Pour one out for Katie Nicholl at Vanity Fair, I’m sure she’s having a rough week with all of these Finding Freedom headlines. Nicholl has written popular books on the “younger royals,” her most famous being Kate: The Future Queen and The Making of a Royal Romance. Nicholl leaned heavily into her Middleton-family sources, and she’s been so sugary about Kate in particular for years now, I often refer to Nicholl as Kate’s hagiographer. Nicholl has shown that she doesn’t have any sources in Harry and Meghan’s camp now, but I’m still interested in what Nicholl has to say because she does have access to the Cambridges and the “official” line from the palaces. So here are some highlights from Nicholl’s new Vanity Fair piece:

The level of detail in the book has palace people worried: Scobie and Durand also present an incredible level of detail, from Meghan’s favorite breakfast— steel cut oats made with almond or soy milk, bananas, and agave syrup—to a description of the Queen’s private sitting room, with its “maroon-and-cream Aubusson carpet accented with a floral-and-scroll pattern…eggshell blue walls…with the most spectacular ornate crown moldings that Meghan had ever seen.” That has raised royal eyebrows over at the palace, where some courtiers have been nervously awaiting the publication of the book. One senior palace aide even called one of the book’s authors to find out what was in the manuscript.

Never complain, never explain JKJK: The future king and queen, William and Kate, come under fire more than other senior royals, with the Duchess of Cambridge portrayed as cold and aloof, William as snobbish and interfering. The Cambridges were so outraged by some of the claims in the book that they allowed friends to speak out on their behalf to reveal that they had gone out of their way to welcome Meghan.

Angela Kelly is big mad: The Queen’s most senior aide Angela Kelly is also named for the first time as playing a role in the tiara debacle, which has apparently upset her.

Buckingham Palace thinks there’s nothing to see here: Officials at Buckingham Palace are pointedly making “no comment” on the book. One household member I spoke with claimed not to have read it, while another said that all of the “fuss” was being generated by the tabloids and that it’s “business as usual” back at HQ. “I think most people feel it’s a shame that the book has come just as the dust was settling. It’s also overshadowing the good work the royals—including Harry and Meghan—are doing,” a source told Vanity Fair. “I think everyone just wants to move on and leave the past in the past.”

The comparisons to Diana: Her True Story: “The authors have reported on a seminal moment in the royal family,” said Andrew Morton, author of Diana: Her True Story, one of the most famous royal biographies of all time. “The fall out of the royal princes is biblical, like Cain and Abel. Is it the next Diana Her True Story? No. That book has a life of its own. Finding Freedom isn’t as baleful for the monarchy as Diana: Her True Story which was about the break-up of the future king and queen. This is Hansel and Gretel, two innocents at large in the big bad world.”

Harry is still close to Petty Betty? The book explores the close relationship between the monarch and her grandson and Harry is keen that the relationship remains close. He often speaks on the phone to his grandmother, who the book reveals was impressed by Meghan. Harry is also said to be keen that his relationship with his brother, which has improved in the past few months and continues to progress.

[From Vanity Fair]

One of Nicholl’s final points is that it’s “ironic” that the Sussexes have less freedom now in LA, being in lockdown, than they would in Windsor. But… I disagree. Strongly. They do have more freedom now. Freedom to pursue their own charitable and humanitarian agendas at their own pace. Freedom to brief the media however they see fit and correct the record if they so choose. Freedom to wear shorts and cute necklaces and nail polish without the sound of a collective ass-puckering from the entire British establishment.

As for what Nicholl reveals… I love how the Sussexes so easily boxed in the Cambridges and the palace courtiers. Every time Will and Kate respond to this story or that story, they prove Harry and Meghan’s point – that they were held to different standards, that the courtiers were always highly selective with which stories got denied or pushed back.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.