Fox News Flash top entertainment headlines 4/21
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Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle "were really stunned" after the royal family "shut the door" following their decision to step back from "The Firm."
The claim was made by a former adviser to former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown, who has written a new book about the British royal family coming out on April 26 titled "The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor – the Truth and the Turmoil."
The bombshell book explores "the scandals, love affairs, power plays and betrayals" that have rocked the royals during the last 20 years. It promises to feature new revelations based on Brown’s access to palace insiders.
The bestselling author previously wrote a biography on the Princess of Wales titled "The Diana Chronicles," which was published in 2007.
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In 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they were stepping back as senior members of the British royal family. (Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images)
One source alleged to Brown that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were expecting a different response when they decided to launch what the press described as "Megxit."
"They thought… it would force the royal family to respond by saying… ‘OK, Harry and Meghan, what do you want? We’re going to give you what you want,'" Brown quoted an insider. However, the royal family decided to "shut the door," to the couple’s surprise.
One royal aide alleged that the couple had a "mutual addiction to drama" that stemmed from the lead-up to their May 2018 wedding that, on the surface, seemed like a fairytale ending for the former American actress and British prince.
"Palace sources report that the preparation for the Sussex union was all drama, all the time," Brown wrote in her book. "Meghan’s MO was seen as revving up Harry when she sensed any obstruction."
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Tina Brown has previously written a book about Prince Harry's mother, Princess Diana. (Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)
In her book, Brown explored how Markle allegedly had a dispute with Angela Kelly, the queen’s dresser and one of her closest confidantes, over which tiara the 40-year-year-old would wear on her wedding day. That alleged spat led to Harry, 37, declaring, "Whatever Meghan wants, Meghan gets."
Brown also wrote about Markle’s dispute with her sister-in-law Kate Middleton over tights for the flower girls. Reports alleged that Middleton was left in tears. However, Markle told Oprah Winfrey during her televised tell-all in March 2021 that it was the Duchess of Cambridge who made her cry.
"[There] was a lot of raging," a palace source alleged. "In-person shouting in front of other members of staff, basically in front of too many people, which is why it all started to come out."
And there were concerns long before Harry proposed to the former "Suits" star after a whirlwind romance. While Harry’s father, Prince Charles, was "charmed by Meghan in their first encounter" during lunch at his Highgrove residence, the Duke of Sussex’s older brother, Prince William, was worried Markle would be giving up everything she’s ever known in America and move to a country where she had "little understanding of British culture."
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Prince William was allegedly wary of Prince Harry's whirlwind romance with the former American actress. (Eddie Mulholland - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Charles, who bonded with Markle over his "homegrown Charlotte potatoes and Hapil strawberries," wasn’t fazed by what appeared to be a welcome addition to the family.
"It wasn’t hard for Charles to be delighted by a beautiful woman who seemed fascinated by everything he had to say," one source alleged.
But in William’s case, he allegedly told his father that his younger brother’s obsession with Markle was "like something I have never seen."
"Every time his brother fell in love, it was an eruption of Vesuvius," Brown wrote. "‘You do realize this is the fourth girl you’ve taken to Botswana,’ he couldn’t help remarking after Harry’s starry-eyed account of the trip."
The Duchess of Sussex has previously denied allegations of bullying. (Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images)
Brown added that William "was nervous about the speed at which this was going down."
Markle attempted to hit the ground running as a member of the royal family, but not everyone was cheering her on.
"Even before the engagement, she seemed to think that everyone in the shared office of William, Kate and Harry was now hers to call in," Brown wrote. "What the palace saw as her willful blindness to institutional culture was a direct clash with Meghan’s worldview."
"Harry, who had always chafed at the hierarchy himself, was the last person to tell her to slow down," Brown continued. "They were both now drunk on a shared fantasy of being the instruments of global transformation, who once married, would operate in the celebrity stratosphere once inhabited by Princess Diana."
Depending on the source, one duchess made the other shed tears. (Getty)
Brown alleged that William and his wife Middleton were "shocked by the way Meghan treated their shared employees."
"A typically uncomfortable incident had taken place during the rollout of the wedding plans when I was told Meghan yelled at a junior employee who held an announcement back because it clashed with something scheduled with the household of another senior royal," Brown wrote.
A palace insider refused to label the alleged incident "bullying behavior." However, the source shared that "I’ve certainly never heard of a member of the royal family talking like that to a member of the staff."
It's also noted that Markle has previously denied allegations of bullying, which were made to the U.K. Times just days before the couple's interview with Winfrey was set to air.
"The Duchess is saddened by this latest attack on her character, particularly as someone who has been the target of bullying herself and is deeply committed to supporting those who have experienced pain and trauma," a spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said in a statement sent to Fox News Digital at the time.
"She is determined to continue her work building compassion around the world and will keep striving to set an example for doing what is right and doing what is good," the statement added.
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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex now reside in California with their two children. (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
A palace spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment concerning Brown’s book. However, a spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital that the palace doesn’t generally comment "on such books." A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex also didn’t immediately reply to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Markle became the Duchess of Sussex when she married Harry at Windsor Castle. The couple welcomed a son named Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor in 2019.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s departures from royal duties began in 2020 over what they described as the British media’s intrusions and racist attitudes toward the duchess. The family now resides in the coastal city of Montecito, California.
In the wake of quitting royal duties, they gave an explosive TV interview to Winfrey, 68, in March 2021, in which the couple described painful comments about how dark Archie’s skin might be before his birth. The duchess talked about the intense isolation she felt inside the royal family that led her to contemplate suicide.
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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex sat down with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021 for a televised interview that was viewed by nearly 50 million people globally. (Harpo Productions/Photographer: Joe Pugliese.)
Buckingham Palace said the allegations of racism made by the couple were "concerning" and would be addressed privately.
On June 4 of that year, the couple welcomed their second child, a daughter named Lilibet "Lili" Diana Mountbatten-Windsor. The child is eighth in line to the British throne.
The name pays tribute to both Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, whose family nickname is Lilibet, and his late mother, Princess Diana.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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