The Mail's serialization of Robert Hardman's fantastic new biography of the king – Charles III: New King, New Court, The Inside Story – has been fascinating. It's coming out this Thursday and I've already pre-ordered my copy.
The book sheds extraordinary light on the inner workings of the contemporary monarchy: from the Queen's death at Balmoral in 2022 to the secret plans for a regency should she become incapacitated in the final years of her life.
But nothing prepared me for yesterday's front-page revelation that our late Queen was, according to one courtier, “as angry as I've ever seen her” as Harry and Meghan angrily insisted, through their lawyers, that they had her permission to do so They named their daughter Lilibet – the private family nickname of the late monarch.
The Duke of Sussex is about to turn 40, he's grown up and needs to start acting like one. Pictured: Harry with Meghan in June last year
The Sussexes fired off aggressive legal threats against anyone who dared suggest that the Queen was anything but enthusiastic.
However, thanks to Robert's impeccably sourced book, it now appears that the final years of their reign were overshadowed not only by this extraordinary decision, but also by Harry and Meghan's hunger for publicity and their tendency to air their grievances on television and in writing.
The Queen's final months were marred by the Sussexes' behavior. Pictured in her final photo at Balmoral
The queen embodied every virtue that this couple lacked. She was loyal, dedicated, hardworking and driven by duty every day of her life – sometimes, if we're honest, to the detriment of her own family and her happiness. For them, the nation always came first.
The nickname “Lilibet” came about when the future queen had difficulty pronouncing “Elizabeth” as a small child. In its cozy informality it tells of a happy, now-gone time she spent with her parents, George VI. and the Queen Mother, as well as Princess Margaret. She must have always associated it with quiet, private family times.
As I read the revelations in Robert's book, my heart almost broke for the king. What a burden he has had to bear in recent years as his younger son and his wife revealed countless private details about the family and began clashes with the media.
How painful it must have been for Charles to see his ailing mother so upset by the behavior of his own son and daughter-in-law – and then to lose her, even though he knew how she had felt in her final years, and had to comfort the nation. Thank God he has Camilla to keep him grounded.
Why do the Sussexes, and Harry in particular, continue to behave like this? I have often said that Diana's death could be behind it: we all remember the little boy walking behind his mother's coffin, and we can only imagine how terrible it must have been for him, right in front of his eyes to stand in the world.
Harry and Meghan's daughter Lilibet (left) was named in honor of the Queen, pictured on the right as a child aged three or four
But William also moved on that day. William also lost his mother and suffered the same pain and grief, and yet his behavior was exemplary – a far cry from Harry's.
The Duke of Sussex is about to turn 40: he's grown up and needs to start acting like one.
All his endless therapy sessions don't seem to have given him the tools to put his experiences into perspective.
He doesn't seem to realize that, while he has undoubtedly suffered a personal loss, he is one of the most privileged men on the planet – and not one of the most pretentious. The death of a parent at a young age is not an excuse to misbehave with those you leave behind as you grow up – on the contrary.
In his memoir Spare, among other revelations, Harry told the world that he lost his virginity in a field. But how strange that in the same book, Harry didn't recount the details of the phone conversation in which the Queen allegedly gave him and Meghan her blessing to name their daughter Lilibet.
I think that tells us everything.