NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Lifestyle

Royal fears as Duke and Duchess of Sussex cooperate with journalists on new biography

Daily Telegraph UK
26 Apr, 2020 09:30 PM7 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex

There has been an emotional television interview, a farewell tour and the opening of what may prove to be the royal court case of the century.

Next, it seems, there will be a book.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are to be the subject of a new biography, as it was yesterday claimed they had cooperated with authors on a book promising to unveil their "real world".

A new biography of the Sussexes, provisionally titled Thoroughly Modern Royals: The Real World of Harry and Meghan, was due to be published by New York-based Dey Street Books in June but was delayed.

READ MORE:
• Meghan and Harry vs Associated Newspapers: How court case could embarrass the Royal family
• Meghan and Harry tune in to first day of hearing in case against Associated Newspapers
• The message behind Meghan Markle's 'Good Morning America' look
• Meghan Markle to give first TV interview since leaving royal life

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

It has been in the planning for some time and is now set to be published this August, with its writers being given access to the duchess' engagements on a small number of occasions.

Staff in the royal households have been aware of the book's existence for many months, with several delays to its rumoured publication date as events moved on.

While there is concern about how much the couple's "friends" will choose to reveal about the personal lives of the royal family and life behind palace walls, some have expressed exasperation at the ongoing drama surrounding the Sussexes and their exit from Britain.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Sources emphasised that the remaining members of the royal family are focused on working together to help the country through the coronavirus crisis.

The couple, who have since moved to California with their 11-month-old son Archie, were said to have given an interview for the book, jointly written by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, according to The Mail on Sunday.

But sources close to the Sussexes stress that it was not an official biography and the book does not claim to have had an interview with them.

Scobie is royal editor at large for Harper's Bazaar online. He has covered the royal family for the past eight years and is a firm favourite of the Sussexes, attending the duchess' goodbye to staff at Buckingham Palace.

Discover more

Royals

Prince Harry records message for Thomas the Tank Engine

28 Apr 10:35 AM

Scobie is also a familiar face in America, as US network ABC's News's royal contributor he regularly appears on Good Morning America.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex

Meanwhile, Durand writes royal coverage for Elle magazine and Oprah magazine online and has covered The Firm for the past 15 years.

Based in the UK, Durand had previously been a producer for ABC.

The pair are thought to have begun working on the biography in the summer of 2018.

Royal-watchers predict the book will revisit stories about the duke and duchess that have appeared in the press, giving their version of events.

But friends close to the couple have previously warned that a tell-all interview would be a dangerous avenue for the couple to go down.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

ITV anchorman Tom Bradby, a close friend of the pair, said earlier this year that any public admissions from the couple could be "very damaging" to the monarchy, as he claimed the young parents felt like they have been "driven out" after they revealed their plans to step down as senior royals.

Bradby had previously done an interview during the couple's tour in southern Africa where the duchess admitted that "not many people have asked if I am okay", while Prince Harry confessed to a rift with his brother Prince William.

The interview added further fuel to the fire that the "Fab Four" were not getting along, as the Sussexes and Cambridges had split their royal households a few months previous.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex

Prince Harry may be taking his lead from his mother, Princess Diana, who had secretly been involved with Andrew Morton's biography Diana: Her True Story and encouraged her friends to help set the record straight.

Princess Diana's former private secretary Patrick Jephson told the Mail on Sunday: "Collaborating with pliable authors and magazine journalists while shunning those deemed awkward is standard royal practice, but for Harry and Meghan it's not just about image – for them it's business: a vital part of the selfbranding and marketing process."

But fans hope the book will be an extended exercise in revealing the "truth" about Harry and Meghan, following a now-famous interview with People magazine in which five of the duchess's friends shared their version of the woman they knew.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Meg has silently sat back and endured the lies and untruths," said one, in February 2019, as they told of her kind deeds, faith in God and generous treatment of staff.

The interview is now at the centre of the duchess's case against the Mail on Sunday, as she denies on record any prior knowledge that it was taking place.

View this post on Instagram

50 years ago, women in Britain won the right to equal pay. That monumental moment began with one courageous and inspiring group of women in a factory in Dagenham, England. In 1968, facing a pay settlement that declared them less skilled than men, the sewing machinists of the Ford Motor Company walked out on strike. In the face of great pressure, they stood firm, and two years later the UK Parliament was forced to pass the Equal Pay Act, protecting and supporting working women ever since. To mark International Women’s Day, The Duchess of Sussex visited Dagenham to meet with Geraldine Dear, one of the strikers, and spend time with students at the Robert Clack Upper School to meet the town’s next generation of female role models, and talk to young women and men about the women who inspire them. • “Being in Dagenham is incredibly profound. Because as you can see with Geraldine and the other women who had the strength to really stand up for something that they knew needed to be done. This is the best example of no matter how small you might feel, how low you may feel on the ladder or the totem pole, no matter what colour you are, no matter what gender you are, you have a voice, and you certainly have the right to speak up for what is right.” - The Duchess of Sussex A lifetime advocate and campaigner for gender equity, The Duchess joined a special assembly to celebrate this remarkable local story, as well as recognise the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of all women around the world. #InternationalWomensDay #IWD2020 #EachForEqual Photo © The Duke and Duchess of Sussex / Chris Allerton

A post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on Mar 8, 2020 at 5:08am PDT

The duchess's legal challenge against the Mail on Sunday, who published a letter she had sent to her father, Thomas Markle, reached the High Court on Friday.

The duchess is suing for undisclosed damages over misuse of private information, breach of data protection, and copyright infringement.

Ahead of the court case, the private pair had announced that they would no longer engage with various tabloid press.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex sent a letter to the editors of The Sun, the Daily Mail, the Daily Express and the Daily Mirror to say that they are ceasing all co-operation because of "distorted, false or invasive" stories.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Lifestyle

Royals

Princess of Wales opens up about cancer recovery's 'new normal'

02 Jul 08:02 PM
Premium
Lifestyle

I’m a relationship psychotherapist – this is how to put your divorce behind you

02 Jul 07:00 PM
Premium
LifestyleUpdated

Society Insider: Martin Henderson’s house with Kiwi girlfriend; Designer expands into Arrowtown; AFC star’s romantic proposal

02 Jul 05:00 PM

Sponsored: Get your kids involved in your reno

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Lifestyle

Princess of Wales opens up about cancer recovery's 'new normal'

Princess of Wales opens up about cancer recovery's 'new normal'

02 Jul 08:02 PM

Kate discussed the pressures of 'putting on a brave face'.

Premium
I’m a relationship psychotherapist – this is how to put your divorce behind you

I’m a relationship psychotherapist – this is how to put your divorce behind you

02 Jul 07:00 PM
Premium
Society Insider: Martin Henderson’s house with Kiwi girlfriend; Designer expands into Arrowtown; AFC star’s romantic proposal

Society Insider: Martin Henderson’s house with Kiwi girlfriend; Designer expands into Arrowtown; AFC star’s romantic proposal

02 Jul 05:00 PM
Arli Liberman: The art of scoring in sport

Arli Liberman: The art of scoring in sport

02 Jul 06:01 AM
Sponsored: Why heat pumps make winter cheaper
sponsored

Sponsored: Why heat pumps make winter cheaper

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP