Reaction: key revelations as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle biography rocks the Royals

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will “never resume official roles” after the publication of a tell-all book detailing their rift with the Royal family.

The pair have “torpedoed” any possibility of creating new positions in the family, after Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family outlined their “soured relationship with the monarchy in excruciating detail”, the Daily Mail says.

The book, described by the paper as the “gospel according to the Sussexes”, contains a “string of incendiary claims about how they were shunned” by the Royals, as well as “page after page of score-settling and vicious swipes at the Royal Family, courtiers and the media”.

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A royal household source told the paper that “it’s hard to see how they can now salvage the new role”, while another added that the book has seen “very private family matters… aired in public, seemingly with their blessing. That will be hurtful”.

However, other sources told The Sun that the contents of the book “was all to be expected”, adding that the couple “have got whatever they want to get off their chests”.

According to the authors of the book, Royal correspondents Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, the tensions that ended in “Megxit” began when Prince William advised his brother to “take as much time as you need to get to know this girl”, The Guardian says.

The Duke of Sussex was allegedly angered by the words “this girl”, perceiving it as “snobbish” and “condescending”, the paper adds.

William was at first pleased that his brother was “happy and content” with Meghan but worried about the pace at which the relationship was developing, the authors write. “He just wanted to make sure that Harry wasn’t blindsided by lust.”

Extracts of the books, serialised in The Times and The Sunday Times, outline “the early days of their courtship”, describing how “from their first date Harry ‘was in a trance’”.

After their second date, Harry “knew they would be together”, while every time anyone questioned their relationship, Harry would ask “is this about race? Is it snobbery?”.

“Ever sensitive to racism and snobbery,” The Times adds, Harry “cut off one of his friends when he gossiped about Meghan”.

The authors also allege that one senior royal referred to Meghan as “Harry’s showgirl”, while another allegedly said: “She comes with a lot of baggage”. A senior courtier is also alleged to have said “there’s just something about her I don’t trust”, while a palace staffer referred to her as “the squeaky third wheel” of the family.

The book also claims Prince Harry and Meghan came to feel that “there were only a handful of people at the palace they could trust”, The Guardian says, while friends of the couple referred to Royals as “the vipers”.

Scobie and Durand say the book was written with the “participation of those closest to the couple”, adding that they had access to Prince Harry and Meghan’s “inner circle”.

The pair have publicly denied giving an interview to the authors, but their statement “failed to address whether they had given permission for their closest friends, staff and associates from collaborating with it”, the Daily Mail notes.