Prince Harry Was 'Obsessed' With The Press Long Before Meghan Markle, Author Claims

Press obsessed! It seems Prince Harry’s concerns surrounding the British tabloids started long before Meghan Markle came on the scene.

Earlier this week, Valentine Lowe, the author of the new book, Courtiers: the Hidden Power Behind the Crown spoke candidly about Prince Harry’s relationship with the press prior to his marriage to Meghan, revealing that the royal was “so very unhappy,” especially with his worries surrounding leaks.

“This was brewing for a long time - before Meghan,” the author explained during an appearance on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday, October 5, claiming that the prince “had this obsession with the media.”

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Part of this obsession, Lowe alleges in his book, came in the form of intensely questioning staff surrounding where their alleged allegiances lie — with him or the Royal establishment.

“He would use this phrase the whole time, ‘the palace syndrome’, when you won’t fight the battles he wants, because you have been institutionalised,’” the author wrote, explaining that “giving in to the media was a key symptom of whether you had developed it.

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“It was a constant test of loyalty,” the author continued of the Prince’s pre-Markle years. “‘Are you going to protect me? Or have you just become one of them, who won’t fight for me?’ It was exhausting.”

These existing tensions became “significantly worse” when Meghan came on the scene during summer 2016, Lowe claimed.

“Harry’s obsession with the media; his sense of frustration that he wasn’t achieving everything that he could; his mistrust of the courtiers in the other households; the constant loyalty tests of his own staff: all of this was there before Meghan arrived on the scene,” the author reiterated. “But after she turned up, it would get significantly worse.”

The pair ultimately chose to take a step back from royal life in January 2020, leaving the United Kingdom for California.

The Sun previously reported on Lowe’s recent comments.