Prince William and Kate Middleton Are Worried Anything They Say to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Could Be Leaked, Expert Says
There remains “a bit of a lack of trust.”
Yesterday Marie Claire reported claims from a new book that alleges Meghan Markle once accused Victoria Beckham of leaking stories about Meghan and husband Prince Harry to the press. But, inside the royal family, it seems it’s Harry and Meghan who are feared to be leaking stories, according to OK!.
The outlet reports that Prince William and Kate Middleton “are worried that anything they say” to Harry and Meghan could be summarily leaked to the media. Veteran royal expert and author Katie Nicholl spoke to Entertainment Tonight about how little time the brothers and their wives spent together at last month’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, saying “I think that does signal not just a busy timetable on the part of the Cambridges, but perhaps also a bit of a lack of trust.”
Harry’s tell-all memoir is slated to hit shelves as soon as the end of the year; the Sussexes are also apparently filming a reality docuseries with Netflix.
“I do know that William and Kate are worried that anything they might say or do with the fact that it could end up being leaked to the media,” Nicholl says. “So, I think in the case of really having to prove now that they can be trusted.”
It remains to be seen what the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s upcoming projects will reveal about the royal family.
“If there’s going to be any chance of moving on, repairing relationships and really trying to heal some pretty deep wounds, then I think Harry and Meghan are going to have to respect the wishes of the royals,” Nicholl says. “I think Harry and Meghan are absolutely going to have to respect the wishes of [Queen Elizabeth II] and [Prince Charles] and that these meetings remain private.”
The Sussexes met with both Her Majesty and the Prince of Wales during their recent visit to the U.K. for the Platinum Jubilee. Harry and Meghan’s children Archie and Lili also joined the couple for the jaunt across the pond, and Lilibet met her namesake, her great-grandmother the Queen, and her grandfather Charles for the first time.
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Of Charles, Nicholl says “he loves his son…he wants to forgive his son for everything. He wants to repair that relationship and move on. A big part of that is him wanting to be a grandfather and see those grandchildren. It may mean a few more transatlantic trips, but he wants to enjoy this experience.”
Charles was seen publicly doting on the Cambridge kids at the Platinum Jubilee—even putting four-year-old Prince Louis in his lap during Sunday’s pageant. He is “a doting grandfather,” Nicholl says, adding “he’s spent more time in recent years with the Cambridge grandchildren and he’s very, very keen to have a close relationship with Meghan and Harry’s children.”
Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.