Nine bombshells in new royal book, from King’s unusual sleeping habit to Meghan’s nickname
A brand new royal book titled ‘My Mother and I’ by Ingrid Seward has hit the shelves and it contains several claims about the Royal Family’s relationships. Nine major bombshells have been revealed from a new royal book titled ‘My Mother and I’ by Ingrid Seward which hits the shelves today. It reveals many claims about the relationship between the late Queen Elizabeth II and her eldest son, King Charles III. One revelation includes King Charles supposedly getting “irritated” about people taking advantage of the late Queen’s good nature.
The book also sheds light on thoughts documented in Prince Harry’s tell-all memoir, Spare, which was released on January 10, 2023, and the relationship between King Charles and the late Princess Diana. Author Ingrid Seward is the editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine and the author of countless royal books. Here are the nine major revelations from the new royal book.
1. Queen Elizabeth’s assessment of Meghan’s wedding dress
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle married in a lavish ceremony at Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018, less than two years after they first met, and the Big Day included a star-studed guest list. However, the late Queen is said to have thought Meghan’s dress – which was designed by Givenchy – was not fit for a divorcee. According to author Ingrid Seward, the only remark the late monarch made about Harry and Meghan’s wedding was regarding the bride’s white, flowing Givenchy wedding gown.
Ingrid writes: “Lady Elizabeth Anson told me that the Queen had made only one remark to her about Meghan and Harry’s wedding, which was that the bride’s Givenchy wedding gown was ‘too white’. In the monarch’s view, it was not appropriate for a divorcee getting remarried in church to look quite so flamboyantly virginal. “In the monarch’s view, it was not appropriate for a divorcee getting remarried in church to look quite so flamboyantly virginal.”
2. The late Queen had high hopes for Meghan
The royal author claims despite the late Queen’s high hopes for Meghan Markle when she first started dating Prince Harry, Queen Elizabeth’s husband, Prince Philip, was unsure and warned the Queen about her thoughts of the actress. Ingrid explains in the book: “Soon the country as a whole seemed to take to Meghan with equally genuine delight. One of the few wary of succumbing to her charm offensive, however, was Prince Philip. While the Queen continued to champion Harry’s new love, he warned his wife to be cautious.” She added: “Indeed, much later, she would remark in her clipped way that perhaps Harry had been ‘too in love’ with the American actress.”
3. Prince Philip’s brutal nickname for Meghan
Prince Philip had a coded nickname for Meghan Markle, which was “DoW”, because she reminded him so much of Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor. Prince Philip was one of the few people “wary of succumbing” to Meghan Markle’s “charm offensive” when she first joined the Royal Family, the royal author has claimed in her new book. The late Duke of Edinburgh, known for his no-nonsense approach to life, reportedly didn’t see eye to eye with Queen Elizabeth II when it came to the Duchess of Sussex. He drew a parallel in his mind between Meghan and Wallis Simpson, the American twice-divorced socialite behind the constitutional crisis that rocked Britain in 1936, author Ingrid Seward claimed.
4. Queen Elizabeth upset by Harry’s “high-handed” attitude
A year and a half after their royal wedding, the Sussexes decided to sensationally quit their roles. It saw the pair leave the UK in order to move to California to become “financially independent”. Later they gave a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, in which they criticised royal life and opened up about Royal Family relationships. The book claims the Queen was left upset by the decision: “According to Lady Elizabeth, the Queen was dismayed by Harry’s high-handed attitude both before and after the wedding, and their relationship was ‘quite badly damaged by it all’.” The decision to leave the family was something the late Queen “never truly understood”. In the book, Lady Elizabeth added: “However much she loved Harry — and she did — she couldn’t condone the way he was speaking about the institution of the monarchy she’d spent 70 years preserving.”
5. King Charles embarrassed by Harry upsetting Queen
Not only does ‘My Mother and I’ claim the Queen was left frustrated by Harry, so was his father Charles, as he became “swept up” in his role as Spare. It reads: “Charles was embarrassed that he was unable to stop Harry upsetting the Queen by attacking what was, in essence, his and William’s inheritance. Harry became so swept up with his role as spare that he even compared himself to his aunt Margo [Princess Margaret]; he hardly knew her, but it struck him – as he says in his autobiography – that they should have been friends.” In Spare, the Duke of Sussex likened his and Prince William’s “sibling rivalry” to that of his grandmother and great-aunt.
6. Prince William and Prince Harry’s beard row
Ingrid writes how a row broke out between the two brothers over Harry having a beard on his wedding day. The book says the Queen reluctantly allowed Harry to keep his beard while in uniform on his wedding day but adds: “When William discovered this, he was furious: annoyed that Harry had gone to the Queen, annoyed she had given him her clearance and annoyed at what he saw as Harry’s oneupmanship.” Ingrid writes: “William had not been allowed to keep his beard and had not been able to wear the military outfit of choice at his wedding. He was the heir and he had to do everything by the book.” During Harry’s ITV interview with Tom Bradby ahead of the UK release of his autobiography Spare, Harry goes into great detail about his relationship with his older brother. He alleges that William argued with him for a week about keeping the beard for his wedding then ordered him to shave it off.
7. Charles never enjoyed his mother taking part in anything “undignified”
Ingrid writes how Charles never enjoyed his mother “taking part in things he considered undignified”. But even he was charmed by her Platinum Jubilee sketch with Paddington. In the sketch, Paddington Bear joined the Queen for afternoon tea and was delighted they both shared a love of marmalade sandwiches. In the book, Ingrid writes the Queen was snapped for her dresser Angela Kelly’s book ‘The Other Side’ posing like a model. She writes: “It was enough to incur Charles’s wrath – he felt it was thoroughly inappropriate, however good the photographs may have been. He was protective about his mother and thoroughly disliked what he considered was taking advantage of her good nature.”
8. Diana’s heartbreaking concern for Harry
Ingrid also claims that Harry and William’s relationship “has always been fraught with rivalry” and had a complex about being “second best”. She writes that this led Diana to call her youngest son “her little baby” as he did not want to share his mother with his eldest brother. Ingrid adds: “Diana was concerned everyone was going to think he was ‘thick’ as he didn’t have any thirst for knowledge and was not interested in sitting down with a book. He always felt the need to compete in everything, especially with his brother.”
9. King Charles refused to dance with Diana at an event
The wedding between the then Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana is mentioned in the book, with the pair marrying in St Paul’s Cathedral in 1981. The early days of courtship are mentioned in the book and it is claimed Diana felt humiliated by Charles after he refused to dance with her at Prince Andrew’s 21st birthday party at Windsor Castle.
Charles supposedly spent the entire evening “dutifully working the room” and making sure he would talk to as many people as possible. Diana was “in despair” so she “threw herself into dancing frantically with one man after another – and finally just dancing by herself.” After this, the author writes: “She [Diana] was distraught, flustered, angry and had no intention of ever going back. As far as Diana was concerned, the Royal Wedding was off.” The book then claims that Diana went to her father’s home in Northamptonshire at 5.30am the following morning where she was talked out of making any hasty decisions.
