Meghan Markle had 'gentle concerns' about Prince Harry's memoirs

Meghan Markle raised ‘gentle concerns’ about Prince Harry’s decision to release Spare and was worried if it was the right move, it was claimed today.

As the Duke of Sussex‘s memoirs hit the couple’s popularity on both sides of the Atlantic, his wife is said to have expressed concerns that it could ruffle feathers.

The royal couple are known for putting on a united front, including during the incendiary interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021. Harry was also in the audience with schoolchildren in New York when Meghan promoted her book The Bench.

But as Harry, 38, released his explosive memoir Spare, which slams his family and reveals that he killed 25 Taliban fighters, Meghan, 41, has been notably absent from any promotion or interviews.

She allegedly stayed away because she would have been accused of ‘trying to steal the limelight’ – but also ‘media-savvy’ Meghan may have raised gentle concerns about whether the book was the right move, one insider told the Telegraph.

The source said: ‘Is this the way she would have approached things? Possibly not. But she will always back him and would never have got involved in promoting such a personal project. This was about his own life, his journey and his own perspective.’  

The book’s release has coincided with Harry’s popularity dropping to an all-time low after the fallout from his memoirs – in both the US and the UK.

Since its release, Harry himself has admitted that he had made changes to the book.

The duke told the Telegraph he chose to leave out several bombshells because he was concerned his father and brother would not ‘ever forgive’ him.

‘The first draft was different. It was 800 pages, and now it’s down to 400 pages. It could have been two books, put it that way. And the hard bit was taking things out,’ he said.

‘There are some things that have happened, especially between me and my brother, and to some extent between me and my father, that I just don’t want the world to know. Because I don’t think they would ever forgive me.’

But he warned the royals: ‘The way I see it is, I’m willing to forgive you for everything you’ve done, and I wish you’d actually sat down with me, properly, and – instead of saying I’m delusional and paranoid – actually sit down and have a proper conversation about this, because what I’d really like is some accountability. And an apology to my wife.’

The duke has faced a storm over Spare, which has driven an extraordinary wedge between him and the rest of his family.

Harry claimed he knew including details about intimate moments with his family would attract backlash – but ultimately decided he couldn’t truthfully tell his story without them.

There are other details, though, that he knew would cross the line if he published them. 

These memories were shared with his ghostwriter only for context, and did not make the final cut.

Harry and Meghan are said to have signed a four-book deal worth upwards of £16million ($20million) with publishing giant Penguin Random House.

He told the Telegraph that any chance of reconciliation with his family is ‘unlikely at the moment’, arguing that you don’t make friends – ‘especially within my family’ – if you talk about trauma.

He said: ‘How dare you talk about it, because that makes us feel uncomfortable.’

His message to the Royal Family is that while ‘you may not like me in the moment’, hopefully in five or 10 years’ time, ‘maybe you’ll thank me’.

The Sussexes typically put on a united front, such as when Harry made an appearance at the end of his wife’s interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.

He has made a number of cameos since, from sitting in the audience with schoolchildren in New York while Meghan promoted her book The Bench, to juggling in the window at the end of her 40th birthday video.

‘We’re like salt and pepper,’ Meghan once said. ‘We always move together.’ 

But as Harry released his explosive memoir, Meghan has been notably absent.

The memoir includes claims that the Prince of Wales physically attacked him and teased him about his panic attacks, and that the King put his own interests above Harry’s and was jealous of Meghan and the Princess of Wales. 

The prince has taken part in a number of high-profile media engagements since the book launched on January 10, including an interview with Anderson Cooper for CBS’ 60 Minutes.

He also appeared on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert – very much on his own. 

The duchess was last seen publicly with Prince Harry last month when the couple travelled to New York to accept an award for their ‘heroic’ stand against ‘structural racism’ in the Royal Family.  

Sources have told the Telegraph that had Meghan been involved in any aspect of promoting the book, she may well have been accused of trying to steal the limelight.

Others have suggested Meghan’s absence sends a message: this is Harry’s project.

It was said by a source close to the couple that Meghan was ‘more wary’ about the extremely personal memoir than the prince was, adding she may have raised ‘gentle concerns’.

It has also been alleged that ‘truth bombs’ revealed in Harry’s book could have ‘dire consequences’ for his wife Meghan’s political ambitions.   

In one passage, the prince – who was known as ‘Captain Wales’ while in the military – wrote that he did not think of those killed ‘as people’ but instead as ‘chess pieces’ he had taken off the board.

Another passage described him taking cocaine ‘a few times’ as a 17-year-old and a bad mushroom trip in which he hallucinated that a bin was talking to him.

Brand experts have said the revelations could scupper Meghan’s political hopes amid speculation that she may have ambitions for elected office.

Nick Ede told MailOnline: ‘The revelations from the new book Spare will have a direct effect on Meghan’s lofty ambitions of running for office.

‘With her husband’s candid admissions of drug use, lurid tales of his loss of virginity and more importantly his admission to killing 25 people when on active duty, these could potentially have dire consequences on her and her ambitions.

‘We know that when someone has political ambitions that they are constantly under the microscope not only from the media but also political opponents.’    

It was claimed last week that Spare has become the fastest-selling non-fiction book since records began in 1998.

The duke’s autobiography has sold 750,000 copies across all formats – print, audio and e-book – in the UK since its publication on January 10.

This makes it the biggest-selling memoir ever for its first week of publication, according to publishers Transworld, the UK division of Penguin Random House.

Official figures from Nielsen BookData showed the book, which was written by celebrity ghostwriter JR Moehringer, sold 467,183 print copies in its first week alone.  

The Nielsen data shows the book has broken the previous record of 210,506 set by the first Pinch Of Nom cookbook by Kay Allinson in 2019.  

In a US broadcast promoting the work, Harry branded Camilla, the Queen Consort, the ‘villain’ and ‘dangerous’, accusing her of rehabilitating her image at the expense of his.

As the prince continued a run of high-profile promotional interviews, he said he ‘would like nothing more’ than for his children to have relationships with the Royal Family.

His remarks about his son and daughter came despite criticism he has levelled at his brother William, father Charles and stepmother Camilla.

He also described his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales, as his ‘guardian angel’ and said she is with him ‘all the time’.