Prince Harry thought that the best way to protect Meghan Markle from fierce media attention while they were still dating was to marry her as soon as possible, it has been claimed.
A new book written by Tina Brown, author of 2007 bombshell biography of the life and death of the Princess of Wales, The Diana Chronicles, says that the Duke of Sussex thought that the answer to keeping Meghan from prying eyes was to get her police protection through marriage.
Harry and Meghan first met in 2016 and were engaged before the end of 2017. They married on 19 May 2018.
Brown’s explosive new book, titled The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor, claims to lift the lid on how the other members of the royal family felt about Harry’s blossoming relationship with Meghan.
Having spoken to more than 120 royal insiders over the course of two years, the author writes that while most of the family – including Prince Charles and the Queen – appeared to like Meghan, it was Prince William who had the biggest reservations.
It was claimed that Harry’s brother was “nervous” about how quickly the couple were falling in love because of how much Meghan would have to give up if they were to marry, including her acting career and her life in the US.
William was also concerned the duchess would not have enough time to create a life for herself in the UK and make new friends.
A former Palace adviser told Brown that William’s biggest worry was for his younger brother’s “mental fragility” and that he wouldn’t be able to cope with all the “scorching scrutiny and harassment” that Meghan would come to endure.
But according to the book, Harry’s response to William’s fears was that the most effective way to protect Meghan would be to marry her “as quickly as possible” so that she would receive the same police protection that he did while he was still a working royal.
However, the negative media attention on Meghan only worsened in the months leading up to the wedding and after it.
Brown pointed to a news item published on 4 November 2016 by The Sun with the headline “Harry’s Girl on Pornhub” as a particular source of anguish for the couple.
A friend of Meghan’s told Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, the authors of Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family, that she felt “sick to her stomach” when she saw the headline.
The Sun was forced to apologise in 2017 for publishing the story and clarified that Meghan had “never been involved with such content and had no idea that the video clip had been published illegally on this website”.
In early 2020, it was announced that Harry and Meghan would step down from their roles as senior royals, relinquishing their HRH titles and becoming known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
A year later, in a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, the couple revealed that they had experienced racism and a lack of mental health support during their time as working royals in Buckingham Palace.
Harry and Meghan also lost their publicly-funded police protection in the UK when they stepped down.
Earlier this year, Harry filed a claim for judicial review against the British government’s decision not to let him personally pay for police protection for himself and his family while in the UK.
The Independent has contacted a representative for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for comment.
The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor - The Truth and the Turmoil by Tina Brown is available from 26 April 2022.
