Prince William ‘will be unhappy’ Prince Harry is ‘exploiting Princess Diana’s status’ as Meghan’s sister releases bombshell book
Meghan Markle braces for barrage of criticism from her sister as royal expert says Prince William will be concerned about how his brother is using Diana’s image.
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Meghan Markle is set to be rocked by a bombshell memoir penned by her outspoken sister.
Samantha Markle’s book, The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister Part 1, is out in the US on Friday.
The 330-page work promises to tell the “hidden truths about her family, as a royal fairy plummets from the tea towels”.
It also says “things are not always as they seem” and “truth is stranger than fiction”.
Samantha, 56, is the eldest daughter of Thomas Markle, 76. She has been a vocal critic of Meghan, once calling her “a shallow social climber” with “a soft spot for gingers”.
Meghan, 39, has slammed the claims as “absurd” and said her half-sister hardly knows her, according to The Sun.
The memoir has been in the pipeline for four years and Meghan was said to have been “in tears” when she first heard her half-sister was writing it.
“The book may never be on sale in Britain because of our tighter libel laws but it will be all over the internet,” one insider said.
Samantha, a former model and actress, has not spoken to Meghan for years and has accused her of abandoning their father.
Meghan will face him in the High Court after one of her letters to him was published in the press.
It comes five months after the book Finding Freedom was released — which both Meghan and hubby Prince Harry, 36, deny involvement with.
HARRY UPSETS WILLS WITH DIANA ‘EXPLOIT’
Prince William “will be unhappy” that Prince Harry appears to be “exploiting Princess Diana’s status” on the new Archewell website, a royal expert has claimed.
On New Year’s Eve, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who quit the Royal Family in January 2020, unveiled the full site for their non-profit foundation as they called for “compassion”.
On the website, the couple shared childhood pictures of themselves with their mothers alongside a letter to 2021 in which the Duke described himself as “my mother’s son”.
Royal expert Phil Dampier said Prince William will be concerned about how his brother uses Princess Diana’s image.
“I think William will be slightly worried if Harry uses Diana for any of his charitable or commercial ventures without consulting him, and I don’t think he would be happy if Harry appears to be exploiting his mother’s iconic status,” Dampier told The Mail.
“It’s also very significant that Harry called himself his ‘mother’s son’ but has made no mention of Prince Charles. William is very much following now in his father’s footsteps with his environmental and conservation work.”
But Dampier said Prince Harry probably made a deliberate decision to not mention dad Prince Charles, being mindful of Meghan’s fractured relationship with her estranged father Thomas Markle.
“I suspect that part of the reason for the emphasis on mothers is that Meghan is so close to her mother and of course is estranged from her father, so perhaps Harry is thinking of her when he concentrates only on Diana.”
Dampier told The Sun that Harry and William will put on a “united front” when the new Princess Diana statue is unveiled at Kensington Palace in July.
Meanwhile, Prince Harry’s much-hyped Apple TV+ series has all but flamed despite being in the works for more than two years.
The mental health documentary serial was due to be released last autumn with Harry, 36, working alongside Oprah Winfrey, 66.
Several delays mean it is now not expected to arrive until later in 2021 at the earliest, The Sun reported – but there is still no firm release date.
COVID restrictions and Harry’s exit from the Royal Family and move to the US with Meghan have slammed the production schedule.
The postponement was kept under wraps as “delays never look good”, one production insider said.
A Sussex Royal Instagram post said in 2019: “We are excited to announce The Duke of Sussex and Oprah Winfrey are partners, co-creators and executive producers on their forthcoming mental health series launching on Apple in 2020.”
Harry and Meghan have launched a podcast and signed a deal to make TV series, films and kids’ shows for Netflix.
WHY QUEEN BANNED HARRY FROM WREATH CEREMONY
“Two seconds” is reportedly how long it took the Queen to turn down a request from Prince Harry to be allowed to be involved in a special wreath laying ceremony.
She banned Harry from the Cenotaph wreath ceremony on Remembrance Day.
Harry, 36, told Buckingham Palace he wanted a wreath to be laid, but his request was refused.
It was initially thought the request was flat out denied by palace officials and that the Queen never even knew of it.
But the Daily Mail reports that the Queen made the decision herself – taking “all of two seconds”.
Rejected by the Palace, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle resorted to laying a wreath at the Los Angeles National Cemetery instead, leaving flowers at the graves of two Commonwealth soldiers.
Harry’s decision to pay tribute at a Los Angeles cemetery drew some criticism as he was accused of a “PR stunt’’.
“The Queen is very firmly of the opinion that you can’t pick and choose what you do when it comes to the institution. Either you are in – or you are out,” according to a royal insider.
Prince Harry spent 10 years in the Army and asked for the wreath to be laid at the London memorial on his behalf, The Sun said.
Sadly, the wreath from Prince Harry never left the Royal British Legion’s Kent headquarters.
With strong links remaining with the military, highlighted by his promotion of veterans’ causes including the Invictus Games, the Queen’s rejection hurt the Prince.
He described wearing his poppy with pride to “celebrate the bravery of all our veterans … the people I remember when I lay a wreath at the Cenotaph”.
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