Prince Harry was ‘so eager to leave the Royals he initially refused chance to return after a 12 month trial period’
PRINCE Harry was so keen on leaving the Royal Family that he initially wanted to reject the chance to return after 12 months, a new book claims.
The Queen reportedly wanted to offer Harry a trial period, giving him and Meghan the opportunity to return to the fold if they changed their mind.
But the Duke of Sussex was so determined to make a clean break from the Royal Family that he wanted to reject the option of a review after 12 months, The Times reports.
Finding Freedom - which has been serialised in The Times and The Sunday Times - reveals new details about Harry's and Meghan's unhappiness as well as their disagreements with relatives and courtiers.
Harry and Meghan married in May 2018 and announced in January this year that they intended to “step back as ‘senior’ members” of the family.
They also said they wanted to split their time between Britain and North America.
CLEAN BREAK
The 12-month review was suggested so that the couple would know that the door was open for them.
The Queen, 94, made it clear to Harry that he would be able to come back if he wanted to.
But a source said: "He was adamantly opposed to the review process."
Sources say Harry did not want the media to report that there would be a review - which could potentially suggest that the Sussexes could change their minds and come back to the Royal Family.
A source close to the Sussexes said: “Do I rule out them taking on roles for the family in the future? Absolutely not.
"But a full-scale return soon is not likely. That is not down to animosity... they have not yet reached what they were seeking to do.”
The biography also explains how Harry felt that the “old guard” at Buckingham Palace disliked Meghan.
According to the book - which was written by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand - the rift between Harry and his brother William was due to some of the Duke of Cambridge's comments about Meghan.
Prince William is said to have told his brother Harry: “Take as much time as you need to get to know this girl.”
Prince Harry felt that his brother’s remark was “snobbish”, the authors write.
However, despite the tensions between them Harry still asked William to be his best man at his wedding.
Finding Freedom also revealed Prince Harry was the first one to say "I love you", while detailing messages that Meghan sent her estranged father Thomas Markle in the lead up to her wedding.
But despite the incredible level of detail released in the book, a spokesperson for the couple insisted they had not been involved in the book.
When quizzed over whether the couple had given off record interviews, he added: "No, and I think that you can tell from the reporting, my time around the couple is enough for me to know my subjects."
Yet the detailed excerpts also revealed Meghan's heartache over her father before her wedding to Prince Harry - saying she had sent a "barrage" of voicemails and messages to the 76-year-old.
The book stated: "The night before the wedding, she sent her father one last text. He did not reply.
“Sitting in a bath later that night, FaceTiming with a friend, the bride-to-be said she had left her dad a final message, adding: ‘I can’t sit up all night just pressing send’."
It was then claimed in the book that Harry and Meghan got secretly engaged on a trip to Botswana two months before telling the world.
The biography also claims that Meghan had told a friend that she "gave up" her entire life for the Royal Family. She is said to have added: "I was willing to do whatever it takes."
Insiders claim that the Queen will be most affected by the new book.
Speaking to a source close to the royal family said: “It's going to open old wounds at a time when everyone wanted to move on.
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“I think the person who will be most upset about it all is the Queen.”
Finding Freedom is set to be released on August 11, but is already among the bestselling books on Amazon.