"They want to cherry pick the best parts of being a Royal..." Will Trafford talks to Dan Wootton, the kiwi-born journalist for The Sun who broke the 'Meghxit' story.
Meghan and Harry will never return to their official roles after a new biography revealed details of their rift with the royals.
They've "torpedoed" whatever chance they had of a new position with help from the Queen and other senior royals after their "trial period" in America, sources told the Daily Mail.
The book reveals in detail how their relationship with the monarchy went south, and is likely to dash whatever hopes they had of returning to royal duties when Megxit comes up for review.
The revelations will also harm efforts to repair their rift with Harry's brother William and sister-in-law Kate, it is feared.
A royal household source said: "The door will always be open to them as much-loved members of the family.
"But it's hard to see how they can now salvage the new role they wanted as 'hybrid' royals, running commercial careers alongside royal duties from the US."
Another source told the Mail: "The review period has not yet been discussed but it doesn't seem if there is any way of going back now. Some very private family matters have now been aired in public, seemingly with their blessing. That will be hurtful."
The one-year "probationary" period was designed to give all members of the family breathing space and allow Harry and Meghan to establish their independent new lives, while offering them the chance to return to the royal fold if they changed their minds.
But multiple sources believe the way the couple have conducted themselves in Los Angeles – such as borrowing a glitzy £14.5 million Beverly Hills mansion – and now the bombshell book have put an end to any hope of their returning, in a working role at least.
The book has revealed details of the rift caused by Megxit. Photo / Getty Images
One senior figure added: "Given the state of the world this just seems so ill-timed. The Sussexes need to move on."
Harry and Meghan have publicly denied giving an interview to the authors of Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family, or of "contributing" to the book. But their statement failed to address whether they had given permission for their closest friends, staff and associates from collaborating with it.
Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand say they have written the book with the "participation of those closest to the couple" and boasted of having access to Harry and Meghan's personal and professional "inner circle". Insiders firmly believe that would only have happened with the couple's permission, tacit or otherwise.
Several specific incidents, including details of the sacking of Archie's night nurse and a private lunch Harry had with the Queen, which have featured in publicity for the book, would also have largely been known only to Harry and Meghan.
The book, serialised in the Times and Sunday Times, has detailed the increasingly bitter relationship between Harry and William, as well as the rollercoaster romance that saw the couple declare "I love you" within three months.
Royal insiders believe the "bitterness" and "score settling" that characterise the book make a mockery of the Queen's warm words when she gave them her blessing to seek a new life in North America, but deliberately "left the door ajar" by saying they would review arrangements in January next year. The couple have, of course, insisted on keeping on their Windsor home, Frogmore Cottage, as a UK base when they spend time there with their son, Archie, who hasn't returned since last November.
Two further sources said the biography – dubbed the "gospel according to Harry and Meghan" – had made the couple look "irrelevant", particularly coming out at the height of the global Covid crisis.
"The world has moved on as a result of the pandemic and the Royal Family have had to as well," said one.
"This book has nothing new, frankly, friends have just presented events through a certain lens. People normally realise that actually it's a lot more nuanced and finely balanced than that.
"There are far more important things going on in the world, is the general view at the palace."
The other source added: "No one is angry. It was all to be expected. But it is hoped they have got whatever they want to get off their chests now, move on and be happy with their lives.
"People are just all too familiar with this and nobody wins. They seem to be fighting invisible enemies here, there and everywhere."
Courtiers point out that other royals, including William and Kate, had refrained from making their own opinions regarding recent events public in order to "let the dust settle", but the new biography has just "blown a hole in that".
