LONDON, March 14 - A newly published biography about Prince Harry includes an assertion that Queen Camilla told a friend the prince had been "brainwashed" by his wife Meghan. The claim, printed in extracts from the book, prompted a strong response on Saturday from a spokesperson for Harry and Meghan who characterised the portrayal as a "deranged conspiracy".
The book's author, Tom Bower, whose previous work has focused on members of the royal family, wrote in the extracts published in the Times newspaper that tensions between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and other senior royals began not long after the couple's high-profile 2018 wedding.
Bower's account states that the couple are now largely estranged from the rest of the family since stepping back from official duties in 2020 and relocating to California, and that Harry has seldom seen his father, King Charles, in recent years.
In the passages released by the newspaper, the author wrote that Harry's elder brother, Prince William, and his wife, Kate, were alarmed by Meghan's influence on Harry and regarded her as a threat. The book attributes to Camilla the remark, "Meghan's brainwashed Harry," which the author says she made to a friend.
The extracts also recount Harry's reaction to the fall from grace of his uncle, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. According to the book, Harry was said to be shocked by Andrew's loss of titles and removal from his residence following connections to the late convicted U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and feared he might face a similar ostracism from his brother.
Responding to the publication, a spokesperson for Harry and Meghan issued an unusually blunt statement, saying Bower's commentary had "long crossed the line from criticism into fixation." The spokesperson added: "Those interested in facts will look elsewhere; those seeking deranged conspiracy and melodrama know exactly where to find him."
Buckingham Palace declined to comment on behalf of King Charles and Queen Camilla. Representatives for Prince William and Kate did not immediately respond with a comment, according to the reporting on the extracts.
Contextual note: The material quoted here reflects the claims and responses presented in the book extracts and the replies from the Sussexes' spokesperson. Where the book reports remarks or reactions, those attributions are reported as they appear in the excerpts.