Controlling the Narrative: Meghan and Harry Reportedly Cooperated on an Upcoming Biography

Looks like Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex have learned at least one valuable lesson about spin control after years of dealing with the press: if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. The now semi-royal couple may currently be embroiled in a legal battle with several publications, but Deadline reports that they took another approach with the journalists behind an upcoming biography on their tumultuous last few years within the British monarchy: they cooperated.

Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family, penned by royal reporters Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, is due out on August 11 on the Harper Collins-owned Dey Street Books. Already available for preorder, Amazon’s synopsis teases unprecedented access to the uber-visible yet enigmatic couple and their inner circle, stating:

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 rumors 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.

If so, the couple’s choice to cooperate—in whatever capacity—was undoubtedly influenced by the unfair and occasionally outrageous coverage they, and in particular, Meghan, have weathered since going public with their relationship in 2017. Now nearing their second wedding anniversary, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex suffered a setback in their suit against the Daily Mail last week when a judge ruled that British tabloid The Mail on Sunday “would not be judged on whether it had acted dishonestly” when it published a private letter from Meghan to her father and further claims that were later revealed to be falsehoods (h/t New York Times). Still at issue (though seemingly inarguable) is whether the paper violated Meghan’s privacy by doing so.

In terms of what revelations a Sussex-corroborated tell-all might bring, we don’t expect the royal family to be thrown under the bus, even by its now-estranged members. But of course, we’ll have to wait until August to know for sure. In the meantime, the do-gooder couple was recently spotted making (masked) food deliveries to charities in their new home of Los Angeles (h/t Vanity Fair), and last week, Meghan made a virtual check-in with send a message of encouragement for a client of Smart Works, a women’s empowerment charity she’s championed in the United Kingdom.

And while their trial against the British press may not be going as planned—and royal watchers may now be on tenterhooks awaiting their reportedly authorized biography—Meghan and Harry will nevertheless mark a major milestone this week. Their firstborn son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor celebrates his first birthday this Wednesday, May 6.