Prince William 'struggled' with Prince Harry's exit, author claims: 'A lot of anger and hurt on both sides'
Katie Nicholl, author of 'The New Royals,' spoke to Fox News Digital about the strained relationship between the Duke of Sussex and the new Prince of Wales.
Prince Harry is revealing new details about his alleged explosive meeting with his older brother Prince William.
On Thursday, Netflix released the second installment of the docuseries "Harry & Meghan," which focuses on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s exit from royal life, which was coined "Megxit" by the press. In 2020, the couple announced that they were stepping back as senior members of the British royal family.
In the latest episodes, the couple spoke about the "Sandringham Summit," or the meeting called by the late Queen Elizabeth II after the announcement of their royal exit was made.
"I sent an email to the three most senior private secretaries saying, 'Let’s have a meeting, let’s get together and have a meeting and talk about this,'" Harry, 38, explained. "Because of what was happening, what was playing out in public was crazy. And that meeting was rejected. It was only once Meg had left and gone back to Canada that it was then arranged that there was going to be a meeting at Sandringham on the following Monday."
Prince Harry (left) spoke about his rift with Prince William (right) in Netflix's "Harry and Meghan." (Getty)
"Imagine a conversation, a roundtable discussion about the future of your life," chimed in the former American actress, 41. "When the stakes are this high. And you as the mom and the wife and the target, in many regards, aren’t invited to have a seat at the table."
"It was clear to me that they planned out so that you weren’t in the room," added Harry.
According to Harry, the 90-minute meeting, which took place five days after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released their statement, was with the queen, then-Prince Charles and William. The sit-down took place at the monarch’s country estate in Norfolk with the intent to "talk things through."
"I went in with the same proposal that we’d already made publicly," said Harry. "But once I got there, I was given five options. One being, 'all in, no change,' five being 'all out.' I chose option three in the meeting. Half in, half out; have our own jobs, but also work in support of the queen."
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"It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me, and my father say things that simply weren't true and my grandmother quietly sit there and sort of take it all in," claimed Prince Harry (right). (Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage)
Harry alleged that his decision provoked a strong reaction from his brother.
"It became very clear very quickly that that goal was not up for discussion or debate," said the father of two. "It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me, and my father say things that simply weren’t true and my grandmother quietly sit there and sort of take it all in."
Harry claimed the meeting "finished without any solidified action plan."
"I think from their perspective, they had to believe that it was more about us and maybe the issues that we had, as opposed to their partner, the media and themselves," he said. "That relationship that was causing so much pain for us. They saw what they wanted to see."
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Prince William is heir to the British throne. (Getty Images)
"The saddest part of it was this wedge created between myself and my brother so that he’s now on the institution’s side," Harry shared. "Part of that, I get, I understand, right, that’s his inheritance. So to some extent, it’s already ingrained in him that part of his responsibility is the survivability and continuation of this institution."
On the same day as the Sandringham Summit, the palace released a joint statement on behalf of the brothers refuting a report alleging that their rift was caused by William’s "bullying." Harry insisted he didn’t play a part in writing the statement.
"We couldn’t believe it," said Harry. "No one had asked me permission to put my name to a statement like that. And I rang M and I told her, and she burst into floods of tears because within four hours, they’re happy to lie to protect my brother. And yet for three years, they were never willing to tell the truth to protect us."
"Suddenly, what clicked in my head was, 'It’s never going to stop,'" said the former "Suits" star. "Every rumor, every negative thing, every lie, everything that I knew wasn’t true and that the palace knew wasn’t true and internally they knew wasn’t true, that was just being allowed to fester."
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Elsewhere in the series, Meghan Markle admitted she thought about killing herself before she and Harry decided to move to America. "It was, like, ‘All of this will stop if I am not here,'" said the 41-year-old. (Karwai Tang/WireImage via Getty Images)
Harry added that he believed that the Mail on Sunday’s publication of a letter that Markle had written to her estranged father, Thomas Markle, contributed to her having a miscarriage. Markle later sued the Mail’s publisher and won.
"I believe my wife suffered a miscarriage because of what the Mail did," Harry said. "Bearing in mind the stress that caused, the lack of sleep and the timing of the pregnancy... that miscarriage was created by what they were trying to do to her."
Harry stressed that it was ultimately his decision, not Markle’s, to leave the U.K.
"I said that we need to get out of here," he recalled.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, seen during a recent trip to New York City, reside in the coastal city of Montecito, California, with their son Archie and daughter Lilibet. (Mike Coppola)
In March 2020, the couple completed their final royal engagements. They eventually relocated to Markle’s home state of California, where they’re raising their two children.
Palace officials haven’t commented on the series. A spokesperson for William, who is heir to the throne, didn’t immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Royal expert Shannon Felton Spence told Fox News Digital that William "must have felt very betrayed and heartbroken" to scream and shout at his younger brother in front of the queen.
"He was upset," she explained. "His entire vision of what the future looked like was changing. After they lost their mom [Princess Diana], they forged a 'two of us against the world' mentality. That was always going to be more complicated as they started their own families. But Harry being hurt by William’s reaction, and William being hurt by Harry’s news, it’s far from a bombshell, this is a real family with real people."
True Royalty TV co-founder Nick Bullen claimed to Fox News Digital that the relationship between Prince William and Prince Harry is "at an all-time low." (AARON CHOWN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Spence noted that the accusations made by the Sussexes are unfair as former and current palace staff haven’t been able to defend themselves or "tell their side of the story." William’s office also hasn’t responded to the claims.
"Also important to remember that this family has generational trauma, obviously with the loss of their mother, but also with the abdication," she said. "Imagine that this branch of the family was never supposed to be ruling. Elizabeth II was a princess one day with little chance of ever becoming monarch and was directly in line after her father the next day. Her uncle’s abdication which, ironically, for his American wife, happened very quickly and changed the course of history. William’s frustration was coming from hurt and also history."
Spence pointed out that it wouldn’t have been surprising if a statement had gone out on behalf of Harry.
"When they had a joint communications team — which was a very long time ago now — it would be expected that the then-Cambridges were the senior principals, and the Sussexes were more junior," she explained. "I have always been told that the frustration from the Sussexes was more around the scheduling and preferential patronages that the Cambridges were getting, due to the hierarchy."
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Prince Charles became king following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on Sept. 8. (Chris Jackson)
Markle's lawyer, Jenny Afia, claimed in the series that she saw evidence of "negative briefing from the palace" against the couple "to suit other people’s agendas." She did not elaborate on the evidence.
The docuseries is the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's latest effort to tell their own story after moving to the wealthy Southern California enclave of Montecito. Lucrative contracts with Netflix and Spotify have helped finance their life on an estate overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
The Netflix series has come out at a crucial moment for Britain’s monarchy. King Charles III, Harry’s father, is trying to show that the institution remains relevant after the death of the queen, whose personal popularity damped criticism of the crown during her 70-year reign.
Harry’s 2018 marriage to Markle was once seen as a public relations coup for the royal family, boosting the monarchy’s effort to move into the 21st century by making it more representative of a multicultural nation. But the fairytale, punctuated with a horse-drawn carriage ride and lavish wedding at Windsor Castle, soon unraveled amid relentless media attention, including allegations that the duchess was self-centered and bullied her staff.
Prince Harry is now gearing up to release his memoir, titled "Spare." (Penguin Random House)
Describing royal press operations as a "dirty game," Harry said there was "leaking" and "planting of stories," and that the palace "comms team" would seek to deflect negative coverage of one royal by issuing a story about another royal.
The tell-alls aren't over. Harry's memoir, "Spare," is set to hit bookstores on Jan. 10.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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