Meghan Markle asked Prince Charles "can we meet halfway" following an offer to walk her up the aisle at her royal wedding, a new biography states.
The Duchess of Sussex was originally going to be given away by her father in keeping with tradition until he pulled out.
Thomas Markle had reportedly decided not to attend the wedding after he was caught staging photographs with paparazzi for money. After further dithering on whether he would come, in the end, he said a surgery would prevent him from walking his daughter down the aisle.
Prince Charles stepped in to offer to walk his soon-to-be daughter-in-law in place of her birth father.
Journalist Robert Hardman wrote in biography Queen of Our Times: The Life of Elizabeth II of the future king's surprise at her response.
An extract published in the Daily Mail read: "Feeling for his future daughter-in-law, the Prince of Wales offered to step in, saying he would be honoured to escort Meghan up the aisle of St George's Chapel to the altar.
"The reply, according to one friend, was not quite what he was expecting: 'Can we meet halfway?'
"Here was an indicator that this was no blushing bride, but a confident, independent woman determined to make a grand entrance on her own."
The book, to be published by Macmillan in the U.K. on March 17, charts how relations with the media quickly deteriorated by as early as October 2018.
At the time, Harry and Meghan were on a tour of Australia and the South Pacific when Harry told journalists accompanying him in-flight: "Thanks for coming. Not that we invited you."
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The book states: "This would be the high-water mark of the Sussexes' relations with the British press.
"'Unfortunately, the couple were still feeling sore about the whole business around Meghan's father and the press before the wedding,' says a Palace staffer.
"'That was not going to change.'
"At times, it almost seemed as if frustrating the media had become a point of principle for the Sussexes."
The biography gives new insight into how Queen Elizabeth II responded to Harry and Meghan's decision to quit royal life.
Hardman describes how even during their first transition year in America, the monarch, 95, did not expect them to return to Britain.
Queen of Our Times read: "Asked by one wellmeaning visitor if she expected them to resume royal life, the Queen replied firmly: 'Of course not. They took the dogs.'"
Meghan, the biography said, did not like royal life but the couple blew "the whole thing up" before they had given the situation time to settle.
The book read: "'It wasn't easy for Meghan to adapt to this new life, but she did not allow herself much time,' says a close charity associate of the Sussexes.
"'Meghan didn't like the way things were done. She decided it was all wrong and he stood by her. Even so, blowing the whole thing up was a strange thing to do.'"
