The couple are the subjects of an explosive new book (Image: Getty)
Royal author Tom Bower has broken his silence after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle slammed his upcoming book as “deranged conspiracy and melodrama”. Following the publication of a controversial article in Hollywood Bible, Variety, which dissected the inside story behind the Sussexes’ relationship with Netflix, Mr Bower took aim at the couple’s “lack of original talent and suffocating self-importance”.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Express, Mr Bower said: “The Variety article endorses what I described in my book, Betrayal. The Sussexes are reaching the end of the road in Hollywood.
“Their behaviour, lack of original talent and suffocating self-importance has made it even more important for them to return to Britain in July, meet the King and be revalidated as royals.”
READ MORE: The Royal Family’s biggest rebel – and it’s not Andrew or Harry
READ MORE: Prosecutor seeks over seven years in prison for Crown Princess’ son
The couple took aim at Tom Bower’s book (Image: Getty)
Tom Bower has hit back at Meghan and Harry (Image: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Mr Bower continued: “That option, I believe, will be denied to them. They face an increasingly tough future. That’s the price of betraying the Royal Family since Megxit.”
After the initial claims were made in Mr Bower’s new book, Betrayal: Power, Deceit And The Fight For The Future Of The Royal Family, when it was serialised in The Times ahead of its release on March 26, the Sussexes were quick to issue their response.
Claiming that the author has “long crossed the line from criticism into fixation”, the statement began: “This is someone who has publicly stated, ‘the monarchy in fact depends on actually obliterating the Sussexes from our state of life,’ language that speaks for itself.
“He has made a career out of constructing ever more elaborate theories about people he does not know and has never met. Those interested in facts will look elsewhere; those seeking deranged conspiracy and melodrama know exactly where to find him.”
The initial claims that have emerged from Mr Bower’s book include the suggestion that Queen Camilla told a friend that Meghan had “brainwashed” Harry.
The couple didn’t leave their thoughts to the imagination (Image: Getty)
Mr Bower’s comments come after Variety made a series of claims in a scathing new report about the couple, including how Netflix was allegedly “blindsided” by their explosive 2020 interview with Oprah Winfrey, with “many annoyed by the lack of communication”.
The report claimed: “Sources say that the company only discovered at the last minute that the Sussexes would sit with Winfrey and share intimate, headline-grabbing details of their lives.”
A Sussex spokesperson said the claim that Netflix was unaware of the Oprah interview was “categorically false,” adding that “Netflix and Archewell had legal counsel involved to oversee the evolution of the deal, as is common practice for any deal changes in Hollywood.”
Another claim was that Netflix was cautious about Prince Harry’s tell-all memoir, which ended up getting released in early January 2023. The Sussexes released their bombshell docuseries, Harry & Meghan, just a month earlier, in December 2022.
It was claimed Netflix was ‘blindsided’ by the couple’s Oprah interview (Image: Harpo Productions/Joe Pugliese v)
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have produced a number of programmes with Netflix (Image: Netflix)
The report claimed: “Netflix approached the couple to discuss how a potential book deal would impact the release of the docuseries. Sources say Meghan downplayed the auction, telling Sarandos that any publication would be far in the future, if it happened at all.”
Meghan’s spokesperson dismissed this claim too, saying it is “categorically untrue – there was open communication with Netflix months before release to co-ordinate timing between book and series.” The extracts touch on topics including Harry and Meghan’s relationship with Prince William and Princess Catherine, and their business and charitable dealings since stepping down as working royals and moving to the US in 2020, such as deals with Netflix and Spotify.
The article follows the announcement that Netflix had cut ties with Meghan’s lifestyle brand, As Ever, to allow the Duchess to “continue growing the brand and take it into its next chapter independently.”
Last year, it was claimed that the couple had signed a new “first look” Netflix deal, which was widely described as being a “downgraded” or “watered down” version of their initial deal.
Speaking at Fortune’s Powerful Women Summit in Washington back in October, Meghan opened up about the deal. She told the crowd: “My husband and I were in an overall deal with Netflix… and then the extension of it… was now being in a first look deal, which is also exciting because it gives us flexibility to go to our partners first, and then at the same time be able to shop content that might not be the right fit for Netflix but has a home somewhere else.”