There’s a new book out that is disclosing a lot of the juicy details about the Royal Family. Katie Nicholl, the royal correspondent for Vanity Fair, tells all in the book, “The New Royals: Queen Elizabeth’s Legacy and the Future of the Crown.” 

Many of the revelations are already history, but there are many unanswered questions. Nicholl tackles them. 

Katie Nicholl is the author of the book “Harry and Meghan: Life, Loss, and Love,” published in 2019. She also wrote several other books about the royal family, including “Kate, the Future Queen,” and “The Making of a Royal Romance: William, Kate and Harry.”

In the new book, she says that Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, allegedly said no to invitations to visit the Queen a couple of times before she died in September. 

The book alleges that the royal couple was invited in 2019 to visit the Queen at the Balmoral estate in Scotland. The invitation occurred before the couple moved to California. 

Nicholl told Fox News, “The queen traditionally hosted a big gathering for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. It was always a weekend that she looked forward to. And on this occasion, the Sussexes [Harry and Meghan] didn’t go.”

According to the author, the couple was already in the process of distancing themselves from the Royal Family. Meghan Markle, who was an American actress, was frustrated with what was perceived as a lack of support from Harry’s family, and was being hounded by the media, which she found exhausting. There was also the issue of racial prejudice, which was perceived as sometimes overt and sometimes subtle. All of this led to the couple wanting to stay away.

According to the book, they instead took a trip to the South of France for Meghan’s birthday, August 4, with their son, Archie. Nicholl says that life had become “unbearable” for the couple in the UK.

Nicholl points out that the derogatory press coverage experienced by Meghan was also experienced by Kate Middleton, Prince William’s wife, because of her middle-class upbringing.

Prince Harry and his wife announced in 2020 that they were giving up their royal duties and were “stepping back” their responsibilities associated with the royal family, due to the pressure from the media and the perceived racist attitudes toward Meghan. They moved to California and had their second child, Lilibet, in 2021. She is named after her grandmother. 

Prince Harry wanted to visit his family in February 2022, but according to his attorneys, the couple decided that it was unsafe, without intense security, to bring their young children to the UK. The attorneys said that the UK government had refused to allow Harry to pay for security out of his own pocket. They had lost the right to taxpayer-funded security when they moved to the US and gave up their royal duties. 

In July 2022, a judge in London said that Prince Harry could sue the UK government about the security issues. The case is pending.

The family did visit the UK for the Platinum Jubilee, a celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s 70 years as Queen. 

Nicholl points out that Harry was already 38 when he first met Meghan, an actress who had starred in “Suits.” She was 41. They met on a blind date set up by a mutual friend and their romance quickly escalated. His brother William, who says he was happy for Harry, told him to take it slow. 

Nicholl alleges that Prince Harry was not happy with the decision to separate from his family. 

In the book, she describes the conflict: “I don’t think he ever wanted to really leave. I think he truly believed there was a third way of doing this. And that was a way of representing the queen and still being able to live financially independent lives. But of course, that’s never worked in the past. It’s unlikely to work because there’s always going to be a conflict, a clash of interests. We saw the queen move quite swiftly to ensure that that didn’t happen.”

The Queen said there was no middle ground. “You’re either in or out.” She was apparently hurt by Harry’s decision to leave the UK and his royal connections. She confided to a close friend that she was emotionally overwhelmed by the separation. 

Queen Elizabeth died on September 8 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland at the age of 96.

Nicholl also talks about Harry’s injured relationship with his brother William. 

According to Nicholl, Harry and Meghan are on the sidelines now. They are no longer the stars of the show. 

They still get plenty of attention, though, as many people can feel the anguish of a young couple wanting to be independent and keep their family safe.