I’m sure a lot of people have already started reading Find Freedom on their Kindles! If you see a good story from FF and you really want me to cover it, tweet @ me (KaiseratCB) or email me at kaiser@celebitchy.com. Until I get a chance to really get into the book, I’m using a variety of sources as I try to cull through the information which was already excerpted, and the information which is new-to-us (or merely the Sussexes’ side of old stories). As we’ve heard already, the palace courtiers were concerned about the fact that the brothers had a significant falling out. Now those stuffy old vipers are suddenly worried that the future of the monarchy is on the line. They honestly didn’t think about that as they were smearing the f–k out of Prince Harry and his wife, but here we are. From Finding Freedom: Harry, Meghan, and the Making of a Modern Royal Family:

High-ranking aides across all three royal households were so alarmed at the press coverage and speculation on social media about a rift between the brothers and their wives that they began openly discussing the impact it could have on the monarchy if things weren’t righted. For months headlines had focused on the fractured relationships between the two couples. And the chatter on social media was just as loud. The whole situation was so out of control, a source said, “even the Queen was concerned.”

Courtiers attended a retreat in the spring of 2019 where the concerns were openly discussed. “We need to design a system to protect the monarchy full stop,” one said. “It’s no secret, the future of this monarchy relies solely on the four people currently in Kensington Palace. The public popularity only lies with them . . . When he [the Prince of Wales] becomes King, the only way it lasts is if the four of them are not at war. We cannot have them at war.”

“Harry was upset that it was playing out so publicly and that so much of the information being reported was wrong,” a source said. “There had been moments where he felt people working with his brother had put things out there to make William look good, even if it meant throwing Harry under the bus. It was a confusing time, and his head was all over the place—he didn’t know who or what to believe, and he and William weren’t talking enough either, which made everything a lot worse.”

[From Finding Freedom: Harry, Meghan, and the Making of a Modern Royal Family]

I was curious if Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand would really lay the blame directly at William’s feet, and here we are. Before this, the FF excerpts seemed to indicate that Harry felt like the general palace intrigue was going against him, but now we can see that Harry knew his brother was behind a good chunk of it. To be clear, I don’t think William was behind *everything*. I don’t think Harry believed that either. But Harry knows his brother. Harry knew that William and William’s people were “throwing Harry under the bus.” And it’s still funny to me that after running one of the most damaging smear campaigns I’ve ever seen, the palace courtiers held an emergency meeting which basically amounted to “what have we done?!?”

Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red, Backgrid.