Royal Author Makes Startling Claim About Meghan And Harry's Intentions During Their Wedding

When Meghan Markle and Prince Harry decided to leave the royal family, there was intense speculation about who was told about their plans first — and when. In particular, rumors swirled that Harry hadn't briefed his beloved grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, about defecting to the States after he and Meghan stepped down as senior members of the British royal family. 

As People reported at the time, when the Sussexes sat down with Oprah Winfrey, one of the biggest talking points was what the queen actually knew. In response to a damning report by the BBC about Buckingham Palace being "blindsided," Harry made it abundantly clear, "I never blindsided my grandmother." He added, "I have too much respect for her."

In fact, the prince clarified that he'd had multiple conversations with both his grandmother and his father, Prince Charles, "before he stopped taking my calls." Harry was tasked with putting his plans in writing to make it official, which he did, also confirming when they intended to make the announcement publicly. 

The celebrity couple revealed they were stepping down as senior working royals in January 2020. In the years since, their relationship with the rest of the monarchy has reportedly been increasingly strained, particularly following the Oprah Winfrey interview, during which they detailed how tough it was in the U.K. for them (via Sky News).

Adding fuel to the fire, a royal author is now claiming Meghan and Harry knew even earlier than many originally thought that they intended to leave. And, crucially, they let someone very telling into their plans before anybody else. 

As a piece in The Mercury News points out, Oprah Winfrey was present at the 2018 wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, despite the fact that she didn't know the couple too well at the time. 

And, if certain commentators are to be believed, the legendary talk show host was invited for one very strategic reason — so the Sussexes could network and potentially stake a claim for themselves as celebrities in their own right. Three years after their nuptials, Meghan and Harry sat down for their first major post-royal exit interview with Winfrey.

Royal expert Tina Brown asserted in "The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor, the Truth, and the Turmoil" that certain wedding guests, notably Winfrey herself, "were a portrait not of Meghan's intimate circle but of the friends she most wanted to recruit into her inner circle." 

The Mirror elaborates further, noting that, during a recent appearance on their "Pod Save the Queen" podcast, fellow royal author Andrew Morton divulged that "Harry was having conversations in a London hotel with Oprah Winfrey back in November 2018, just six months after they'd been married." He continued: "So they were thinking about a different direction of travel pretty early on." 

Harry reportedly saw marrying the American actor as his way to finally break free of the monarchy, with the Sussexes even considering relocating to New Zealand at one stage, though it ultimately didn't pan out. 

As "Finding Freedom" author Omid Scobie, a close friend of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, wrote in a piece for Harper's Bazaar surrounding their exit, discussions over the couple's future plans had been taking place for months prior to the big announcement, and it was only rushed out because of a tabloid leak. 

As a result, "they felt they had been cornered," an insider shared. "It was a case of act now or lose control of something they had spent a long time working on."

Furthermore, any suggestions that senior members of the royal family were shocked by the Sussexes' decision to leave were wildly inaccurate. "Nobody was 'incandescent with rage' and nobody is about to punish anyone," said the source. "The speed at which this now needs to be dealt with is not ideal, but the plans themselves are not a problem. This is not a 'crisis,' it's a case of helping the couple reach their goal." 

The Evening Standard reported that Harry intended to speak privately with the queen, but she only agreed to sit down with him after the prince had a proper discussion with his father to figure out the best way forward. Her Majesty wanted to keep it quiet until then. 

Once the Sussexes' plans were leaked to the press, however, everybody was left scrambling. Although it was a tough situation, in the end, Meghan and Harry got exactly what they wanted.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry haven't given any indication that they regret leaving the royal family, but that hasn't stopped multiple people claiming that they do. Sharon Osbourne discussed the matter while covering the queen's Platinum Jubilee, opposite Piers Morgan, on Fox News.

"The royal family has always been like a Shakespearean play for me," she said, according to Us Weekly. "When I saw [Harry and Meghan] earlier on ... I felt sorry for them and the way that they were parted from the family." Morgan fought back, wondering aloud why anyone would empathize with people who'd publicly criticized their own family.

Although Osbourne conceded, she added, "I do feel sorry for [Harry] because I think that there must be a huge part of him that regrets [what happened]." In particular, the duke must have found it tough not to be involved with Trooping the Color, for instance, alongside the rest of his family as normal, she said.

Former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown echoed Osbourne's comments, telling the BBC it was very obvious that the Sussexes had also been shunted aside at the thanksgiving service, per Express. Brown argued, "I feel they are trying to work their way back in through the corners and I don't think it will ever be what it was. And that's entirely self-inflicted." 

Worse still, the royal expert reckons that Meghan and Harry defected for nothing, contending they have yet to achieve anything they set out to do upon leaving.

Speculation has been rife for months that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are planning a second Oprah interview, especially following the release of Tina Brown's book, "The Palace Papers." 

Sources told Heat magazine, "These latest claims have really gotten under Meghan's skin. She's told her team that something needs to be done. She's so sick of the negative headlines and she's desperate to come out fighting with some major damage control." As a result, the duchess has decided that sitting down with the media mogul again may be the best way to set the record straight once and for all. 

Brown's book reportedly detailed how much Meghan despised being a working royal, including complaining constantly about every little thing. Tellingly, the royal expert confirmed it was Meghan's dislike for the role that motivated Harry to finally give up his title, as he'd always dreamed of doing.

"Meghan certainly saw the deals that were there to be made because they were royals," Brown said. "It's as though she couldn't resist everything that was on offer on the celebrity buffet."

Earlier this week, the Daily Mail confirmed that the Sussexes had paid Winfrey a visit, spending around an hour chatting in her home. The couple was spotted driving to the meeting from their Montecito home, which is located a short distance away. Their security detail, naturally, followed close behind. 

If anything is in the works, we should know about it before too long.