Prince Harry and Meghan Markle furiously hit out at claims

Reacting to The Times’ serialisation of Tom Bower’s latest work, a representative for the pair retorted: “Mr Bower’s commentary has long crossed the line from criticism into fixation.

“This is someone who has publicly stated, ‘the monarchy in fact depends on actually obliterating the Sussexes from our state of life,’ language that speaks for itself.

“He has made a career out of constructing ever more elaborate theories about people he does not know and has never met.”, reports the Express.

“Those interested in facts will look elsewhere; those seeking deranged conspiracy and melodrama know exactly where to find him.”

First extracts from Bower’s new book on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, published on The Times website on Friday, claim tensions escalated between the Sussexes and the Prince and Princess of Wales before Harry and Meghan departed from the royal family.

He also said William and Kate allegedly considered the duchess “a threat”.

Bower’s forthcoming book – Betrayal: Power, Deceit And The Fight For The Future Of The Royal Family – continues his investigation into the strained relationship between the Houses of Sussex and Windsor, four years after the publication of his bestseller Revenge: Meghan, Harry, And The War Between The Windsors.

According to Bower’s account, William and Kate believed Meghan “lamented Harry’s unlikely chances of one day being king, just as she regretted the possibility that she would never be the queen”.

“Meghan had become a divisive agent,” Bower writes.

“To please her, Harry was ignoring his old friends. He even changed his telephone number without telling his family.

“The jovial lad about town became possessed by seeking revenge.

“Increasingly, his character mirrored Meghan’s.

“Emotionally, he veered towards extremes. Simple dislikes became passionate hatred.

“‘Meghan’s brainwashed Harry’, Camilla told a friend”

The extract released on Friday – which will also be published in The Times Magazine – also appears to suggest Harry was “shocked” by the downfall of Andrew-Mountbatten Windsor following revelations about his association with the American financier Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender.

“The unpredicted and unimagined humiliation of Andrew shocked Harry,” Bower writes.

“Rightly, Harry fears that the future King William could remove all the Sussexes’ titles and effectively banish him from Britain.”