Exclusive: What started Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s war with the paparazzi

While the pandemic has made 2020 an eventful year for most, for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, it has been quite a ride—the couple has resigned from their roles as ‘senior’ royals, moved across the ocean to the United States, and are still in the midst of a heated battle with the press and paparazzi for the right to their privacy. The new biography on the couple, Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family, written by longtime royal reporters Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand draws attention to many aspects of the couple's life since their wedding in 2018, through interviews with more than 100 friends, aides and others in the Sussexes’ “inner circle”. 

Ahead, read an exclusive excerpt from the chapter ‘Tropical Storms’ from the upcoming release:

London was starting to feel like home. On many nights, she and Harry curled up in his modest living room, binge-watching TV (Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad were favorites). They also had the same taste in films. Fans of Disney, they loved to watch movies like Moana and The Lion King. And thanks to the arrival of awards season in the United States, Meghan was also in possession of a stack of screeners sent out to voters and SAG-AFTRA members. Because Meghan was a member, the pair were able to view the year’s best cinema from the comfort of their own home.

They emerged from time to time, visiting the Notting Hill movie theater the Electric Cinema to see Hidden Figures or grabbing a bite to eat. They had their tried-and-true spots, including Soho House, the site of their first meeting, and the Sands End, a rustic style gastropub in Fulham owned by Mark Dyer. The former Welsh Guards officer—who accompanied Harry on his gap year—had always been on hand to offer the prince advice and support.

Harry and Meghan were at ease in those places, but that wasn’t the case when they headed off to Jamaica in March for the wedding of Harry’s pal Tom Inskip, who had been in Las Vegas for the infamous trip back in 2012. Montego Bay’s Round Hill Hotel and Villas was more open than felt comfortable, but the couple received assurances that all 110 acres of the resort would be closed to the public for the entire three-day affair. And so, Harry booked a villa on the far corner of the resort, tucked beneath the lush vegetation and the couple hopped a flight for the Caribbean.

On the first day, gloriously sunny skies and turquoise waters put all the wedding guests in a celebratory mood. The festivities went far into the night as old friends stayed up late, tossing back cocktails and exchanging memories.

But just twenty-four hours in, the trip soured for Harry and Meghan. Protection officers accompanying the pair to Jamaica discovered a photographer from a Los Angeles–based celebrity photo agency on the grounds. They were promptly tossed out of the resort, but not before capturing the couple in a steamy embrace on their private balcony and Meghan in her tiny swimsuits frolicking in the water with the prince.

While Meghan was horrified by the intrusion, Harry was apoplectic. During a heated call to the palace, he laid out his instructions in no uncertain terms. These photos were not to see the light of day. “Do whatever needs to be done,” the prince said.

His communications secretary assured Harry that the situation was being taken care of. Subsequent calls to the company, using such language as “outrageous violation of privacy,” ensured that the revealing balcony photos were never offered up for purchase and didn’t turn up anywhere, even in the darkest corners of the Internet (they still have never seen the light of day). But the agency still planned to sell pictures of the couple in the water, including dozens of frames zoomed in on Meghan’s body.

In their villa bedroom, Harry was angry and shouting while Meghan was concerned. She more than understood his feelings about media intrusion, how that deep distrust had formed after his mother’s death and had never gone away, bubbling up each time a reporter took their efforts to get a story too far. But she had never seen him like this. In past incidents with the paparazzi, Meghan had usually been able to find the right words to soothe his anger. Often, she was the only one able to calm Harry down when he got into one of his moods. In Jamaica, however, he remained frustrated for days. He was in such a state that even his buddies remarked on his dour mood. Although Meghan had never seen this side of Harry before, she wasn’t put off by it. Instead, she was sad to see him so affected.

Unfortunately, it was hardly the last time the press would ruin their plans. Intense media scrutiny was the reason Meghan shuttered her lifestyle blog, The Tig, in April, announcing that her once-beloved passion project had run its course. It wasn’t so much that her blog was criticized as it was used to fuel false speculation about her personal life with the prince. All of her old posts became news stories. If she and Harry weren’t seen in three days, someone at a gossip blog would pull up her recipe for acai bowls and write a story that that was what she was serving her new man. Or her post about the benefits of green juice: Was this the diet she was making Harry follow? No, it was some article Meghan had written three years earlier. It all got very silly and no longer fit with the life of a royal girlfriend.

After taking a moment to share some of her favorite quotes from the site (including “Being yourself is the prettiest thing a person can be,” “Of this be sure: you do not find the happy life . . . you make it,” and “Travel often; getting lost will help you find yourself”), she addressed her readers.

“After close to three beautiful years on this adventure with you, it’s time to say goodbye to The Tig,” Meghan wrote in a farewell letter online. “What began as a passion project (my little engine that could) evolved into an amazing community of inspiration, support, fun, and frivolity. You’ve made my days brighter and filled this experience with so much joy. Keep finding those Tig moments of discovery, keep laughing and taking risks, and keep being ‘the change you wish to see in the world.’

“Above all, don’t ever forget your worth—as I’ve told you time and time again: you, my sweet friend, you are enough.”

Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family is published by HarperCollins India and releases on August 25. Pre-order the book here

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