Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are in “total panic” and their Christmas plans are in disarray, after a bombshell book controversially named two royals accused of being racist.

An insider says, “The Sussexes are hunkered down in a total panic as the royal racist scandal reaches new heights – and it’s plunged their holiday plans and living arrangement into absolute chaos. 

“They’re following the news minute by minute, not through choice but necessity, since so much is being spewed about their supposed involvement in this book – and now there’s a huge pressure to fix this mess that so many people in high places perceive they themselves created.” 

Two weeks ago, a storm erupted after the Dutch translation of royal author Omid Scobie’s book, Endgame, named King Charles and the Princess of Wales, Kate as the subject of a letter Meghan wrote to the King following her claims that the family had “concerns” over the skin colour of her unborn son with Harry.

It came after an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, in which the Sussexes alleged an unnamed member of the royal family spoke about their son’s skin colour.

No evidence has ever been produced and Harry subsequently said there was no allegation of “racism”, but suggested there was possibly “unconscious bias” in the royal family.

Buckingham Palace is due to present options to the King over taking legal action against Omid or the publishers following reports that the Dutch translation of the book may have been from an early draft manuscript.

The insider explains Harry, 29, and Meghan, 42, are keeping a low profile around the furore, but all their social plans are up in the air.

They say, “At this point they’re waiting to see how the royals collectively react and keeping their heads down, but it’s thrown their whole schedule into chaos and they’re feeling a little humiliated. Lunches and dinners have been cancelled, they’re having legal and strategy meetings galore and drawing up contingency plans for all kinds of scenarios – including the possibility of legal action being brought against them and having their titles rescinded. 

“Suffice to say, this is a true nightmare and they’re seriously freaking out.”

After the Dutch version of the book was taken off the shelves, Piers Morgan identified the royal pair on his TalkTV show, saying the names were already circulating abroad. Other publications followed suit. Then, the morning after Piers revealed the names, Omid, 42, defended himself in an interview on ITV’s This Morning, insisting he never named the royals in his writing.

Omid said, “I had never submitted a book that had their names in it, so I can only talk about my version.

“I wrote and edited the English version of the book with one publisher.”
He added, “That then gets licensed to other publishers. I can’t speak Italian, German, French, Dutch or any of the other languages that it’s come out in.”

The journalist – who wrote 2021 book Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of A Modern Royal Family, which was written with the Duchess’s contribution through one of Meghan’s aides also denied he was “Meghan’s mouthpiece” or “cheerleader” and was close to tears as he complained that he had been treated unfairly.

After just over two years of working as senior royals, Harry and Meghan – who are parents to Prince Archie, six and Lilibet, two – controversially left the royal household in 2020 for the US. They have since made a number of damning accusations about members of the royal family in interviews, a Netflix docuseries and Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare.

Released in January, Spare had no shortage of explosive revelations, including his claim his older brother Prince William physically attacked him, driving the wedge driven between the couple and the royal household even further. 

However, hints of a reconciliation with King Charles were on the horizon last month when Harry called him on his 75th birthday to wish him many happy returns. But the insider says that the ‘racist’ names being released to the public is not something Harry and Meghan can “squirm away from” and could even result in them having their titles removed.

They say, “Harry and especially Meghan have become total masters at playing down the hysteria that surrounds them and for the most part they’re generally successful in letting things blow over whilst deftly changing the narrative – whether that’s via a public appearance or carefully worded statement or denial, they’ve generally always found a way. 

“But in this case it’s become very clear – even to them – that this current storm they’re at the centre of is not one they can squirm away from any time soon if ever, especially with the growing possibility of having their titles rescinded.

“If that happens it’s an unmitigated disaster from a commercial perspective, since they market themselves very much as Duke and Duchess and to be stepping back to Mr. and Mrs. Sussex or some other more common surname would be way less appealing to those companies who are giving them jobs and signing big checks.”

In June, former Suits actress Meghan began her slow US relaunch as signed with William Morris Endeavor (WME), the talent agency that has A Lister clients on their books, including Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, tennis star Serena Williams, Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas and Jessica Alba. The signing came amid rumours the relaunch of her lifestyle blog The Tig, which she pulled the plug on in 2017, is viewed as the best way for her to make big money, given the success of Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop and Kourtney Kardashian’s Poosh.

But if the Sussexes have their titles taken off them, it could mean the plan to build on their brand is paused and their popularity could plummet.

The insider says, “The whole Tig relaunch, for instance, will be lined up as Duchess Meghan’s creation, and everything that’s formally registered or associated with them carries that title as a matter of formality. But more than this, it would be the mother of all ego dents, Harry can’t even comprehend the idea and he says time and again this is the last thing the Queen would ever have agreed to. All he and Meghan can do right now is sit, hope and pray that this doesn’t happen, and equally bide their time before waiting to see what comes their way. 

They add, “They’re in touch with the few royal allies they do have ,Princess Eugenie being at the top of that list of course, but nobody’s got much reassurance to offer them right now. So they’re in a real rut, pacing around in Montecito and trying to stay busy and do other things wherever possible. But the more the anger swells from across the pond, the more impossible it is for Harry and Meghan to stay calm and ride this out. But even aside from the business with the titles, they’re really concerned about the state of their popularity and where all this constant negativity and sniping is headed. 

“Just when it couldn’t seem to get any worse along comes this hammer blow – it seems to be finally hitting home they’ve bitten off a lot more than they’re able to chew.”