Prince Harry and Meghan Markle 's staff were left in tears when they discovered the couple had secretly made their plans to escape royal life , a new book has claimed.
Harry and Meghan stepped down from royal life in early 2020 and after a brief stay in Canada, settled in the United States.
An explosive book written by The Times' royal correspondent Valentine Low, Courtiers: the Hidden Power Behind the Crown claims to lift the lid on what happened behind palace doors in the run-up to their departure.
According to Low's book, when Harry and Meghan went to Canada for six weeks in November 2019, their plan to leave the royals was already made.
Image:
PA)The book claims: "Meghan would not even tell their nanny, Lorren, where they were going. According to one source, she did not know where they were going until the plane — a private jet — was in the air.
"Shortly before the end of the year, Meghan confided in a member of her staff that the couple were not coming back. The rest of the team did not find out until they held a meeting at Buckingham Palace at the beginning of January 2020. They found it hard to accept they were being dumped just like that. Some of them were in tears. 'It was a very loyal team,' said one."
Hollywood mogul Tyler Perry provided a home and security for Harry and Meghan when they moved from Canada to the US in 2020.
Speaking to Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager on American breakfast show Today, Perry said: "It was a very difficult time for them.
"What I know about the two of them, that I wish the world knew, is how much they love - these two people love each other.
"They found each other - out of all these odds against them finding each other, they found each other.
"The love they have is really, really moving, and I just wanted to do anything I could to support them."
Last month during an interview with The Cut magazine, Meghan also spoke about how Perry had helped the couple.
During their tell-all with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, Harry and Meghan confirmed it was a Los Angeles mansion owned by Perry they had headed to when leaving Canada for the US, days before the first Covid lockdown.
They would go on to buy a home in nearby Montecito, but explained to Winfrey how Perry provided them with security after their UK tax payer-funded protection was removed.
Speaking of their departure from British Columbia, Canada, Meghan said: "We didn't have a plan. We needed a house and he (Perry) offered his security as well so it gave us breathing room to try to figure out what we were going to do."
