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Finding Freedom

Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family

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Finding Freedom

By: Omid Scobie, Carolyn Durand
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About this listen

INSTANT INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER * ONE OF THE TOP 10 BEST-SELLING ROYAL BIOGRAPHIES OF ALL TIME

When news of the budding romance between a beloved English prince and an American actress broke, it captured the world’s attention and sparked an international media frenzy.

But while the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have continued to make headlines – from their engagement, wedding, and birth of their son Archie to their unprecedented decision to step back from their royal lives – few know the true story of Harry and Meghan.

For the very first time, FINDING FREEDOM goes beyond the headlines to reveal unknown details of Harry and Meghan’s life together, dispelling the many rumours and misconceptions that plague the couple on both sides of the pond. As members of the select group of reporters that cover the British Royal Family and their engagements, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand have witnessed the young couple’s lives as few outsiders can.

With unique access and written with the participation of those closest to the couple, FINDING FREEDOM is an honest, up-close, and disarming portrait of a confident, influential, and forward-thinking couple who are unafraid to break with tradition, determined to create a new path away from the spotlight, and dedicated to building a humanitarian legacy that will make a profound difference in the world.

©2020 Omid Scobie, Carolyn Durand Entertainment & Celebrities Europe Great Britain Marriage & Long-Term Partnerships Personal Development Personal Success Politics & Activism Relationships Royalty Celebrity Biography

Critic reviews

‘Utterly gripping’ Daily Telegraph

‘Essential reading’ The Mail on Sunday

‘Well-written, impeccably sourced and a fascinating deep dive into one of the most exciting chapters in royal history’ Vanity Fair

‘Lifts the lid on the complex relationships in Britain’s most famous family’ Telegraph

‘Lays bare the devastating family rifts that led to [Harry and Meghan] quitting the UK’ The Sun

‘An important contribution to the understanding of the biggest crisis in the royal family for more than 20 years’ The Times

‘Revelatory’ Daily Express

‘Fascinating’ OK!

‘Explosive’ Bella

‘Brilliant read’ HELLO!

‘A must-read’ Independent

‘An important historical narrative’ Metro

All stars
Most relevant
This is the story of a ruthless, hard-necked, self-absorbed narcissist, and an eegit prince, whose intellectual deficienies are made manifest. What a pair!
Actually, the book is unintentionally funny. It is so saccharine-sweet and biased; so Mills & Boon, except for the fact that its protagonists are a nasty pair only too willing to strike out at everybody, including their 'nearest and dearest'. Looks like their intention is to make themselves billionaires, lecture the rest of us whilst they live in extreme opulence, and to be seen to be 'doing good'. It will be to the detriment of the Royal Family if this self-promoting, egotistical couple are able to cash in on regal connections! Prince Harry should be ashamed. Megan Markle is what she is.

Poorly-written dross, but you must read it!

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Wouldn’t bother unless you enjoy hearing how Harry and Meghan are ‘perfect and extremely hard done-by’. They definitely had valid complaints about press treatment and prob family too (as we all do), but this work has at the very least ‘copy approval’ all over it.
Changed my empathy to eye-rolling cynicism.

Biased and boring

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I'm not a royalist , I have no favourites . Read this book out of curiosity. For me it's actually made me believe that the tabloid stories are true . It's so biased towards H&M , it's all me, me ,me and look how badly we were treated . It's also made me believe that the Authors sat down and did interviews with the pair . Most one sided book ever written!!!

The most Biased Book Ever Produced

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This book is an account of the breakup of the royal family... the time when Prince Harry and Megan Markle ceased to be Royals. There is no doubt that the British media print media have acted in appalling manner in relation to Megan, this is both undeniable and absolutely shameful. Beyond that the book inadvertently revealed an extraordinary amount about the privilege of the royal family and the high society lifestyle of Megan Markle, exactly where she gets her money from a mystery to me, I guess it's being a celebrity. Whilst the wealth of celebrities is a function of the foolishness of the people who worship them that of the royal family is an insult to democracy and the ordinary citizen. Given the privilege that surround them I can’t feel any special sympathy for Harry and Megan. Oh as a book it’s really very, very pedestrian. One thing that struck me was how every item of her clothing is checked off as to designer etc. I guess that is part of celebrity culture - which is, in the end, no more than another way of selling us stuff. See how much I learnt listening to this book.

OMG I never knew Harry lives such a live of non stop privilege

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The co-author of this book Omid Scobie explains in the foreward that the royal family do not officially authorise biographies but implies that, as a result of him being in the official bubble that followed the Meghan and Harry for four years, this is as close as you can get to the inside story. As you would expect for a book like this, the author outlines Meghan's tough childhood and how she found success in her acting career despite shying away from the party lifestyle of some of her contemporaries. The author knows this because he interviewed Meghan before she was introduced to Harry.

Much of the story is well known as their lives have been played out in the glare of relentless publicity and this book adds a level of detail that is over and above what any reasonable person could ever want to know such as the precise shades of each of the makeups worn by Meghan on her wedding day. Despite the privileges that the world has offered them, Harry and Meghan come over as decent people who want to make a difference in the world and are passionate about their charity work.

This is not a happy story though. They have lead their lives against a backdrop of an aggressive UK tabloid press, particularly the Daily Mail who the author describes as nothing more than paid trolls and broadcaster Piers Morgan who was bitter after not being invited to the wedding. The odds have seemingly been stacked against the couple from the start and they have received hostility from all corners, which has used racial stereotypes to paint Meghan as a "African American social climber from the ghetto". Meghan's family and friends were hounded by the press to sell their stories too. The book also talks about passive aggression from members of the royal family including Princess Michael and members of the Queen's closest entourage.

Encouraged to "never complain, never explain" and keep a stiff upper lip when untruths and smears were being printed in the press on a daily basis, it is no surprise that eventually something had to give and no one can blame them that they eventually decided to break away from the royal family. Many will be disgusted by the hideous way they were treated. But is telling this story now, and by people reading / listening to in, really any different to the actions of the tabloid press that lead to the couple turning their back on the world? Perhaps we need to consider our craving for insights into celebrity culture as this is really the root cause of their demise. And this book is actually another example of this.

Freedom's another word for nothing left to lose

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