Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are opening up about their life after stepping down as senior member of the Royal Family.
On Monday (May 4), HarperCollins Publishers announced that they have acquired the rights for Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family, which will hit the shelves in August of this year.
According to the press release, unknown details about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s life together will be revealed, “dispelling the many rumors and misconceptions that plague the couple on both sides of the pond.”
“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,” the statement continues.
The biography, written by royal reporters Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, “goes beyond the headlines” to portray “the true story of Prince Harry and Meghan.”
“Our mission has been motivated by a desire to tell an accurate version of their journey and finally present the truth of misreported stories that have become gospel simply because of the amount of times they have been repeated,” the authors explain. “It is thanks to our sources that we have been able to share the definitive story of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.”
The couple, who have taken legal action against Associated Newspapers – owners of The Daily Mail, MailOnline, Metro and more – after The Mail on Sunday published a private, handwritten letter that Meghan wrote to her father, Thomas Markle, in August 2018, lost the first round of their privacy lawsuit against the British tabloids in the preliminary hearing held (remotely) on Friday (May 1).
High court judge Mark Warby presided over the case and ruled that the case will solely focus on the infringement of privacy, breach of copyright and violation of data protection laws, and had struck out parts of the couple’s claims at the request of The Mail on Sunday. Friday’s ruling states that the court will not be required to determine whether or not the newspaper had acted dishonestly, stirred up conflict between Meghan and her father, or had published offensive and intrusive articles about her. Those claims were ruled to be “irrelevant” to Meghan’s claim for misuse of private information, copyright infringement and breach of Britain’s Data Protection Act.
A spokesperson for Schillings, the law firm representing Meghan, has since issued a statement.
“Today’s ruling makes very clear that the core elements of this case do not change and will continue to move forward,” the statement reads, via Entertainment Tonight. “The Duchess’ rights were violated; the legal boundaries around privacy were crossed. As part of this process, the extremes to which The Mail on Sunday used distortive, manipulative, and dishonest tactics to target The Duchess of Sussex have been put on full display.”
“Whilst the Judge recognizes that there is a claim for breach of privacy and copyright, we are surprised to see that his ruling suggests that dishonest behavior is not relevant,” the statement continues. “We feel honesty and integrity are at the core of what matters; or as it relates to the Mail on Sunday and Associated Newspapers, their lack thereof. Nonetheless, we respect the Judge’s decision as the strong case against Associated will continue to focus on the issue of a private, intimate and hand-written letter from a daughter to her father that was published by The Mail on Sunday. This gross violation of any person’s right to privacy is obvious and unlawful, and The Mail on Sunday should be held to account for their actions.”
