Meghan’s claim she was not prepared for royal life branded ‘total lie’ by palace sources

Meghan and Harry both criticised the palace for failing to support her in the lead-up to their 2018 wedding – but insiders have now hit back.

Meghan Markle’s claim that she was not prepared for royal life has been dismissed as a “total lie” by palace insiders.

The Duchess of Sussex told viewers in Netflix’s Harry & Meghan docuseries that she was given no advice or instructions on what to do upon entering the centuries-old institution, and was left to figure it out for herself.

“Joining this family, I knew that there was a protocol for how things were done, and do you remember that old movie, The Princess Diaries, with Anne Hathaway?” Meghan said.

“There’s no class and some person who goes, ‘Sit like this, cross your legs like this, use a fork, don’t do this, curtsy then, wear this kind of hat.’ Doesn’t happen. I never saw pictures or videos of a walkabout.”

Harry then added that the lack of support for his then-fiancee was “ridiculous”.

The couple criticised the lack of support for Meghan when she entered the royal family. Picture: Netflix

However, insiders have now hit back, describing how, in the months leading up to the royal wedding in 2018, the former Suits actor was given a “30-point dossier” by Harry’s then-private secretary, Ed Lane Fox, filled with information and contacts to help with the monumental life transition.

“There was prep for everything, walkabouts – even though she was engaged to someone who’d done hundreds of them – clothes, everything. The level of support was intense,” a palace source told The Sunday Times.

According to the insider, Mr Fox’s advice covered everything – from what to wear, the monarchy itself, the constitution, the royal family’s heads of departments and how to handle public life as a royal.

“It was huge, the amount of work [Mr Fox] put into getting her access to anyone and he gave her books on the stuff,” they continued.

Meghan with Harry and the late Queen, a month after the royal wedding. Picture: John Stillwell/AFP

It’s just the latest claim made by the Sussexes that’s been refuted in the wake of their bombshell Netflix series.

Meghan’s niece’s wedding invitation

Palace aides have rubbished Meghan’s claims that she was told not to invite her niece to the royal wedding in 2018, dismissing them as “complete lies”.

In the Netflix docuseries, the first half of which was released last Thursday, Meghan told viewers that Ashleigh Hale – the daughter of her half-sister, Samantha Markle – was like a “little sister” to her.

Meghan and Ashleigh. Picture: Netflix

However, according to her, Kensington Palace’s press office told her she should not be among the guests, as her mother had issued repeated public criticisms of Meghan in the lead-up to the big day.

“They just couldn’t wrap their head around it and I have compassion for it,” Meghan told Netflix viewers.

“How do we explain that this half-sister isn’t invited to the wedding, but that the half-sister’s daughter is?

“And so, with Ashleigh, the guidance at the time was to not have her come to our wedding.

“I called her and I had her on speakerphone and we talked her through what guidance we were being given and why this assessment was made and … that’s painful.”

The ‘orchestrated reality’ engagement interview

Meghan Markle scoffed at the memory of her and Harry’s 2017 royal engagement interview in episode three of the couple’s Netflix docuseries.

Episode three begins with a flashback to Meghan and Harry’s memorable first TV appearance, which Meghan called an “orchestrated reality show,” revealing that from their adorable photo shoot to sit down chat, everything about the announcement was “rehearsed”.

From the get-go, Meghan says, they “weren’t allowed” to tell their true story when faced with questions about their relationship and Meghan’s family.

The ‘orchestrated reality show’.

However, the journalist responsible for the interview, Mishal Husain, later spoke up to refute Meghan’s claims. Husain was hand-picked by the royal couple to conduct their first joint TV interview.

Speaking to BBC 4’s Today, Husain said: “We know recollections may vary on this particular subject, but my recollection is definitely very much – asked to do an interview and do said interview.”

‘Fake’ and ‘misleading’ trailer photos

Before the series even premiered last week, attention swiftly turned to a series of “misleading” photos used in the trailer, with multiple moments revealed to have been taken from entirely different events.

One of the images to be called out was a photo that showed Harry being hounded by British press.

A photo used in Harry and Meghan trailer is a picture of Prince Harry and Chelsy Davy at Heathrow in 2007. Picture: Netflix

The shot is actually a cropped 2007 photo of the Duke of Sussex with his ex-girlfriend of seven years, Chelsy Davy, despite the documentary being about his relationship with Meghan, 41.

In the original photo, the Prince is seen with his arm around Davy as he protects her from a media scrum at Heathrow Airport.

Another photo in the trailer showed a paparazzi pack, presumably at the ready to photograph the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, was actually taken at the Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part Two premiere in 2011.

A clip used in the docuseries to show press hounding the couple is actually from the Harry Potter premiere in 2011. Picture: Netflix

Meanwhile, a journalist hit out at the Sussexes and Netflix after a photo of Meghan and Harry with a then-baby Archie was made to look “intrusive”.

This photograph used by @Netflix and Harry and Meghan to suggest intrusion by the press is a complete travesty. It was taken from a accredited pool at Archbishop Tutu’s residence in Cape Town. Only 3 people were in the accredited position. H & M agreed the position. I was there. pic.twitter.com/nvjznlloLF

— Robert Jobson (@theroyaleditor) December 5, 2022

The photo in question was taken during Meghan and Harry’s infamous royal tour of South Africa in late 2019, and appears to show the royal trio during a private moment at Archbishop Tutu’s residence in Cape Town, as a camera lens cuts a seemingly imposing figure in the left corner.

Evening Standard royal editor Robert Jobson took to Twitter to dub the use of the photo “a complete travesty”, saying the moment was from an accredited, pre-approved photography pool.