Prince Harry's old UK pals reportedly told him he was "f***ing nuts" for dating Meghan Markle when they first got together, according to an explosive book. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex began dating in 2016, got engaged a year later and married in 2018.
Royal author Tom Bower claims there was fierce tension between Harry's Eton friends and his future wife in his 2022 tell-all, Revenge: Meghan, Harry, and the War between the Windsors. In an excerpt first serialised by The Sunday Times, Bower wrote that Meghan joined the Prince for a long weekend at Sandringham with 16 of his closest friends in 2016, before their romance was officially announced the following year.
Shooting weekend turns sour
Things quickly turned sour when the group went out shooting, reports the Express. Bower wrote: "Like other shooting weekends, Harry was looking forward to endless banter, jokes and a lot of drinking. Their jokes involving sexism, feminism and transgender people ricocheted around the living rooms and dining rooms."
The author added: "Without hesitation, Meghan challenged every guest whose conversation contravened her values. According to some of Harry's friends, again and again she reprimanded them about the slightest inappropriate nuance. Nobody was exempt."
'Dampener on the party'
Bower claimed Meghan's stance did not impress Harry's friends. He wrote: "Meghan was a dampener on the party, they concluded. She lacked any sense of humour. Driving home after Sunday lunch, the texts pinged between the cars: 'OMG what about HER?' said one; 'Harry must be f****** nuts.'"
In another excerpt from the book, Bower alleged that guests at Thomas Inskip's wedding in Jamaica in November 2017 were also unimpressed with the duchess. He said: "Their suspicion of Meghan increased; the sentiment was mutual. Meghan disliked Inskip and his crowd. Their jokes and their attitude towards the world seemed unacceptable to her."
