'Cracks started to appear' in Prince Harry and Meghan's marriage after duchess' pursuit of global stardom, author claims

The Duchess of Sussex's relentless pursuit of global stardom caused "tension" in her marriage, a royal author has claimed.

Ever since she and Prince Harry chose to leave their places as senior working royals, Meghan has been trying to reposition herself as a philanthropist and used a charity conference to speak mainly about herself to "sustain her brand".

Biographer Tom Bower made the claims in his new book Betrayal, which has been dismissed by team Sussex as "deranged conspiracy and melodrama".

Excerpts from the book have been published in The Times newspaper.

In September, 2022, Prince Harry and Meghan returned to the UK for the first time since their controversial departure two years before.

The duchess was named as guest speaker at the One Young World summit in Manchester, which was to be her first major appearance in the UK since 'Megxit'.

Meghan's speech was too focused on herself, Bower claims, much to the dismay of the event's organisers.

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"Nearly fifty times in just ten minutes, she intended to say 'I'.... And over the next ten minutes, she spoke exclusively about herself and her rise to fame," he writes in the book.

Prince Harry was concerned about losing his and Meghan's automatic right to armed protection as a result of stepping back as working royals and his fears around his safety overshadowed the visit to Manchester.

"But with Meghan's insistence that her appearance was essential to sustain her brand, he decided to 'risk assassination'," Bower adds.

Three days later, Queen Elizabeth II died which brought Prince Harry and Meghan back into close contact with the rest of the royal family.

But tensions were strained.

Three years later, Prince Harry had his first face to face meeting with his father King Charles in 19 months.

They met at Clarence House for just 54 minutes during Harry's brief return to London for various charity events, minus Meghan.

Harry's reunion with his father was widely seen as the King offering an olive branch of sorts after years of frosty relations between the royals and the Sussexes.

As her husband was trying to smooth things over with the King, "Meghan separated herself from Harry's woes, plotting instead how to restore her status in America" Bower claims.

She was busy with her Netflix series With Love, Meghan and the launch of her lifestyle brand As ever, selling jams, flower sprinkles and shortbread mix.

The duchess and her team embarked on a "publicity blitz".

"Meghan's staff and agent were galvanised to negotiate engagements in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Washington, New York and Paris," Bower writes.

One event was a surprise appearance at Paris Fashion Week and weeks later the duke and duchess were in New York to receive a Humanitarians of the Year award.

Bower says Meghan's push for stardom had negative effects on her and Harry's relationship and "some cracks started to appear".

"Together, Meghan and Harry looked tired. In New York, they seemed to be arguing after Meghan pushed Harry's hand away. There was good reason for the tension."

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex slammed Bower's book.

"Mr Bower's commentary has long crossed the line from criticism into fixation," the spokesperson told nine.com.au

"He has made a career out of constructing ever more elaborate theories about people he does not know and has never met."

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