Prince Harry's pals called him 'nuts' for dating Meghan, book claims

Prince Harry’s Eton pals called him ‘nuts’ for dating Meghan Markle who ‘reprimanded them for their jokes about sexism, feminism and transgender people’, a bombshell new book has claimed. Tom Bower, journalist and author of ‘Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the war between the Windsors’ says Harry invited Meghan to join him at Sandringham for his weekend shoot in 2016 – shortly after the pair’s relationship was publicly revealed.

The 37-year-old allegedly invited 16 friends, mostly old school pals from Eton who were employed by international banks and auction houses, to join him for dinner on Friday, shooting on Saturday and then lunch on Sunday after getting the Queen ‘s permission. Bower says the Duke of Sussex was ‘looking forward’ to ‘endless banter’ with his friends – but Meghan, 40, was less than impressed and ‘challenged every guest’ who ‘contravened her woke values’. Meghan ‘lacked any sense of humor’ and was a ‘dampener on the party’, Bower says in his new book, according to The Times newspaper.

He wrote: ‘Like other shooting weekends, Harry was looking forward to endless banter, jokes — and a lot of drinking. He had not anticipated Meghan’s reaction. Their jokes, involving sexism, feminism and transgender people, ricocheted around the living-rooms and dining-rooms. ‘Without hesitation, Meghan challenged every guest whose conversation contravened her values. ‘She lacked any sense of humor. Driving home after Sunday lunch, the texts pinged between the cars: ‘OMG, what about HER?’ said one. ‘Harry must be… nuts’.’ Bower claims Meghan ‘reprimanded guests’ if they made the ‘slightest inappropriate comment’ and ‘nobody was exempt’. Bower says Meghan clashed a second time with Harry’s friends during a trip to Jamaica to attend the wedding of Tom ‘Skippy’ Inskip with flame-haired literary agent the Hon Lara Hughes-Young in March 2017.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex joined 40 guests for the three-day nuptial celebrations at the Round Hill Hotel in Montego Bay. Harry and ‘party animal’ Mr Inskip, 35, have been friends since they were pupils at Eton together and are utterly inseparable. When the prince disgraced himself playing in a pool in Las Vegas without clothes, Mr Inskip was by his side. And when the royal jumped into a nightclub swimming pool in Croatia fully clothed in 2011, his close friend was there with him too. Mr Inskip, who was once photographed driving a convertible sports car without clothes in the US, his modesty only preserved by the steering wheel, was also with Harry when he was seen inhaling ‘hippy crack’, otherwise known as laughing gas, at a party in 2010. Pictured: The couple in Montego Bay in 2017.

Bower said the couple arrived separately – with Harry arriving via ‘premium economy from London’ while Meghan opted for a ‘friend’s private jet from Toronto’. The author says Meghan behaved ‘princessy’ and ‘refused to engage with Harry’s friends’ – instead making ‘remarks about the food’. Meanwhile, Bower says Meghan – who was still a relatively unknown actress from her show Suits – was not happy when her agent secured a brand contract with Reitmans, Canada’s largest women’s clothing shop in 2015. According to Bower, Meghan ‘longed to be the face of Ralph Lauren, not Reitmans’ and during her first shoot has clashed with the creative team in Montreal in March 2016. Bower wrote that Meghan ‘offered no worthwhile alternative ideas’ aside from a ‘Caribbean location with a Hollywood budget’.

He adds once a few changes were made, it was ‘again rejected’ by the former actress. During the filming for her second campaign for Reitmans a year later, Bower said Meghan demanded to be moved to a bigger suite despite the brand ‘reserving her a £987 ($1,183)- a-night suite at the Place d’Armes hotel in Montreal.’ She also demanded that she be register in the hotel under the alias ‘Jane Smith’ – out of fears she would be hassled by staff and other guests. The author added that the production team ‘avoided eye contact with her’ because she ‘complained’ the ‘tea was the wrong blend’, the ‘vegan juice was warm’ and the hotel bathrobe and slippers ‘weren’t Dior’. However, on camera, Bower said Meghan ‘transformed into a warm and glamorous icon’ despite the clashes on set.

The book also tells how she and Harry’s 16-day tour of Australia (pictured) made them think they could achieve great things together. Bower wrote: ‘The Sussexes had convinced themselves that their Australian success blessed them with Diana’s magic. ‘Meghan could not understand that Diana had won the public’s affection after years of work. ‘Neither she nor Harry could grasp that emulating Diana required time, to weave a narrative and create a brand from which influence would flow.’

The claims comes after it was revealed Meghan ‘called her PR team in hysterics’ after Buckingham Palace reacted with ‘fury’ to ‘her Vanity Fair interview about Prince Harry ‘. Bower says Meghan was ‘ecstatic’ when she was asked to appear on the cover of Vanity Fair’s September 2017 issue and do an interview with the magazine. But when the magazine ran with the headline ‘Wild About Harry’ on its cover – focusing on Meghan’s relationship with the British prince rather than her work as an actor, activist and philanthropist – Bower says the Palace was taken aback. Within hours of the magazine’s pre-publication copies being sent to Buckingham Palace, Bower says Meghan phoned her PR firm and ‘hysterically’ told them of the Palace’s fury. Bower reports that Meghan was furious that the piece was not more focused on her philanthropy but says this was due to the fact Vanity Fair researchers were unable to substantiate two key stories she had told about her activism as a young child.

Keleigh Thomas Morgan, a partner at Meghan’s PR firm Sunshine Sachs, organized the interview, which was conducted by Sam Kashner – a long-standing contributing editor at Vanity Fair, who admitted before the interview that he had no idea who Meghan was. According to Bower, Kashner was told Meghan was under strict orders from both Harry and her PR firm to steer clear of sensitive subjects – such as race, Donald Trump and her relationship with the prince. The interview was done at Meghan’s home. Bower says Kashner was uneasy knowing that Meghan had been told to be careful with what she told him.

‘Both knew that a lot was riding on the interview, and both understood that the critical issue of Harry had been vetoed,’ Bower says in his new book, according to The Sun newspaper. ‘Meghan spoke, he realized, knowing that she had the winning ticket but avoiding giving an impression of triumphalism.’ After first discussing Meghan’s speech at the United Nations and a letter she sent to Procter & Gamble as an 11-year-old requesting that they change a slogan promoting washing-up liquid that was deemed sexist, Kashner asked her about Harry.

To Kashner’s surprise, Bower writes, Meghan replied: ‘We’re a couple. We’re in love.’ As reported by Vanity Fair in 2017, Meghan said: ‘I’m sure there will be a time when we will have to come forward and present ourselves and have stories to tell, but I hope what people will understand is that this is our time. ‘This is for us. It’s part of what makes it so special, that it’s just ours. But we’re happy. Personally, I love a great love story.’

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