Prince Harry gave Charles just 20 minutes’ notice before he ‘crushed’ his vital Middle East tour, bombshell book claims
PRINCE Harry gave Charles just 20 minutes’ notice before launching an attack on the media that “crushed” his dad’s vital Middle East tour.
A bombshell biography reveals Harry, 35, knew it would “all but eliminate coverage” of Charles’ diplomatic summit with the King of Bahrain.
⚠️Read our Meghan and Harry blog for the latest news on the Royal couple.
The timing of the November 2016 statement, “much of it drafted by Harry himself”, meant it “dominated the news cycle”.
In it, he lashed out at the media for “racial overtones” in its reporting on Meghan.
Meanwhile, Charles was finishing an important and delicate Middle East tour in Bahrain where the UK has its biggest overseas naval base.
Royal authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand claim: “The team at Clarence House, which had spent months putting together Prince Charles’ tour in the hopes that it would be covered significantly, was crushed.”
Harry’s statement marked his and Meghan’s first major shot across the Royal Family’s bows.
The salvo showed they were determined to break with centuries of protocol to do things their way.
It set the couple on a collision course with courtiers and senior royals. And it paved the way for “Megxit”, when they left royal life this year.
'POISED FOR OUTRIGHT WAR'
Scobie and Durand say the fiery statement came after “sensitive” Harry began to lash out at anyone who “questioned his new relationship”.
The authors, dubbed “cheerleaders” of the couple, write: “He would wonder, ‘Is this about race? Is it snobbery?’
"An old friend of Harry’s spent an afternoon gossiping about Meghan, making disparaging remarks about her Hollywood background.
“Word got back to Harry, and the prince immediately cut him off.
Anguish in private
By Arthur Edwards, Sun royal snapper
PRINCE Charles will never say anything publicly about what is happening with Harry and the rift between his sons — but privately, he will be very upset.
Charles is a very kind, easy-going man. He has been a brilliant father to those boys.
He welcomed Meghan and her mother, Doria, into the family, inviting them for tea at Clarence House, and then of course stepping in to walk Meghan down the aisle.
The timing and contents of this book will not go down well. Charles, like the Queen, never complains.
He didn’t say a word after his divorce from Diana, he just got on with working hard for the country.
He will be concerned about the UK. In the biggest crisis we’ve faced since World War Two, Harry is thousands of miles away moaning.
“If he was willing to confront those close to him, when it came to the media, Harry was poised for an outright war.”
The book, Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family, insists Charles did not mind the impact on his tour.
It claims: “While disappointed that his son didn’t wait for him to come back, Charles also understood that the situation with Meghan had reached a tipping point.”
GOT a story? RING The Sun on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or EMAIL exclusive@the-sun.co.uk