Prince Harry ‘vented’ about William and ‘poured out resentments’ about his father Charles to his actress ex-girlfriend Cressida Bonas so much that she asked MI6 to recommend a therapist for the duke, a bombshell new book sensationally claims.
Tina Brown, the author of The Palace Papers: Inside The House Of Windsor – The Truth And The Turmoil, says the Duke of Sussex grew ‘angry’ as he felt his brother was ‘hogging the best briefs’ around a decade ago – and when he wasn’t obsessing over William would moan about the Prince of Wales.
She claims ‘friction between the brothers escalated’ so much after William became patron of the rhino and elephant charity the Tusk Trust in 2015 that the pair had ‘Olympic rows’ – and quotes a friend of the siblings as calling Harry a ‘very, very angry man’.
The royal expert also claims Harry’s ex-girlfriend Cressida grew ‘tiresome’ of his complaints about his family while they dated between 2012 and 2014, and was apparently the first person to persuade the Queen’s grandson to see a therapist – even taking advice from MI6 to find the right person.
After their relationship broke down, Harry wrote the old flame ‘a sweet letter saying ‘I admire you, I wish you well and above all thank you for helping me to address my demons and seek help”, Mrs Brown claims, quoting one of her contacts.
Cressie is said to have also found his resentment towards the Press ‘trying’ – and that while reports played-up the romantic love affair, the ‘bizarre reality of date nights was glumly eating takeaway and watching Netflix at Nottingham Cottage, Harry’s none-too-tidy two-bedroom grace-and-favour bachelor pad in the grounds of Kensington Palace’, Mrs Brown writes.
The tension between Harry and William existed years before Meghan Markle burst onto the scene, Mrs Brown claims. However, her arrival changed ‘everything’ in Harry’s life, and she suggests the pair became ‘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’.
The bombshell allegations come after Harry sparked a fresh row with the Royal Family this week by claiming in an interview with NBC’s Today show that he is ‘protecting’ the elderly monarch and is making sure she has the ‘right people around her’.
Experts branded the comments a ‘gross insult’ to Charles and William, and point out that his and Meghan’s top secret ‘olive branch’ meeting with the Queen at Windsor Castle before the Invictus Games was the first time Harry had seen his grandmother in two years.
Mrs Brown has also claimed that Harry and Meghan are ‘addicted to drama’ – and says one day the duke will ‘wake up’ and realise he’s living in Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop.
Speaking to the Telegraph, the expert said the pair can’t stop creating dramatic scenes wherever they go – claiming they appeared to be ‘addicted to drama’. And she warned the duke appears to have been ‘completely and utterly taken over by Meghan and his whole personality has changed’.
‘I do question how it will end. ‘[Maybe] he’ll wake up and realise he’s living in Goop and he has to get the hell out, go down the pub and see his friends,’ she added.
The Royal Family was this week left reeling when Harry, who met with British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace in The Hague today, appeared to issue a veiled warning to those closest to the Queen when interviewed by a US network, saying he wanted to make sure his grandmother was ‘protected’ and had ‘the right people around her’.
The duke did not elaborate on whether he was referring to royal aides or members of his own family, but his comments may have deepened his rift with his father the Prince of Wales and his brother William and perplexed palace officials.
Harry also risked further fuelling the rift with his estranged older brother by stating that their late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, was now watching over him from beyond the grave as ‘she’s done her bit’ with William and his family.
In an NBC TV appearance, Harry also opened up on his ‘special’ relationship with his grandmother, and his very public claim that she confides in him things she cannot talk to anyone else about.
And in a barbed comment, he said of his visit: ‘I’m just making sure that she’s protected and got the right people around her’.
Harry also said his grandmother needs extra protection in comments that threatened to undermine her birthday and a row over security that could overshadow her historic Platinum Jubilee.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge dodged an awkward question about the Duke of Sussex ‘s claim he came to Britain last week to ensure the Queen is ‘protected’.
Charles is said to be at the end of his tether with his youngest son as palace staff who cared for Her Majesty throughout the pandemic accused the Duke of Sussex of ‘breathtaking arrogance’.
Her Majesty is celebrating her birthday with her typical lack of fuss today – and tributes have poured in from her family including William and Kate.
To mark the occasion, a glorious photograph has been released of Her Majesty standing with two of her own favourite fell ponies, Bybeck Nightingale and Bybeck Katie.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge shared a picture of them with the Queen, and one with the monarch’s great-grandchildren, and said on Instagram: ‘Wishing Her Majesty The Queen a very happy 96th birthday today! An inspiration to so many across the UK, the Commonwealth and the world, it’s particularly special to be celebrating in this Platinum Jubilee year’.
Prince Charles shared a series of images of his smiling mother through her life – as well as with him and his wife Camilla – with the caption: ‘Wishing Her Majesty The Queen a particularly special 96th birthday today, as we celebrate her Platinum Jubilee year’.
Harry’s decision to acrimoniously quit as a working royal and spend the last two years making a string of damning accusations against his family from across the Atlantic in California is understood to have caused the Queen great heartache because she is known to adore him.
Despite speaking to US network NBC to boast about his special bond with the monarch – and how he makes her laugh – Harry still refused to commit to attending her Jubilee celebrations.
He again blamed ‘security issues’ for being unwilling to commit to him, Meghan, Archie, two, and Lilibet, 10 months, joining Her Majesty and the rest of his British family to mark the Queen’s 70 years on the throne.
Harry and Meghan made a secret visit to Windsor last week before the Invictus Games but in his High Court battle with the Government he has said he ‘does not feel safe’ in the UK.
Former royal bodyguards have insisted that when with the Royal Family or on royal property, the Sussexes would be fully protected by armed police.
It comes amid claims that Harry might come back to the UK with his children for the Queen’s Jubilee after being ‘reassured’ about arrangements for their security.
Sources have told the Daily Mail that the prince appeared mollified at the plans put in place when he and Meghan visited the Queen at Windsor last week.
The couple brought over their own private bodyguards from the US but stayed on the Queen’s Windsor estate and received a Special Escort Group (SEG) detail when travelling outside.
The SEG provides mobile armed protection to both royals and government ministers. This ‘hybrid’ model is now likely to be offered to Harry, Meghan and children, Archie, two, and, Lilibet, ten months, when visiting. It would be funded by taxpayers as the Home Office have made clear that they cannot agree private financial arrangements with anyone receiving Met Police security.
Harry is taking legal action against the Home Office after being stripped of armed police protection. He says he does not feel safe under current security arrangements bringing his family to the UK and has offered to pay for British police bodyguards himself.
The duke’s barrister, Shaheed Fatima QC, previously told the High Court that Harry considers the UK ‘is and always will be his home’ and says he is keen to return to visit family and friends – although the prince this week said in a TV interview that home ‘is in the States’.
A well-placed source told the Mail: ‘Harry was fairly pleased with the way the operation worked [when he and Meghan came to Windsor] and the liaison between his security team and the Met. He believes it means a workable solution can be found, allowing him to come over with his children as early as the Platinum Jubilee.’
The source said they believed Harry would now row back from his legal action.
Whether this means his family will be seen on the balcony at Buckingham Palace alongside the Queen over the jubilee weekend remains to be seen.
Yesterday Harry rubbed shoulders with the King of the Netherlands on the last day of his Invictus Games in The Hague.
It also emerged that the former party prince enjoyed a pint of Guinness in an Irish pub the night before – before switching to lemonade.
John Gulay, 51, owner of O’Casey’s Irish Pub, recalled the now meditation-loving prince said: ‘One pint, that’s it’ and ‘I stick to one pint and then I’ll move to lemonade.’
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