Prince Harry‘s childhood friend Tom “Skippy” Inskip expressed reservations about the royal‘s now-wife, Meghan Markle, prior to him proposing, according to an exclusive excerpt from Finding Freedom.

Skippy advised the couple to live together before “doing anything more serious,” a source disclosed in the book, released on August 11. Though his words “came from a good place,” Harry “didn’t totally see it that way.” The source added, “It really hurt him that someone he was so close to would not trust his judgment.”

 

Harry’s brother, Prince William, also advised him to slow down. “The biggest cause of their so-called rift was Will tried to warn Harry when he met Meghan not to rush into it,” Sky News broadcaster and journalist Carole Malone said in the U.K. documentary William & Harry: Princes at War. “He’d only known her for less than a year when they got engaged. He sat him down and just told him to take it a bit slow, not to run at it.”

According to the new book, this “pissed off” the redhead. “Some felt it was an overreaction. But then, this totally sums them up as people — William the calm and rational one, and Harry, who can’t help but take things far too personally. … Harry could see through William’s words. He was being a snob.”

Harry and Meghan — who share son Archie, 15 months — tied the knot at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018. Since then, the couple relocated to North America — first to Canada and then to Los Angeles.

Prince Harry and Friend Skippy Photos
Mark Large/ANL/Shutterstock

Today, Meghan has “no regrets” about their move across the pond, a source told In Touch. “She looks and feels amazing.”

Not to mention, she no longer has to abide by the royal dress code. “Meghan’s gotten used to dressing down,” a separate insider shared. “On a day-to-day basis, she wears jeans or yoga pants, big sweaters and flats or sneakers, which she feels comfortable and relaxed in, and keeps her makeup minimal.”

Although the duchess enjoys getting “dolled up” from time to time, she “hated” the firm’s “old-fashioned rules and regulations — like wearing dresses below the knee.”

As for Harry and Skip, the duo has reportedly reconciled after their argument.