It was Meghan and Harry against the palace “vipers.”
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were so popular internationally that they were eclipsing the rest of the royal family — so a coterie of snake-like royal courtiers, the so-called “men in gray suits,” worked to thwart them, according to excerpts from a new biography that is very sympathetic to the famous couple.
“Finding Freedom: Harry, Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family,” which is being serialized by the Times of London starting this weekend, said the palace “establishment’’ lived in fear of the couple’s global appeal.
So courtiers worked to diminish their public role, the book said, adding that a pal of the pair referred to the palace old guard as “the vipers.”
The anti-Meghan-and-Harry resentment filtered up to the highest levels, with Kate Middleton herself refusing to even look at her sister-in-law when the women were together for their final public engagement in March, after not having seen each other since January, according to the book.
Furthering the pre-Megxit tensions, Meghan and Harry were continually told they had to take a back seat to projects put forth by his dad or brother William, pals told the biographers, longtime royal watchers Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand.
“As their popularity had grown, so did Harry and Meghan’s difficulty in understanding why so few inside the palace were looking out for their interests,” the authors wrote.
After all, “They were a major draw for the royal family.”
Meanwhile, “There were just a handful of people at the palace they could trust’’ amid “the vipers,” the writers said of the young pair.
Even the queen’s staffers kept them cooling their heels.
When the couple flew back to Britain a final time, they were told that she was unavailable for a month. Harry and Markle thought about going straight to see her from the plane terminal — which would have been a significant breach of protocol — to argue their case in a “surprise visit.”
They instead decided not to, as it would “ruffle feathers,” the book said.
“The courtiers blame Meghan and some family do,” the book says of the royal rift.
But Meghan “tearfully” told a friend before they left for good, “I gave my entire life for this family. I was willing to do whatever it takes. But here we are. It’s very sad.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have formally insisted they did not contribute to the chandelier-rattling biography.
Still, it was written by two journalists widely seen as sympathetic to the couple — and known in royal circles to be their “cheerleaders.”
Sources have told the Daily Mail that after realizing the book would be an unstoppable, in-depth “hagiography,” Prince Harry and Markle decided to secretly use it to “settle scores” with the Royal Family.
“It’s going to be the gospel according to Meghan and Harry, so to speak,” when it comes to their engagement, marriage and Megxit, one source predicted to The Mail.
The book, which promises a behind-the-headlines look at the couple, is due out Aug. 11.