Prince Harry Faces Being “Cut Off from Royal Life” If Book Airs Dirty Laundry About the Family, Sources Say
King Charles III “knows that Harry holds the key to a closet full of dark secrets.”
Reportedly no one in the royal family knows what is in Prince Harry’s forthcoming memoir—but, according to OK, if the book reveals any family secrets, Harry will be “cut off from royal life.”
For his part, King Charles III—Harry’s father—is in panic mode over the book, as he tries to “bury some secrets forever.” While Harry and wife Meghan Markle still carry the Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles, their children, Archie and Lilibet, currently do not have titles; this decision is up to Charles, and “the king has issued a firm warning to Harry that if he rats him out in any way in the book, Harry’s whole family will be stripped of their titles,” a source tells Radar, per OK. The outlet also reports that Charles is holding off on the decision to give Archie and Lili prince and princess titles until after he reads the tell-all.
According to the outlet, Harry was given an ultimatum from the royal family: either shut down publication of the $20 million memoir or face a permanent lack of trust within the royal family, with ties severed for good.
“Charles has gone into severe crisis-management mode,” the source says. “He knows that Harry holds the key to a closet full of dark secrets. It goes way deeper than simply Harry calling Charles on TV a bad father.”
Charles is apparently fearful that “whatever Harry spills could now jeopardize his [Charles’] reign,” the source says.
The book, due to be published by Penguin Random House by the end of the year, has apparently undergone revisions since the late Queen’s death on September 8, with reports emerging that Harry was considering axing the book altogether, “as he realized he may offend the royal family more than intended and that some chapters may now be deemed insensitive,” OK reports.
“There have been last-minute additions about the Queen’s legacy,” sources tell Radar, “and he’s also toned down some parts about Charles.”
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But, according to OK, the toothpaste is out of the tube and the book is set for release, regardless of the support of the Duke of Sussex.
“The book is done, and it will come out—with or without Harry,” a source tells the outlet. “Currently, he is updating it to include the passing of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, but there have been zero discussions about killing the book. Zero.”
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.