In his new book Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War between the Windsors, published today by Blink Publishing, royal biographer Tom Bower claims Meghan’s speech created an “awkward atmosphere”, which Harry attempted to dissipate.
At the time the audience laughed at his comment, although Mr Bower believes it was the Prince’s way of reminding his soon-to-be wife not to get too ahead of herself.
As Meghan outlined her passion for empowering women Harry reminded her that they still had a wedding to plan, as the event took place just months before the couple tied the knot on May 19 in Windsor.
She told the audience: “With so many campaigns like MeToo and TimesUp, there’s no better time to continue to shine a light on women feeling empowered and people supporting them.
“You’ll often hear people say, ‘Well you’re helping people find their voice’ and I fundamentally disagree with that, because women don’t need to find a voice. They have a voice, they need to feel empowered to use it, and people need to be encouraged to listen.”
In spite of Meghan’s rousing words, as patrons of the Foundation, the Firm have little direct influence on the work the charity does, something the Duchess needed to learn.
Mr Bower wrote: “That power was exercised by the Foundation’s executives, an unimpressive group criticised for ineptly moving the royals around like chess pieces.
“While William, Kate and Harry had become accustomed to their motley behaviour, Meghan’s arrival as a natural recruit for the Foundation’s philanthropic work disturbed the rhythm of the executives’ habits.”
Mr Bower added that Meghan’s words ignored the royal rules of impartiality, arguing that she not been “invited to join the Royal Foundation to reinvent the Royal Family’s customs”.
Harry then intervened, whispering loudly “wedding first”, supposedly after he spotted the “rictus grin” on his older brother William’s face.
However Meghan hit back at the unexpected interruption, saying: “We can multi-task.”
Later at the event the royals admitted that they still had disagreements, less than two years after the Sussexes stepped down as working royals in 2020.
Harry said to the audience: “[Disputes] come so thick and fast, Working as a family does have its challenges.”
