Prince William and Kate Middleton reportedly harshened the Royal rebuttal to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s explosive Oprah interview. Deadline reports that the claims come from Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown, a new book by journalist Valentine Low. In the book, Low addresses the Royals’ reaction to the interview, wherein Harry and Markle alleged they faced racist behavior from his family.
An insider told Low that after an official statement was drawn up by Palace representatives, William and Kate urged them to “toughen up” the sentiments. “They were both of one mind that we needed something that said that the institution did not accept a lot of what had been said,” the source stated. “He (William) said, ‘It is really important that you guys come up with the right way of making sure that we are saying that this does not stand.’ She was certainly right behind him on it.”
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The book adds, “It was Kate who clearly made the point, ‘History will judge this statement and unless this phrase or a phrase like it is included, everything that they have said will be taken as true.’” Low noted that this led to the famed phrase “recollections may vary,” which has been accredited to Jean-Christophe Gray, William’s aide at the time.
Harry and Markle have had a strained relationship with his family ever since the couple resigned from their Royal duties and did an interview with Oprah that revealed some shocking claims. During a post-interview appearance on CBS Mornings, the iconic TV host shared some new footage of her conversation with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, including a portion where Harry discusses the monarchy being a “toxic” environment. He goes on to say that while he has had to learn to separate himself from it, his father, Prince Charles, has made “peace” with the toxicity.
In a clip from the interview, Harry specifically refers to the unspoken relationship that he says the Royals have with U.K. tabloids. He spoke of this during the main interview, but in the new footage, he addresses the tabloids having the Royal family members under “control” through “fear.” This, he says, is the “toxic environment” he had to escape. Oprah then asked if Harry and Markle’s perception of the situation is shared by the rest of his family, specifically, his father. “I think he’s had to make peace with it,” Harry replied.
