the times | Monday July 27 2020 2GM 5
News
Prince Harry was so “incandescent
with rage” about the racism that greet-
ed the news of his courtship with
Meghan Markle that when a friend gos-
siped about her he immediately cut him
off, a new book says.
Finding Freedom, which is being seri-
alised in The Times and The Sunday
Times, also suggests how Harry’s reac-
tion to the “ugliness of racism” caused
difficulties in his relationship with his
father.
Shortly after the news broke that he
and Meghan were going out Harry re-
leased an angry statement condemning
media coverage of his new girlfriend. It
dominated the headlines and over-
shadowed the Prince of Wales’s tour of
the Middle East, leaving Charles “dis-
Dame Olivia de Havilland, one of the
last surviving leading ladies of Holly-
wood’s golden age, has died aged 104.
The actress died at home in Paris
from natural causes, her representative
confirmed, saying: “Last night, the
world lost an international treasure,
and I lost a dear friend and beloved
client. She died peacefully in Paris.”
Dame Olivia won two best actress
Oscars for her roles in 1946’s To Each
His Own and 1949’s The Heiress. She is
Erin Doherty, who plays
Princess Anne in The
Crown, said that the style
was a beast. Top left, Anne
in the ITV documentaryW
hether the
royal family
watches The
Crown has been the
subject of some
speculation. Now the
Princess Royal has let it
slip that she has seen the
show (Ben Ellery
writes).
Anne makes the
disclosure in an ITV
documentary for her
70th birthday, filmed as
she posed for the
sculptor Frances
Segelman. The pair chat
as Segelman works on a
sculpture of Anne.
“The early ones were
quite interesting,” she
tells the artist, adding:
“Making a series about
people who are still
living is always quite a
dangerous thing to do.”Then, revealing that
she no longer watches
the show, Anne says:
“Actually I read an
article the other day...
I don’t watch Netflix and
The Crown, but the
actress was talking
about how long it took
them to do their hair
like I did. And I’m
thinking, ‘How could
you possibly take that
long?’ I mean it takes
me 10 or 15 minutes.
Every time I do it
because it’s so much
quicker. And the idea
that they’re taking that
long. Don’t you think I
did that every day? I
don’t think so.”
It is thought the
princess was talking
about an article in
Harper’s Bazaar inwhich Erin Doherty,
who plays her, said that
her hair took two hours
to style and described it
as a “beast”.
Robert Lacey, a
historical consultant on
the Netflix show, hassaid the Queen does not
watch it because it
“comes too close to the
truth”.
The ITV documentary
gives an insight into the
princess’s years as one of
the hardest working
royals. Zara Tindall
recalls how her mother
would carry out chores
at Gatcombe Park, their
Gloucestershire home,
even after a glitzy event.“I always remember...
that she would come
home from engagements
and she’ll be in exactly
what she was wearing
and her make-up on and
stuff,” she says. “Put her
welly boots on, her
jacket on and then she
walks up and goes to do
her chickens and get her
eggs.”
Asked whether she
had ever suggested hermother slow down, Ms
Tindall replied: “Good
luck! We would try and
then it would be a very
short conversation.”
The documentary also
reveals that Anne seeks
out people hiding at the
back when greeting
guests at garden parties
at the Palace of
Holyroodhouse, the
Queen’s official
residence in Edinburgh.She said: “I do sort of
work out the back of the
border which is where
the people who didn’t
want to be seen went...
“Engaging them in
conversation was always
quite... they were
always looking round,
‘I’m not really here’.
Anne: The Princess
Royal at 70 is broadcast
on Wednesday at 9pm
on ITV.Two hours to do my
hair? It takes me ten
minutes, says Anne
Angry Harry ‘cut off ’ gossipy friend
tures of Meghan’s mother, Harry tried
to protect Meghan by issuing the state-
ment. However, his father and the
Duchess of Cornwall had just arrived in
Bahrain to meet King Hamad bin Isa al-
Khalifa.
Harry knew a statement condemn-
ing the press and naming his new girl-
friend would all but eliminate coverage
of Charles’s tour, the book says.
“While disappointed that his son
didn’t wait for him to come back,
Charles also understood that the situa-
tion with Meghan had reached a tip-
ping point. Harry had felt the need to
prioritise the woman he loved over
duty to the greater royal family,” it adds.
Extracts published in The Sunday
Times claimed that the rift between
Harry and his brother, the Duke of
Cambridge, opened up after Williambehaved like “a snob” as he urged Harry
not to rush into the relationship.
Meghan was said to be disappointed
that the Duchess of Cambridge did not
do more to welcome her to the family.
Friends of William and Catherine in-
sisted otherwise. One told The Mail on
Sunday that they “welcomed her with
open arms” by inviting Harry and Me-
ghan to their family home in Norfolk.
Today’s serialisation includes details
of Harry and Meghan’s first date. After-
wards, said a friend, “it was as if Harry
was in a trance”. Meghan told a friend:
“Do I sound crazy when I say this could
have legs?”
A spokesman for the Sussexes has
said they did not contribute to Finding
Freedom. Buckingham Palace has de-
clined to comment.
Extract, TimesValentine Low appointed” and his team at Clarence
House “crushed”.
When Harry started seeing Meghan
— who has a black mother and white
father — in 2016, he was “sensitive to
even the slightest hint of prejudice”, the
book says.
“When some questioned his new re-
lationship, and whether she was suita-
ble, he would wonder, ‘Is this about
race? Is it snobbery?’ An old friend of
Harry’s spent an afternoon gossiping
about Meghan, making disparaging re-
marks about her Hollywood back-
ground. Word got back to Harry, and
the prince immediately cut him off.”
Harry was willing to confront those
close to him, the book says, and when it
came to the media it was “outright war”.
Upset about the coverage, which in-
cluded publication of unflattering pic-
Harry was “incandescent” about the
racism faced by Meghan, a book saysCHRIS JACKSON/GETTY IMAGESITV; NETFLIX; APbest remembered for her performance
as Melanie Wilkes in the 1939 classic
Gone with the Wind.
Dame Olivia was born to British
parents in Tokyo on July 1 1916 but
moved to California at a young age.
She first appeared on the big screen
in 1935 as Dolly Stevens in Alibi Ike.
Soon she became known for her on-
screen partnership with the Hollywood
heartthrob Errol Flynn, in films includ-
ing The Charge of the Light Brigade
(1936) and The Adventures of Robin
Hood (1938). After leaving Hollywoodin the 1950s, the actress moved to Paris
with her second husband. She made a
number of television appearances and
often worked on several movie titles a
year until her last TV movie role as
Aunt Bessie Merryman in The WomanHe Loved in 1988. Her younger sister,
Joan Fontaine, with whom Dame
Olivia shared a competitive relation-
ship, followed in her acting footsteps,
eventually winning an Oscar for her
role in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1941 thriller
Suspicion.
In 2017, the older sister was made a
dame for services to drama. At the time
she said: “I am extremely proud... To
receive this honour as my 101st birthday
approaches is the most gratifying of
birthday presents.”
Dame Olivia was also responsible forthe so-called “De Havilland Law”, a
landmark 1944 ruling that ended the
tight grip that studios had on contract
actors.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences, which hosts the Oscars,
said in a statement: “To Each His Own,
The Heiress, Gone with the Wind and so
many others. A two-time best actress
Oscar winner, Olivia de Havilland was
a mainstay of Hollywood’s golden age
and an immeasurable talent. Here’s to a
true legend of our industry.”
Obituary, pages 48-Dame Olivia de Havilland dies peacefully at home in Paris aged 104
Ali Mitib Dame Olivia won
best actress Oscars
for two 1940s films