Meghan and Harry: straight from the author`s mouth

 

Meghan saw there were deals to be made because they were royals': Ex-Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown says former actress couldn't resist what was on offer 'at the celebrity buffet'

• Tina Brown said Meghan desired to have wealth and stature like Michelle Obama
• The former Vanity Fair editor also claimed Meghan wanted to 'cash in' on royalty
• However, she said Prince Harry would have left the royals even without Meghan 

By Danyal Hussain For Mailonline

Meghan Markle saw they were 'deals to be made' as a royal and couldn't resist what was offer at the 'celebrity buffet', ex-Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown has claimed.  

Appearing on Washington Post Live today to promote her new book 'The Palace Papers', Ms Brown, who was Princess Diana's diarist, said the Duchess of Sussex has 'no purpose' and wanted to 'cash in' on the commercial arm of being a royal. 

Discussing Harry and Meghan's exit from royal life, she said: 'They wanted to be able to have a commercial arm to their activities. That was the stumbling block. Meghan certainly saw the deals that were there to be made because they were royals.

'It's as though she couldn't resist everything that was on offer on the celebrity buffet.

'A hunger to avail herself of the global leverage, to live in glorious houses without strings attached.'

Ms Brown suggested that Meghan was inspired by Michelle Obama and wanted to have the wealth as well as the stature. However, she also insisted that Harry would have wanted to leave the royal family even without Meghan. 

She added: 'A very close adviser told me 'we always knew he would go at some point he was very unhappy'. Even the Queen knew. 

'I really think Harry wanted out, himself. Meghan gave Harry the tools to leave. She understood the world of agents and deals. I mean this wasn't Harry's world, but suddenly he had in Meghan a very worldly strategist who he decided to trust above all the other advisors.' 

Tina Brown, who was Princess Diana's diarist, said the Duchess of Sussex has 'no purpose' and wanted to 'cash in' on the commercial arm of being a royal

Ms Brown suggested that Meghan was inspired by Michelle Obama and wanted to have the wealth as well as the stature

The couple have struggled since leaving the royal family, Ms Brown believes. She thinks Meghan is finding it difficult to find a 'brand' and the Sussexes didn't realise how hard life would be while cut off from the palace. 

She said: 'They both completely underestimated what it was going to be like to be without the palace platform.

'The Palace has amazing convening power, every major invitation in the world comes through that conduit. All of that is now gone. 

'Meghan doesn't really have a brand – you feel that she is grasping at the 'Twitter caring' of the moment. Vaccinations, Ukraine, Women's rights, my 40th birthday, let's have a mentoring scheme. Nothing is really going anywhere for Meghan.

'And the whole problem, with entertainment deal is you have to produce. They've signed with Netflix but what have we seen? Nothing.

'Creating entertainment that works is very hard to do. Their Spotify podcast is going nowhere. Netflix is not doing so well are they going to renew that contract?'

Ms Brown also discussed why Meghan would have struggled so much after joining the royal family. 

She suggested: 'She was suddenly completely dependent on her husband for money and he was completely dependent on the bank of dad – Charles and at the same time had to ask Granny for one of the houses on the royal estates to live.

'That kind of infantilizing was very maddening to Meghan.

'I think the queen and the palace set them up for a lot of success. She gave her patron of the National Theatre and vice chairman of the commonwealth foundation – no better platform to talk about women's education and the question of minorities.'

Her latest comments come after she previously claimed Meghan would not want to return to the UK for more than a fleeting visit if Harry mends his relationship with his father and brother because 'she disliked England',

Ms Brown has said she believes Prince Harry may even want to make a sensational return to the Royal Family after the Queen's death - splitting his time between Britain and the US - though Meghan would be unlikely to be fully on board. 

Her latest comments come after she previously claimed Meghan would not want to return to the UK for more than a fleeting visit

Ms Brown has described Megxit as a 'disaster for both sides' and claimed Harry and Meghan caused 'maximum mayhem' when leaving the Royal Family because they are 'addicted to drama'.  

She said: 'I think that Harry is going to want to come back when the Queen dies to serve his country. And I think they will find a way to reel him in. And it's possible that Meghan - maybe they will have a commuter arrangement. I don't know. I don't see Meghan ever wanting to go back. She disliked England.' 

Ms Brown claimed that the British public are 'very very sad' about Megxit, because they took Harry to their hearts and also tried to support him when he found love with Meghan. Ms Brown also labelled Prince Harry a 'very impetuous man' and revealed how Palace advisors 'always thought he would leave'.

She said: 'I actually think there is a Harry-shaped hole in the royal family now. And Harry was beloved, actually, by the British people. And people adored Meghan when she came into the mix.

'So it was actually very, very sad for everybody that it went so wrong because they actually need Harry and Meghan now. You should see, the Queen is failing, and she's very frail. They kind of need Harry and Meghan to bring that star power and to be on the balcony at the Jubilee. We have to have a royal family up there. We can't have Andrew up there.'

Harry and Meghan arrived in Britain after an overnight British Airways flight from Los Angeles. They did not bring their children, Archie, two, and ten-month-old Lilibet – who the Queen has still not met.

They were driven to Frogmore where they spent the night. After his failure to attend his grandfather's memorial service last month – amid an ongoing legal row with the Home Office over the removal of his police protection – Harry's offer to visit the Queen was being viewed as an olive branch.

But the Duke of Sussex upset palace officials and reportedly his father and brother after claiming part of his visit was motivated by 'making sure she's protected and got the right people around her.'

Harry went on to claim that the Queen tells him things she feels she cannot tell anyone else.

He said: 'We have a really special relationship. We talk about things that she can't talk about with anybody else. So that's always a nice piece to it.'