PALACE insiders believe Meghan Markle “radicalises” Prince Harry and “stirs the pot for her own motives”, a royal expert has claimed.
Jonny Dymond, the BBC’s royal correspondent, said people “in different quarters” believe the Duke of Sussex was “happier in his role” before the Duchess came along.
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His comments came after Harry spoke candidly with host Dax Shephard on the Armchair Expert podcast yesterday, comparing his life as a senior royal to “a mixture between The Truman Show and being in a zoo”.
Of the reason he stepped down from royal life, Harry said: “In my early 20s, it was a case of of ‘I don’t want to be here, I don’t want to do this job.”
He added: “Look what it did to my mum – how am I ever going to settle down and have a family when I know that it’s going to happen again?
“I’ve seen behind the curtain, I know the business model, I know how this works. I don’t want to be part of this’.”
According to Harry, he had wanted to leave the Royal Firm in his twenties – years before he met Meghan Markle.
But Dymond told BBC Radio 4: “It’s been put to me by people in different quarters that this is largely as a result of Meghan, that he was happier in his role before Meghan.
“He himself says in this podcast she was part of the process of him understanding there was a different way and a different place for him to be, he’s pretty open about that.
“The way some people in the palace see it, she stirs the pot for her own motives and radicalises Harry.”
Meghan and Harry have repeatedly told how happy they are together, with Harry telling Oprah during their bombshell interview in March: “I’m just really relieved and happy to be sitting here talking to you with my wife by my side.”
They are currently expecting their second child, with Meghan juggling life as a mum to son Archie and a number of new ventures.
The Duchess recently revealed the story behind her upcoming book, The Bench, saying its illustrations captured “the warmth, joy, and comfort of the relationship between fathers and sons” – a representation “particularly important” to her.
Hinting at her and Harry’s happiness, she said in a statement: “My hope is that The Bench resonates with every family, no matter the makeup, as much as it does with mine.”
The Sussexes quit the UK last year for a new life in the US after the couple stepped down as senior royals.
And Harry told Dax Shepard: “I moved my whole family to the US, that wasn’t the plan but sometimes you’ve got make decisions and put your family first and put your mental health first.”
Dymond later said he had no feelings himself on the matter.
