Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s holiday with George Clooney

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle joined George and Amal Clooney at their Italian villa in Lake Como to relax by the pool and explore on motorbikes, according to the authors of new biography Finding Freedom.

Authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand claim the couple weren’t the only royal guests invited to stay at the A-list couple’s luxurious home – because their visit overlapped with Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank’s stay, too. 

The bombshell book, which is out today, alleges that George Clooney, 59, arranged for Harry, 35, and Meghan, 39, who tied the knot at St George’s Chapel in Windsor on May 19, 2018, to fly from London to Lake Como on his own private jet In the early evening of August 16.

The newlyweds are then believed to have arrived into Milan’s airport, and from there were driven in an unmarked motorcar to George and his human rights barrister wife’s Villa Oleandra.

During the three-day visit, a source said, ‘Meghan and Amal spent a lot of time relaxing by the pool and playing with the twins while George and Harry checked out George’s motorbike collection. Harry took one of them out with one of his protection officers. George recently had an accident, so he wasn’t back on his bike yet.”

‘The duke and duchess weren’t the only guests that weekend. Eugenie and her fiance, Jack Brooksbank, were already at the villa when Harry and Meghan arrived, their visits overlapping briefly.’

It is one of a number of revelations made in the book. Among the fresh revelations in the book are:

• Meghan Markle formed such a close bond with Prince Charles that she considers him her ‘second father’;
• Meghan was often ‘seen carrying binders full of research on Royal protocol’ so she didn’t put a foot wrong;
• The Queen gave Meghan a royal masterclass in protocol and described Meghan as ‘very clever and good’;
• Harry felt he was ‘thrown under the bus’ by aides working for his brother Prince William;
• Royal courtiers feared the brother’s falling out ‘could spell the end of the monarchy’;
• Meghan left the UK ’emotionally bruised and exhausted’ after her last frosty event with William and Kate;
• Russian hackers stole hundreds of their personal photos in 2018 after gaining access to an online account

The authors went on to claim that the Clooneys, who have twins Alexander and Ella, aged three, had been staying at their twenty-five-room mansion a month before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived.

They had previously hosted an array of high-profile friends – including Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerbe and Stella McCartney and her husband – not to mention David and Victoria Beckham and their children the previous summer.

According to the authors, the villa, which is located in the village of Laglio, boasts an outdoor theater, a swimming pool, and a garage to house the movie star’s five vintage motorbikes. 

They continued: ‘It also included a tennis court, a full gym, huge bathrooms, and a ‘pizza parlor’ complete with pizza oven. The ornately carved ceilings in each room were a talking point alone.’ 

And it seems the high-profile group did everything they possibly could to ensure they had the safest stay possible – and away from the limelight.

‘To maximize security, the group stayed in every night, well fed by rotating chefs,’ the authors claim. 

‘On the final night of Harry and Meghan’s stay, George hired the chef from Il Gatto Nero, one of his favorite local restaurants, to prepare an Italian feast for fifteen. 

‘The party, including neighbors and their house guests, dined at long trestle tables in the landscaped gardens. 

‘As live music echoed over the estate, guests enjoyed the gathering until the early hours.’ 

The book goes on to claim that Prince Harry and the Hollywood actor had been friends for a long time before the royal met Meghan Markle and had first connected at a charity event.

‘The two men discovered that despite their age difference, they had a lot in common, including their love of motorbikes,’ according to the authors. ‘George had collections of bikes in Lake Como, LA, and Sonning.’ 

And apparently it wasn’t the first time the Hollywood power couple had hosted Prince Harry and the former Suits actress.

‘On at least two occasions, George and Amal hosted Harry and Meghan in Sonnong, which was about an hour from the Great Tew Estate the royals rented in Oxfordshure,’ the authors allege. 

‘Harry and Meghan brought their dogs with them to the house, where the Clooneys loved to take friends out by the lake.

‘There, they had a secluded decked area and inside was a lounge decorated with traditional club wood paneling, heavy drapes, dark velvets, plush chairs, and a bar.’

The Duke and Duchess and the Clooneys are understood to be close friends and Meghan and Amal are both said to use celebrity stylist Miguel Perez.

The Clooneys were among the 200 guests who partied the night away at Frogmore House to celebrate the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding earlier this year.

Hollywood heartthrob George is said to have danced with Meghan at the reception.

Clooney, 59, fell in love with Italy and purchased the villa in 2002. At the time, the actor paid £10million (€11.7 million) for Villa Oleandra.

Lake Como is known for its expensive celebrity homes and one of Clooney’s neighbors is celebrity fashion designer Donatella Versace. The presence of the A-lsit actor led to the local council approving an ad hoc regulation to protect Hollywood star’s privacy.

George is known for sharing his multiple luxury homes around the world with friends during special occasions.  

Finding Freedom provides an intimately detailed and personalised version of the events leading up to the Sussexes’ dramatic departure from royal life, with co-authors Scobie and Durand insisting ‘all information in this book has at least two sources’. 

Meghan saw Charles as a ‘second father’ 

The book tells how Meghan formed such a close bond with Prince Charles that she considers him her ‘second father’.

She is said to have found her father-in-law ‘supportive and loving’ from the moment she was introduced to him. A source told the authors that Meghan doesn’t consider Charles a father in law but a ‘second father’.

Charles had walked Meghan down the aisle at her Windsor wedding when her own father Thomas Markle was forced to pull out due to health reasons.

He had also embarrassed the soon to be wed couple by colluding with a photo agency for a series of staged shots, leading to a rift between father and daughter.

The book says Charles was equally fond of Meghan who a friend of the Prince described as a ‘sassy, confident beautiful American.’

The authors write: ‘Meghan had her own reasons for admiring her father-in-law, who had poignantly walked her down the aisle when her own father let her down.’

At the time, a trusted confidant said Meghan ‘found such a supportive and loving father in Charles, which has really changed her life for the better.’

Not a father-in-law but a ‘second father,’ according to the source.

A friend of Charles’s said that the Prince of Wales had ‘taken a real shine to Meghan. She’s a sassy, confident, beautiful American. He likes very strong, confident women. 

‘She’s bright, and she’s self-aware, and I can see why they’ve struck up a very quick friendship.’

Charles liked Meghan’s energy. ‘The Prince of Wales has always been fond of people from the Arts, like Emma Thompson, who he’s been mates with for years,’ another source said. 

‘Meghan ticks the boxes. Most of all she’s married to his beloved’

The book says Meghan enjoyed a close friendship with Camilla and struck up a close rapport with the Queen with the former actress keen to learn everything about royal life.

They had their first engagement together on June 14th 2018 on a trip to Chester with a source telling the authors the Queen had confidence in Meghan as she is ‘very clever and good at understanding what’s required.’

Writing about the visit authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand wrote: ‘The Queen was wonderful, warm, and generous toward the new Duchess,’ a source close to Her Majesty said.

‘She made sure Meghan knew what was going on and made her feel very much at home because it was her first trip.’ Indeed, before the two stepped off the train, the Queen gifted Meghan with a delicate pair of pearl-and-diamond earrings.

Meghan, an avid learner studying all she could on royal protocol, was often seen carrying binders full of research so she didn’t put a foot wrong. She took her new role incredibly seriously. That day was different, though; she was getting a royal master class in training from the Queen herself.’

Meghan left the Royal Family ’emotionally bruised’ after frosty final encounter with William and Kate

Another revelation in the book is that the Duchess of Sussex burst into tears after the ‘raw emotion’ of leaving the royal family hit home on one of her final engagements, following a frosty final encounter with Prince William and Kate.

The authors of ‘Finding Freedom’ revealed that tears flowed as Meghan said farewell to close members of her support team after Harry had joined her at Buckingham Palace following a presentation ceremony.

It was her penultimate royal engagement and Meghan had met with 22 students who had received scholarships from the Association of Commonwealth Universities. Meghan was patron having taken over from the Queen in 2019.

After the ceremony Prince Harry quietly slipped into room 1884 – where the Queen often receives her most important visitors – to see his wife.

His appearance and the reality that ‘Megxit’ was happening led to all Meghan’s pent up emotion coming out, according to the authors.

The authors wrote: ‘After the meeting it was time to move on to the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey. That was when Harry quietly slipped through the door of the 1844 Room to say hello, and the reality—and the emotions—finally set in

‘Meghan turned around to hug goodbye the last remaining people in the room, including an author of this book. With the state room almost empty except for a few familiar faces, the tears the duchess had been holding back were free to flow.

‘She embraced some of the dedicated team members whose tireless efforts—to promote the couple’s work, launch landmark projects, and deal with the near-daily crises brought on by the tabloids—had come to an abrupt end. ‘I can’t believe this is it,’ she said, hugging one the young female aides she had become close with. 

‘Though Team Sussex was a much smaller operation than the more sophisticated offices at Clarence House and Kensington Palace, in the short space of a year since setting up, they had become like family. 

At the end of the engagement, Harry joined Meghan and gave her a hug before she quickly changed into her clothes for the Commonwealth Service. ‘The last hat for a while, guys!’ Meghan said with a smile, her tears now wiped away.’ 

It was at the Commonwealth service that the frosty relationship between brothers William and Harry and their wives was laid bare.

Kate was said by the authors to have avoided eye contact with Meghan with her husband simply nodding towards Harry.

After the service Meghan booked the first flight to Canada and left the UK ’emotional bruised and exhausted’.

Finding Freedom author Omid Scobie says Meghan was the victim of ‘racist and sexist tropes’ in Britain and blames the monarchy for Megxit row because Royals refused to accept the Sussexes’ demands

The Duchess of Sussex was the victim of ‘racist and sexist tropes’ in Britain from commentators and royal courtiers who were resistant to change, the author of the controversial new biography Finding Freedom claimed today.

Omid Scobie’s book was finally released today after weeks of revelations from its pages telling Harry and Meghan’s side of the Megxit story.

It offers highly personal insights – although Scobie and co-author Carolyn Durand claim they did not interview Harry and Meghan, and the couple did not co-operate.

They do say, however, that ‘many’ friends gave them details for the book and that every revelation is confirmed by at least two sources.

Scobie said the authors ‘had a lens to the couple through their friends and their circle of aides’ as well as covering the couple’s private and public engagements.

Scobie and Durand have also blamed the monarchy for the bitterness of the Megxit row, saying it was the institution’s resistance to change and refusal to accept Harry and Meghan’s demands that led to the row over their departure from royal duties.

Scobie told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme how he felt Harry and Meghan had ‘clearly tried to do their best to make it work’ before Megxit took place in March.

He added: ‘They even went as far as presenting a potential roadmap for how they would navigate their roles moving forward, and ultimately it was the institution that turned back on them and told them what they had presented just wasn’t an option.

‘And so this is a couple that really wanted to make it work, but ultimately I think the setup of the royal institution just isn’t built for change on that dramatic a level.’

Scobie also claimed that Meghan was the subject of a narrative calling her ‘Duchess Difficult’ amid reports of her disagreements with palace staff.

Among the aides who left the palace in the months after the royal wedding were communications expert Samantha ‘the Panther’ Cohen and assistant Melissa Toubati.

The book claimed the couple had ‘grown dissatisfied’ with Toubati and were ‘not disappointed when she left’, despite a royal aide praising her as ‘hugely talented’.

And it claims the couple were ‘forced to let go’ of their son Archie’s night nurse during her second shift ‘for being unprofessional’, without going into further details.

Senior aides were also said to have been unimpressed by Meghan’s lavish baby shower in New York in February 2019 with ‘what looked like carefully stage-managed paparazzi walks of the duchess in big black sunglasses from her hotel to her car and a laundry list of insider party details’.

Scobie also told ITV’s Lorraine that commentary about Meghan ‘used every kind of sexist and racist trope that we attach to successful women and women of colour’.