Prince William reportedly refused to meet his brother Prince Harry for lunch before a family gathering at Sandringham during which the Royal Family was set to decide the future of Sussexes in light of the Megxit announcement, Robert Lacey claims in his upcoming book that is currently being serialised by the Daily Mail.
“William maintained his distance for the Sandringham summit. The Queen had suggested the family should gather for lunch before their big pow-wow in the library that afternoon, but he refused his grandmother’s invitation,” the respected royal biographer alleged.
“He would obviously turn up at 2pm for the meeting, he said, but he only wanted to talk business.”
According to Lacey - who has worked as a consultant on Netflix’s series The Crown, and written a number of biographies of the Queen - the 38-year-old Duke of Cambridge did not directly confirm speculations raised by his friends that “he was so furious with his younger brother that he would not be able to endure the hypocrisy of smiling at him over lunch.”
However, the author maintains, the Sussexes' decision to step down from their senior royal positions which they announced in January, reportedly without consulting the family, has put the relationship between two brothers under strain.
“It was a pity that William was now so angry that he was not speaking to [Harry] anymore. It was as if Harry had become un-brothered,” the writer claims.
He also argues that the Sussexes had been “non-personed” by the Queen, citing the fact that no photo of Prince Harry, Meghan Markle or their son Archie who was then six months old, could be seen on Her Majesty's Christmas desk during her televised Christmas address in December.
“The reasons for this very public signal of Her Majesty’s displeasure were, by December 2019, manifold,” the author suggests.
The displeasure allegedly arose when Harry and Meghan applied to “trademark” Sussex Royal products and services, such as personal therapy sessions, in June 2019 without the Queen’s approval, as well as their decision to launch lawsuits against British publishing giants last autumn.
“Once again Harry had totally failed to consult the Queen about a major initiative affecting his royal work and image — and the image of the Crown as a whole,” Lacey believes.
Another Bombshell Memoire
The excerpts from this upcoming book ‘Battle of Brothers: William, Harry and the Inside Story of a Family in Tumult’ which digs into the relationship between the two Windsor brothers after the Megxit announcement comes shortly after another royal biography ‘Finding Freedom’, which tells the story of Harry and Meghan's relationship, their wedding and decision to leave the royal circle to live a “financially independent” life. It was published this August and co-authored by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand.
It alleges that Prince William urged his younger brother back in April 2017 “to take as much time as you need to get to know [Meghan Markle]” before rushing into anything serious - the conversation which apparently alienated the two brothers.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are at present living in Los Angeles with their son Archie. According to reports, the couple have just signed a hundred-billion-dollar deal with Netflix to produce an array of documentaries, feature films and a number of shows for the streaming giant.