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Harry and Meghan bio ‘Finding Freedom’ returns for dishy second edition
Prepare for yet more internecine royal warfare in a matter of months. But really, when does it ever end?
Fresh from the family-reunion-that-wasn’t at Prince Philip’s funeral between Princes Harry, William, and Charles, this summer will see an updated version of Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family being published.
Feel free to add the tagline: “And this time it gets even more personal at the worst possible time.”
This reissued edition of the book—in which Harry and Meghan last year dished on their many grievances through friends and apparently very observant and eloquent pieces of lint on their clothing—will make the atmosphere between everyone at the unveiling of Princess Diana’s statue in July that much more peachy and delightful.
The Sunday Times reports that authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand who wrote the bombshell biography of last year that intimately conveyed Harry and Meghan’s thoughts and grievances about, well, everything intend that the new version will bring readers up to date with a new set of thoughts and grievances, dating to after the couple moved to America full-time. “They will cover their interview with Oprah Winfrey, allegations against Meghan over the bullying of royal staff, which she denies, and Prince Philip’s death,” the Sunday Times reports.
“The updated edition is also expected to take in their new life in America, their multimillion-pound deals with Netflix and Spotify, and the queen’s decision to strip them of all royal patronages earlier this year.”
The Sunday Times doesn’t say if the book will resolve the mysteries left unsolved by the Winfrey interview—the identity of the royal family member who allegedly made racist remarks about then-unborn Archie’s skin color, or more detail about the lack of support Meghan allegedly received when she felt suicidal.
The book will be reissued on August 5. A senior courtier told the Sunday Times: “The Oprah interview detonated a bomb under the royal family and most of them are still reeling in shock. The book will not help.” Another senior royal source said: “After Oprah, what else is there to say?”
Apparently, quite a lot.
Oprah on Meghan: ‘You’re going there? You’re going all the way there’
Oprah Winfrey knows that her response, a wide-eyed “What?,” was as memorable as the revelation that elicited it. She knows it’s become a meme in its own right. But the surprise, she has revealed, was genuine.
When Meghan Markle alleged that a (still unnamed) royal family member had spoken to Harry about how dark their unborn son Archie’s skin might be during their still-explosive interview, Winfrey just told Nancy O’Dell that her response was “like, ‘What? You’re going there? You’re going all the way there.’”
Winfrey was speaking during the launch of Nancy O’Dell’s Channel on talkshoplive. Winfrey said she was “surprised” that Harry and Meghan had been so candid. “Literally that thing that’s become a meme.”
Winfrey continued, “The reason why it was such a powerful interview—first of all, I know how to ask questions, and you [Nancy] know how to ask questions, we all know how to do our jobs, but what makes it powerful is when you have someone else who is willing to be as open, as vulnerable, as truthful, as they were,” Winfrey said. “So, I don’t give myself credit for that, I give myself credit for asking the questions, but the reason the interview was what it was, was because they answered the way they did.”
Winfrey said she had texted, not spoken, to Harry and Meghan prior to the interview, to “say ‘Intention is very important to me, tell me what your intention is, so that we can be aligned in our goal.’ And our shared intention was the truth. They wanted to be able to tell their story and tell it in such a way that allowed them to be as truthful as possible.”
“I had no idea that it would have the reverberating impact it has had and continues to have,” Winfrey said of the interview, which was intended to publicize Winfrey’s latest book, co-authored with Dr. Bruce D. Perry, What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Feeling.
Winfrey did “a lot of preparation” for the interview, she said. “It was really important to me that what we put out there in the world was put out at the time everyone could see it and that things didn’t leak, and things weren't misconstrued before the actual interview happened,” Winfrey said.
“So I remember when we finished doing the interview and that interview was 3 hours and 20 minutes I think, and I stood up and said to the crew, ‘Well, we all know what was said here, and how important it is to have the trust of the people who just shared that, and so I’m hoping you all will not go out into the world and share what has happened here.’ And nobody did. And so, as we were releasing clips to CBS, we were releasing them in such a way that whatever was being put out there could not be exploited. So a lot of time and effort and energy went into it on my part.”
No-one wants to play Prince Andrew in ‘The Crown’
Prince Andrew is so toxic that no-one wants to play him in one of the hottest dramas on television. The makers of Netflix’s The Crown are looking for someone to play Prince Andrew in the next, fifth, series. Producers Left Bank Pictures are advertising the “very good role” on Spotlight, the acting-jobs website, the Sun reported, with Andrew described as in his mid-30s to early 40s.
The problem is—what with Andrew’s friendship with dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, his lack of co-operation with the American authorities, his ejection from royal duties, and general public distaste—not many people want to play him. A casting source told The Sun: “Prince Andrew is one of the most unpopular members of the royal family and wannabe stars aren’t exactly queuing up to play him. It’s not the sexiest role and is unlikely to set a Hollywood career alight. However, it might work for a real scene-stealer character artist.”
The Sun said the ad also reveals that filming for the next season will begin in August and continue to January 2022, with season six is scheduled to film from 2022 to 2033.
Harry’s not-very-secret meeting with billionaire philanthropist
The San Vicente Bungalows in West Hollywood is extremely exclusive and extremely secretive. And now its owner, Jeff Klein, is reportedly trying to discover the mole among its membership—who have all signed up to being as exclusive and secretive as the Bungalows themselves—who revealed to Page Six that Prince Harry met heiress and billionaire philanthropist Wallis Annenberg there.
Harry got back to Los Angeles on Tuesday from his trip to Britain to attend Prince Philip’s funeral. He met Annenberg on Wednesday, the queen’s 95th birthday. A source told Page Six: “They sat outside, far from other people, and Harry came in wearing a mask.”
Wallis’ father, Walter Annenberg, was the US ambassador to the UK under President Nixon from 1969 to 1974. In the long-buried documentary Royal Family which this correspondent watched when it resurfaced on YouTube briefly earlier this year (and whose filming Philip helped facilitate in 1969), the queen is heard referring to a “gorilla” she met, which some have surmised to be Annenberg.
The Annenberg Foundation helps support projects to do with climate change, animal welfare, and social justice—which is very closely aligned to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s charitable passions.
End of mourning
The official two-week period of royal mourning for Prince Philip ended Friday. The Daily Mail reports that, as of now, the family can resume their duties, and stop wearing black. The Daily Mail reported that the official royal family social media accounts now feature a picture of the queen on her own, taken during a visit to the headquarters of MI5 at Thames House in February 2020. Before Philip’s death, the picture was of the queen and Philip at the Epsom Derby in 2016.
This week in royal history
Happy 10th wedding anniversary, on April 29, to Prince William and Kate Middleton. They married on April 29, 2011 at Westminster Abbey—an occasion memorable for many reasons, including the semi-stealing of the event by Kate’s sister, Pippa.
Unanswered questions
What fresh dish will be in the second edition of Finding Freedom? What is the real state of relations between Princes Harry, Charles, and William? There seems to be a lot more royal making up to do, either before or maybe at the unveiling of the statue of Princess Diana, set for July—which FF, vol. 2 will likely imperil.
