by Dylan Howard
PRAISE FOR DYLAN HOWARD
“Dylan Howard is the rare combination of cutting-edge journalist, true crime commentator, and relentless investigator.”
—Dr. Phil McGraw, host of TV’s #1 daytime talk show, Dr. Phil
“Renowned.”
—Nancy Grace
“A wunderkind Hollywood gossip reporter.”
—Columbia Journalism Review
“Big-name producer.”
—Vanity Fair
“Howard is a throwback to an older age of journalism.”
—Anne Helen Petersen, BuzzFeed
“One of my favorite people in American media.”
—Anthony Scaramucci
“A tabloid prodigy.”
—Jeffrey Toobin, staff writer at the New Yorker, CNN senior legal analyst, and New York Times bestselling author
“The king of Hollywood scoops.”
—Ad Week
“The go-to guy for authoritative showbiz news and analysis on cable and over-the-air television.”
—Los Angeles Press Club
“When Dylan Howard focuses his attention to investigating a case, you can be sure he will uncover sensational new information that we, as readers, viewers, or listeners, will find astonishing.”
—Dr. Drew Pinsky, New York Times bestselling author and TV and radio personality
OTHER BOOKS BY DYLAN HOWARD
Epstein: Dead Men Tell No Tales
Aaron Hernandez’s Killing Fields
Diana: Case Solved
The Last Charles Manson Tapes: Evil Lives Beyond the Grave
Billion Dollar Hollywood Heist
OTHER BOOKS BY ANDY TILLETT
The Last Charles Manson Tapes: Evil Lives Beyond the Grave
Copyright © 2020 by Dylan Howard and Andy Tillett
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.
Cover design by Brian Peterson
ISBN: 978-1-5107-6119-3
eBook ISBN: 978-1-5107-6273-2
Printed in the United States of America
TABLE OF CONTENTS
AUTHOR’S NOTE
PART ONE
THE DIVISIVE DUCHESS
A COMMONER PRINCESS LIKE NONE BEFORE
FORCED TO FLEE
“A BIT OF TENSION”
“DEEPLY HELD DIFFERENCES”
UNHAPPY BIRTHDAY
THE $500,000 WOMAN
GOD BLESS THE CHILD
ZOOMING AROUND THE WORLD
GOING ROGUE
A COSTLY WITHDRAWAL
PART TWO
THE MAKING OF MEGHAN
A TALE OF TWO COMMONERS
CAROLE MEETS HER CAPTAIN
POOR LITTLE CHAP
“I PUSHED HER DOWN THE STAIRS”
CHARLES AND THE SWEET-CHARACTERED GIRL
WASTING AWAY
THE FURIOUS BRIDE
THE HEIR AND THE SPARE
ROYAL AFFAIRS
MISERABLY EVER AFTER
“YOU’LL BE KING, I WON’T!”
THE DEATH OF DIANA
“A TIDAL WAVE OF GRIEF”
CASE CLOSED
PART THREE
ROYAL WELCOME FOR THE OTHER WOMAN
WILLIAM WEATHERS THE STORM
THE REIGN DOWN IN AFRICA
“WOW, KATE’S HOT!”
BETTER STAND BACK
THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT KATE
WAITY KATIE
LEARNING TO FLY
THE SPLIT AND THE REUNION
WILL AND KATE GET HITCHED
THE DIAMOND JUBILEE
ANOTHER PAIR OF HEIRS
THE PRINCE’S PARTNERS IN CRIME
OUT BACK OF THE PUBLIC EYE
DIRTY HARRY
PART FOUR
A STAR IS BORN
MEGHAN: STEPPIN’ OUT
INTELLIGENT HOT MESSES
SOUTHERN SOJOURN, HUSTLE TO HOLLYWOOD
ONE-WOMAN PITY PARTY
“THIS IS THE ONE”
THE RING RETURNED TO SENDER
PART FIVE
WHEN HARRY MET MEGHAN
THIS IS NOT A GAME
“WHAT MEGHAN WANTS, MEGHAN GETS”
TEARS AND TIARAS
THE WEDDING WALK THAT WASN’T
THE POWER OF LOVE
WINDSORS & LOSERS
EPILOGUE
PLATES
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Over the past few centuries, the British monarchy has been sailing onward in a generally stately manner. Impediments—deaths, divorce, and natural disasters—have rocked its course at times, sometimes perilously, but for the most part, there have been only a few really ugly and destabilizing icebergs in its path.
But as 2019 came to an end, a year Elizabeth II, the ninety-four-year-old Queen of the United Kingdom, herself expressed as being somewhat “bumpy”—that’s Royal-speak for what you and I would describe as an absolute nightmare—two ominous clouds heaved into full view of the monarchy’s serene path.
One was the astonishing self-immolation of the Queen’s favorite son, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, as he took to television to present a thoroughly disgraceful defense of his association with the late pedophile and Israeli spy Jeffrey Epstein. The resulting collapse of what was left of his credibility mired the Royals in controversy, but just as that was dying down, in the opening days of the new decade, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex—Prince Harry and Meghan Markle—sensationally announced that they would be “stepping back” from their duties. In other words, they quit the House of Windsor, the reigning royal house of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms, a dynasty founded in 1917.
To underline their new “brand,” the pair launched a glossy website, sussexroyal. com, and announced they would be eschewing their Royal duties and income to become “financially independent” and focus their time on their charity commitments. It certainly is a laudable goal: Harry has done a tremendous amount of sterling work in promoting awareness of mental health issues in young people, among impoverished people in Africa via his Sentebale charity, and in organizing the Invictus Games, a magnificent initiative that encourages young disabled military veterans to participate in an Olympiad, a celebration of the human spirit, endurance, and resilience.
But to many in the country at large, the blame for the schism could be squarely laid at the feet of the Duchess, Meghan Markle. The British media are no strangers to xenophobia and hostility to change. With varying degrees of bile, Meghan, a cipher of progressive modernity, diversity, and social awareness, was seen as being utterly at odds with the staid, traditional, duty-bound structure of the Royal Family. Her perceived control over Harry has been at the root of disagreements with his brother, Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, and their wider network of old friends. And her conflicts with Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, only intensified speculation that Meghan was shaping her marriage and status to fit her needs above all.<
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It was hardly surprising, therefore, that the Royals were incandescent with outrage at the couple’s defection, the Queen said to be “furious.” “They want to become the world’s biggest lifestyle brand,” one Palace insider told me. “If they are allowed to do so, the monarchy as we know it will cease to exist and a new ‘celebritized’ Royal Family is about to take over. They want to have their cake and eat it, too. This is all about money.”
Not since the abdication crisis of 1936, when Edward VII renounced the throne to marry the American divorcée Wallis Simpson, had the monarchy faced a situation of such gravity. It was a crisis that exceeded the near-catastrophic fallout from Diana, Princess of Wales’s death in 1997. The decision of the young couple to extrude themselves from “the Firm,” as the Royals wryly refer to themselves, was a colossal rejection of the values, traditions, and beliefs that have kept the Crown afloat for countless generations. Now, as we watch Harry and Meghan begin the process of establishing themselves as professional ex-Royals in North America, William and Kate have been left in the United Kingdom to be the face of the future Royal Family, as it embarks on an epochal new decade. Unless medical science exerts a hitherto unimaginable miracle, the odds of the incumbent being on the throne in 2030 are remote. Therefore, it will either be Charles or William who will be King a decade hence—and a new dynamic and purpose to the family will be in place.
The relationship between William and Harry and, by extension, Meghan and Kate will be fundamental in this new era. But as we enter 2020, those relationships are at their lowest ebb to date.
“I’ve put my arm around my brother all our lives and I can’t do that anymore; we’re separate entities,” Prince William told a friend. “I’m sad about that. All we can do, and all I can do, is try and support them and hope that the time comes when we’re all singing from the same page. I want everyone to play on the team.”
Royals at War combs through the rich history of the Royal Family from its position and relevance to society today, to its German paternal descent and scandals—and takes an unprecedented look inside a divided Buckingham Palace to provide the definitive account of the current abdication crisis:
• Has Prince Harry ever really recovered from the death of his mother, Diana—and the resentment he feels against the institution that tried to destroy her?
• Why did Meghan, once hailed as a breath of fresh air, rile up the monarchy?
• Why did she refuse to conform to royal conventions in the way that Catherine did before her?
• Did the public and media criticism of Meghan go too far? And just how valid are the accusations of racism?
• How did these modern royals treat the tabloids differently from tradition? And did it backfire?
• How did we get to this and how can the Royals hope to restructure themselves and retake their place in our hearts?
In this book, we will answer what is next for Harry and Meghan. What’s more, how will they—and the institution they’ve turned their backs on—react to their new lives outside the confines of the Palace and free from the strict codes and conventions that bind all members of the Royal Family?
An intimate portrait of a couple trapped in a gilded cage, Royals at War sets out to answer these questions and more to provide you, the reader, a chance to form your own opinion on right- and wrongdoing in this unprecedented crisis, as we reveal how Harry’s infatuation with Meghan began, and how it could yet end in disaster.
—DYLAN HOWARD & ANDY TILLETT
PART ONE
THE DIVISIVE DUCHESS
The Duchess of Sussex tried to live up to expectations on a royal tour of South Africa in September 2019. In Cape Town, she gamely danced with local children on the beach. She gave impassioned speeches for female empowerment and against gender-based violence. She even introduced her adorable infant son, Archie, to South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Surely, even her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana, couldn’t have represented the Crown better.
The royal tour offered a perfect opportunity for the American-born Meghan to begin to rehabilitate her embattled image. It was a chance for the television actress, who made her name playing brash, sultry attorney Rachel Zane on Suits, to prove that she was more Buckingham Palace than Hollywood. But it was always going to be an uphill battle. “When she first started dating [Prince] Harry, she was hailed as the ‘American sweetheart,’ but it didn’t take long for the tide to turn,” a friend of Meghan’s told these authors. “Meghan just couldn’t seem to escape from the negative press that seemed to always surround her.”
Meghan’s honeymoon with the British public began to sour shortly after she and Harry announced in November 2018 that they would be leaving Kensington Palace to move to Frogmore Cottage, an hour outside London. Gossips claimed the move was due to a rift with the future king, Prince William, and his wife, Duchess Kate.
Onlookers noted a coolness between the couples, and insiders whispered that “Duchess Difficult”—Markle—had made her sister-in-law, Kate, cry during a fitting for Princess Charlotte’s bridesmaid dress. The Palace, when it finally commented, called the rumors of a feud overblown, but tellingly they did not deny it entirely. An insider said they’re not without basis. “Meghan and Kate have extremely different outlooks on life. They are far from best friends. There’s still tension between them and a sense of competition,” said the confidante.
“They are civil to each other but don’t have much in common.”
The public seemed to enjoy the royal spat as a sport, with many still supporting Team Meghan—until it came out that it cost British taxpayers some three million pounds to renovate Frogmore Cottage to Meghan’s lavish expectations.
“During the renovations, floor plans and designs changed constantly because Meghan’s such a perfectionist,” noted the friend. “She’s a keen interior designer and worked closely with architects to ensure their new home was built with all the essentials and more. There’s a fully equipped yoga studio, screening room, his and hers walk-in-closets, a huge kitchen—and the nursery is out of this world. Even Archie has a walk-in closet!” (Harry and Meghan, for their part, have denied their renovations were as glam and luxe as reported.)
The pal, who asked not to be identified, added Meghan felt that the old building needed a lot of work: “If she had her way, she would’ve torn down some of the property and started from scratch—but the Queen would’ve gone ballistic.”
Many called it outrageous. “Quite a cottage, that, for a couple. You could build twenty council houses for the amount that has been spent on the royals,” sniffed Kevin Maguire, associate editor of the Daily Mirror, referring to British public housing. “I think they have lost the plot. There is a sense of entitlement, or privilege, in that family.”
The birth of Archie on May 6 should have calmed the brewing storm and been a cause for national celebration—but many were upset by the couple’s refusal to pose for the traditional family photo outside the hospital where their son was born.
Royal commentator Victoria Arbiter called it a missed opportunity for Meghan and Harry to generate some goodwill. “That first photograph has the potential to be incredibly valuable,” she said. “It is when you see royals take control of the narrative. They (effectively) say, ‘We’ll give you this picture, but in exchange you’ve got to leave us alone and respect our privacy.’”
Meghan, however, doesn’t seem to understand the benefits of following tradition. “Meghan refused to conform to royal ways,” another friend told us. “She has a strong personality, and sadly her ideas of modernizing the monarchy have backfired. She has continued to break protocol, time and time and time again.”
In September 2019, for example, Meghan and Harry declined an invitation to visit Queen Elizabeth at Balmoral, the monarch’s summer home in Scotland. Instead, the Duchess traveled solo to New York City to watch her best friend, Serena Williams, play tennis—a move that many viewed as disrespectful to the Queen. Meghan’s choice to leave her infant
son behind also ruffled royal feathers.
“I would have thought twice about leaving my firstborn at home at the tender age of just four months in order to fly 3,500 miles to watch Serena Williams play in the US Open final,” sniped the Daily Mail’s Sarah Vine, who called Meghan’s actions “insensitive” and suggested that the young Royal get her priorities straight. “Serena is no relation. The Queen, by contrast, is baby Archie’s great-grandmother—not to mention being in her ninety-fourth year.”
At least Meghan saved herself a headache by flying on a commercial jet to New York City. She and Prince Harry, who have long expressed their support for environmental causes, suffered a public relations disaster after they traveled via private plane four times in eleven days while on vacation in Spain and on the French Riviera the previous August. Commentators called them hypocritical for not considering how their private flights impacted climate change.
Friends such as music legend Elton John, who provided a plane for their use, tried to defend them. But the storm of negative publicity only grew worse when Prince William, Kate, and the children were spotted boarding a commercial flight to Scotland, en route to a visit with the Queen. (Some sensed a feud-related photo opportunity.)
Harry tried to deflect some of the heat during a speech in Amsterdam. “We can all do better, and while no one is perfect, we all have a responsibility for our own individual impact,” he admitted. “The question is what we do to balance it out.” He announced that he had purchased carbon offsets to soften the damage done by their private flights.
While Meghan tried to ignore the furor, she couldn’t. Over the past year, she’s been harshly judged on everything from her wardrobe choices to the way she holds her infant son. Her decision to guest-edit an issue of British Vogue was called “cheap” and “vulgar” by her blue-blooded detractors. “Everyone thinks Meghan is thick-skinned, but underneath the tough exterior, she’s incredibly hurt by the constant criticism,” a friend explained. “She said she doesn’t read the negative stories written about her, but the reality is she can’t avoid them—they’re everywhere, and she makes front page news on a daily basis. Of course she’s hurt.”