Meghan Markle and Prince Harry had a "tense" phone call with the Queen and Prince Charles over Thomas Markle, a royal biographer has claimed.
Before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped down as senior royals, Meghan was reportedly urged by both Charles and Her Majesty to reconcile with her father. The phone call allegedly took place in 2018 after Meghan's estranged dad had made a slew of embarrassing TV appearances discussing the royals.
Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, were at the Castle of Mey, former home of the Queen Mother, in July when the call took place, according to biographer Tom Bower. It's reported Charles "berated" Harry over his wife's decision to not visit Thomas Markle and repair the broken relationship, writes the Mirror.
In Tom Bower's book Revenge: Meghan and Harry and the War Between the Windsors, he reveals Meghan’s excuses irritated Charles and "perhaps also the Queen". The Queen allegedly joined Charles in a conference call with Meghan and Harry and at the outset, the Prince of Wales and his mother urged the Duchess of Sussex to fly to the US for a reconciliation, The Times reports.
Meghan allegedly rejected the suggestion, saying: “It was completely unrealistic to think I could fly discreetly to Mexico, arrive unannounced at his doorstep - as I had no means of secure communication with my father - to a location and residence I had never visited or known, in a small border town.
"And somehow hope to speak privately to my father without causing a frenzy of media attention and intrusion that could bring more embarrassment to the royal family.”
The book continued adding the called ended with both senior royals "perplexed". “I was especially sensitive to this as I had very recently married into the family and was eager to please them," Meghan later admitted, according to Bowers.
In turn, Harry allegedly fretted that Meghan needed protection. He reportedly sympathised with her resentment of Buckingham Palace’s keen sense of deference and hierarchy.
“They fundamentally don’t understand,” Meghan said during her visit to Castle Mey, the book claims. Mr Bower alleges Meghan was angry that Palace officials refused to protect her image and refused to accept that staff were not employed to promote her as an individual, but instead placed her in the grid of the Royal Family.
In his book, he wrote: "Meghan seemed isolated, vulnerable and stifled by convention. Apparently unwilling to accept that, unlike Hollywood, no one was counting the box office receipts of the crowds she attracted, she was waging a struggle for which she was not suited.
"Scornful of the Palace’s explanation that attacking the media would rebound on her, she adopted Hollywood’s rulebook and took the initiative. No other member of the royal family had suffered as much embarrassment from their own family as Meghan.
"There was some equivalence in Meghan’s contempt for her half-siblings, Samantha and Thomas, and now Harry’s for Kate and William, in particular. The Cambridges, she believed, were failing to offer the recognition and generosity she deserved.
"She hated the comparisons with uncomplaining Kate. Effortlessly, the Cambridges appeared to be perfect. Meghan appeared to be influenced by envy of Kate. In turn, the future queen regarded her neighbour as dismissive.
"Kate, complained Meghan, did not have to live with the latest irritating revelation, such as the Urban Dictionary’s newly published definition of 'Being Meghan Markled': a 'verb for ghosting or disposing of people once you have no use or benefit from them anymore, without regard to genuine human relationship'.
"Seemingly stung by the criticism, Meghan forgot an actress’s cardinal rule: pose with humility, even if it is false. Despite being raised in Hollywood’s studios to work with others, Meghan became increasingly fragile, demanding that the Palace staff view the world from her perspective. In self-defence she demanded retaliation against her critics."
Since then the Sussexes' relationship with their Royal coutnerparts went downhill, Bowers claims. This left Prince Harry apparently "fuming" after the Queen's Christmas Day address in 2019 which saw four silver-framed family photographer carefully placed behind her.
These frames showed the Queen’s father George VI, Prince Philip, Charles and Camilla, and finally William and his family. To Harry’s fury, there was no photograph of himself, Meghan and Archie - which many saw as the Windsors' airbrushing the Sussexes from history.
Get the latest celebrity gossip and telly news sent straight to your inbox. Sign up to our weekly Showbiz newsletter here .
READ NEXT:
- Women’s Aid in talks with Love Island bosses over ‘controlling behaviour’ in villa
- Calvin Harris drinks 'tremendous' raw sheep's milk from his Ibiza farm
- Love Island star Luca Bish's family apologise to fans over his treatment of Gemma Owen
- David Beckham goes shirtless as he enjoys beers with son Cruz on Croatian holiday
- Helen Skelton struggling with 'working mum guilt' amid 'craziness' of raising three kids
