids can keep going around in circles about what made the Sussexes leave (we all know already) and whether the BRF supported the Sussexes completely bf they left (we know the answer to that too), and it will not matter one whit bc the Sussexes will keep working, being highly visible, and doing great service in the world. H+M will keep making powerful connections and being adorable and setting fashion trends and appearing on massive stages and this will keep going for DECADES. No matter what caused them to go (William mostly w Charles’ help), the Sussexes will keep on thriving and nobody in the BRF or British press can stop that.
Tick tock, William. Driving your brother & his family away so viciously was always going to backfire in the end because you have nothing to offer the press outside of your poor exploited children & your miserable marriage to Kate.
The amount of reporters I’ve seen say that they cannot wait until they’re given permission to talk about William makes me think that he’s enjoyed years of press protection that is likely about to run out.
Let’s see we have “alleged”: violent temper tantrums, extramarital affairs and possibly a love child or two?
The tables are turning and the FFK isn’t equipped to win this war & it’s all his fault.
Oh well.
Who do the reporters have to get permission from to write about William?
Their editors and lawyers I would presume.
Whoever has a vested interest in keeping Charles either from the throne, or on it for a very short time?
The Queen, mostly, who has tacit power over editors of newspapers, who are part of the British state establishment. The Queen is all about family, duty, sacrifice, Crown dignity, etc. But once the Queen passes, and Charles ascends the throne, I assume he will give the press free reign to report William’s shenanigans, as a counter-attack, should William start his smear campaign against Charles and his wish for Camilla to become his queen.
I realized that one of the reasons CB pulls me in with their royal coverage is all the guilt-free schadenfreude to be had here.
@Observer: same!
@Nana, the inconsistency is what bothers/confuses me. If the Queen really had that much control, they never would have let loose on the Charles/Diana mess, Fergie, Harry’s Nazi costume on the front pages — all sorts of stuff over the years. They never used to be so deferential to the BRF.
It seems like right now, the Queen is using every bit of influence and goodwill that she possibly can to protect Andrew, but setting that aside, I don’t understand why they don’t just start covering William honestly.
@Lorelei – they were very deferential for a while before that though. the press knew about Charles and Camilla for YEARS before letting loose with the story. And I think the reason they were given permission to turn on Fergie for some reason. And with Charles/Camilla/Diana – the scandals were headlines by things like the Morton tapes, tampon-gate, Charles’ interview, the Bashir interview, etc. Obviously the press did a lot of digging and made the most of every thing they could, but the royals were also giving them plenty of meat on their own.
But I think what changed is that after Diana’s death, when the queen was so reviled for a hot minute, she pivoted back to being the loving grandmother for the country (maybe it was due to the death of her mother and sister so close together that brought more sympathy to her?) and at this point attacking the queen is basically the same thing as saying you hate the UK or something. So no one is going to go there.
But once she passes, I think the gloves will come off.
In my opinion, that’s what happens when someone clearly has too much time on their hands. They sit around and stress and ruminate over this past event and THAT past event and what does it all mean for them, instead of actually working. The Windsors don’t do a damn thing. Perhaps if their schedules were fuller and they were truly busy working then they wouldn’t have time to sit around and cry about everything they screwed up!
Oh I disagree, Kristin!
The Windsors do plenty but much of it is illegal. We have sex traffickers a plenty, a citizenship & OBE seller, and who could forget using their soft power to sell arms to the Saudis with a few pretty jewels in exchange.
Did we forget using their “charities” as money laundering fronts?
They work but only for their own gain while bleeding the nation dry & upholding a near fascist government.
Good luck, UK. It’s going to be a rough go of it from here onward.
They have their minions to work out the details of the illegal dealings, because then they can deny any knowledge of it if the press finds out.
Well all we need is Piers Morgan to enter the Total Salty Island Meltdown and the circle is complete….Oh Piers where are you?
He arrived today on the DM. No surprises.
I think after TQ dies one of the large continental newspapers, e.g Le Monde or Der Spiegel, might publish some interesting morsels about William & Co and the metaphorical floodgates will open.
@Here4tea . I really hope that time comes sooner rather than later. You’re right it might take a continental newspaper to snitch on William. I hope it happens now.
I think a US paper will do it. They have better libel laws and protections for journalists.
Why does it seem like so many people are waiting until the Queen dies to say and/or do so many things?? She could live for another five+ years…and there’s absolutely NOTHING she can do about it if they publish negative stories about William or anyone else. When the Rose stuff first came up, William’s attorneys used some EU “human rights” law to shut it down, but they’re as good as out of the EU at this point, so that won’t work much longer.
There have been thousands of negative stories about Charles over the years, and it doesn’t matter, he’s still going to be the king. Same with William. What are they all scared of?? 😩
@Lorelei – the only thing I can think of is that they are scared of something so big that it might mean William would not be king. Maybe that’s the panic over Harry and the complete freaking out. There’s a chance that William would be forced to abdicate a la Edward (especially if he has russian ties) and I guess at that point Harry would be regent? It would be very messy.
I know that sounds extreme, but its starting to be the only thing that makes sense. Affairs, living separate lives, potential divorce -none of that would need to be silenced to such an extent like this. Something messy with the foundation and financials? Well we’re seeing with charles it can cause some issues but its not the end of the world. So what’s the difference here?
I am suprised this website has not yet mentioned Andrew’s other legal lawsuit. He sold his property to pay off 9 M because he did not pay off the amount to the owner. Most likely he will use that cash to prepare to settle the other lawsuit he has in the US.
I think all this pettiness from the Cambridge side just really underlines the fact that they live in a very small, controlled, and sheltered world. They only have a limited number of experiences and issues to worry about, so they hyperfocus on those for lack of broader and more meaningful experiences.
I think most royal reporters are on payroll…or would face dire consequences if they reported the truth…but would love for them to spill the beans on William.
And WHAT story about a woman found dead in Kensington gardens??
A woman was found dead in a pond in Kensington Park gardens on 8-29-2020. That’s right by Kensington Palace and yes, how weird. I don’t even see the decedent’s name in any of the news reports?
Omg!
Is that true? Wow. Oh, I mean, how is that important compared the the number of bathrooms in Montecito, CA?
That puts all those „Kate shows up for murdered woman“ under a different light?!
She had no ID on her and has remained “unidentified” since then. No friends or family members came forward to say she was missing, but the police said they didn’t think it was a suspicious death. No post-mortem results have been released and the whole thing seems to have been shoved under a carpet.
Let Kate and Will bang their heads against the wall until all that remains is sediment in their skulls.
William’s one buck tooth is really driving me insane. For the love of God, William, dentistry?
Any of us could have written this as Morton has taken this from Times article around time it was announced they were stepping back. That said they felt driven out by Bill’s bullying & suggested Kate& Bill decided early to put them in their place etc. That’s the article the palace issued a joint denial by William& Harry over. Stuff about Kate being cool with Meghan was reported in Tatler etc too.
Also the same press who were telling us that a senior royal called Meghan degree wife, the nasty names palace staff called her, leaked how she was banned for royal jewel collection etc are now saying the same firm tried to do all they could to protect her?
The racism and hatred on their social media directed toward Meghan was dizzying. The palaces did fcuk-all, they didn’t even bother deleting those comments.
As for a rival court, we don’t have royal courts here, but if the Sussexes are setting up an empire I’m THRILLED they chose to set it up here.
I am irritated that Morton tries to make Tom Markle look like a “victim” in another excerpt. I am glad William is not spared though.
The DM is going full steam ahead. I am glad that some reality checks are being made about the Cambridges and some in the comments section call them out.
I honestly don’t know why anyone would read his lame- ass book, even with that milquetoast anecdote. No ones flea king for his take, especially if he’s putting it in the Fail. They will forever be in the 2018-2020 loop.
William looks like a full blown tyrant in that pic of him with clenched fists. All that’s missing is a large weapon at his side. Something isn’t right with that guy and it’s just getting more and more obvious.
William is a “bully” according to Morton, Lacey and the Times account.
So will the Queen and Buckingham Palace form a team to investigate this accusation.