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

Meghan Markle makes first TV appearance in a featurette for the upcoming documentary Elephant, which she narrates. Video / Disney

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

"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.

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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.