Harry and Meghan 'were not surprised' by Queen's 'recollections may vary comment', biography claims

File photo dated 05/07/18 of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex who have been granted an award by a charity for making the
Harry and Meghan are not ready to reconcile. (AP) (PA)

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle may have escalated the royal feud once again, as an anonymous 'friend', quoted by their biographer said the couple were unsurprised by the Queen’s ‘recollections may vary’ comment.

It's generally thought that the couple gave tacit approval to the version of the facts put forward in Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand's Finding Freedom biography which covered their exit from the Royal Family, or as the couple call it - 'the Firm'.

Now, an updated chapter has been published in US Magazine People, ahead of the rebooted paperback which is out on 31 August - the date of Princess Diana's death in 1997.

If it's not a message from Harry that he has sanctioned the book, and its new contents, it's certainly a compelling coincidence.

Read more: Harry and Meghan discussed move to New Zealand more than a year before royal exit

Copies of 'Finding Freedom', an unofficial biography on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, are seen on display at a Waterstones bookshop in London, Britain August 12, 2020. REUTERS/Toby Melville
The biography is 'unofficial' but the authors retain a friendly relationship with the couple. REUTERS/Toby Melville (Toby Melville / reuters)

Read more: Harry and Meghan say they are 'speechless' over Afghanistan and Haiti crisis

The anonymous friend is quoted in the new epilogue by the authors.

“The Queen’s ‘recollections may vary’ comment ‘did not go unnoticed' by the couple, who a close source said were ‘not surprised’ that full ownership was not taken," writes Scobie.

"Months later and little accountability has been taken’, a friend of Meghan added. ‘How can you move forward with that?”’

The statement about The Queen's memory was in reference to the couple's claim a member of the Royal Family had asked about the skin colour of their child.

The damning words suggest strongly that neither Harry nor Meghan is willing to extend an olive branch, and have either given up or are hoping for a show of further concern from the Queen and other close relations, including Prince Charles and his brother William, before any reconciliation is possible.

Watch: How does the Royal Family feel about Prince Harry's upcoming book?

Read more: Queen makes big announcement about her Platinum Jubilee celebrations

Despite Harry's visit to the unveiling of Diana's statue at Kensington Palace in July, where he was pictured smiling and greeting guests alongside William, the apparent ceasefire did not last long.

Harry rushed back to Meghan next day, and the couple are still on shared parental leave from the Archewell Foundation and their various media projects, looking after Archie, 2, and baby Lillibet.

Scobie told People magazine, “Meghan famously spoke about (the fact) that it was not enough to survive – we are now in the thrive chapter.”

He was referring to Meghan's famous comment to ITV journalist Tom Bradby, on their African tour in 2019.

"I never thought that this would be easy, but I thought it would be fair and that's the part that's really hard to reconcile." she said, of her royal life.

"I've said for a long time to H—that's what I call him—it's not enough to just survive something, right? That's not the point of life. You've got to thrive, you've got to feel happy," she went on.

"I really tried to adopt this British sensibility of a stiff upper lip. I tried, I really tried. But I think that what that does internally is probably really damaging."

She said, "When I first met Harry, my friends were so excited. My US friends were happy because I was happy.

"But my British friends, they were sure he was lovely, but they said I shouldn't do it because, 'The British tabloids will destroy your life.'"

Meghan, alongside Harry, chose to try and control the narrative instead - leaving the Royal Family, moving to LA, and agreeing to a spill-the-beans interview with their friend Oprah Winfrey, during which the couple revealed that in Meghan's first pregnancy a 'Senior Royal' had questioned the baby's skin colour.

The couple opened up to Oprah earlier this year. (PA)
The couple opened up to Oprah earlier this year. (PA)

Read more: Meghan Markle's father threatens legal action to see Archie and Lilibet

Meghan referred to "Concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born,”

But royal biographer Robert Lacey has counter-claimed that if the conversation happened, it was at the very start of Harry's relationship with Meghan, and suggested "nobody asked Meghan (about) that."

The couple have said that the royal in question was not the Queen or Prince Philip.

A new clip of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who�s pregnant with their second child after Archie, during their bombshell tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey after quitting their Royal Job, shows Meghan, Duchess of Sussex finally feeling free and ready to talk about being blocked from having her voice by royal aides. The clip aired on CBS This Morning ahead of premiere on US network on Sunday night. (Photo by DPPA/Sipa USA)
Now a family of four, the Sussexes are looking forward to the future. (Photo by DPPA/Sipa USA) (SIPA USA/PA Images)

While the royal rift rumbles on, the couple are preparing to resume their newfound lives of service, and this week put out a statement on the situation in Afghanistan.

Claiming to be 'speechless' and 'scared', they added, "As an international community, it is the decisions we make now — to alleviate suffering among those we know and those we may never meet — that will prove our humanity.”

Scobie, speaking to People, confirmed that the pair are 'in a healthier place' as they embark on their “era of visibility” and look forward to the future.

If that includes a reconciliation with Harry's father, grandmother and older brother, it seems, it won't be Harry and Meghan who extend the olive brand of peace across the ocean and bring the feud to an end.

Watch: Prince Harry opens up to James Corden about Meghan, Archie and taking a step back from royal life

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