Well this is certainly explosive. To be fair, we’ve known or theorized about big chunks of Byline Times’ big new exclusive, but it’s legitimately shocking to see everything laid out with a timeline, plus details we’ve never heard before. Byline’s new cover story is “Exploding ‘Megxit’: How Dan Wootton and a Cash-for-Leaks Scandal Split the Monarchy.” Byline lays out the facts, including Dan Wootton paying Prince William’s press secretary Christian Jones and his partner for information about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and baby Archie. When the bribery scheme was uncovered by both The Sun (Wootton’s then-employer) and Prince Harry, all hell broke loose. In 2020, Harry was ready to sue the Sun and name Christian Jones and Wootton’s accomplices. That’s when then-Prince Charles and the whole royal institution made a big gamble: cut off the Sussexes as a way to force them to come crawling back to the UK, humbled and broke. From Byline’s teaser:
King Charles “pushed” the Duke and Duchess of Sussex into commercial deals in the US by withdrawing £700,000 funding for a trial year in Canada over a royal cash-for-leaks scandal sparked by journalist Dan Wootton, Byline Times can reveal. The financial sanction stemmed from a refusal to remove from legal papers the name of a Kensington Palace aide whose partner was receiving money from the then Sun newspaper executive editor, allegedly for stories about ‘Megxit’ and Prince Archie.
It resulted in the collapse of the ‘Sandringham Agreement’ struck under the late Queen in January 2020 to give Prince Harry and Meghan Markle an opportunity to escape the royal press rota in the UK and continue in public service from North America.
Prince Harry and Meghan were forced out of the Sandringham Agreement to continue in public service from Canada when his father pulled the plug on funding. It followed news that a partner of a key aide to Prince William received £4,000 from The Sun allegedly for stories about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex when Wootton was executive editor.
The payments [from The Sun] came to light in anonymous whistle-blower emails claiming to be from admin workers within the Murdoch newspaper publishing empire. They told how the payments had provoked panic at The Sun and claimed senior executives quietly brushed the matter under the carpet. The payments allegedly related to stories about Archie’s nannying and godparent arrangements and Wootton’s January 2020 breaking story about so-called ‘Megxit’.
The Metropolitan Police looked into the alleged leaking but could not go to a judge for a warrant to search royal staff property without knowing the identity of the whistle-blowers. Two internal royal investigations followed – one involving Simon Case, who is today the embattled head of the civil service facing questions over the Government’s response to the pandemic. The palace investigations cleared the aide after he denied being the source of the Archie and Megxit information and told Case that neither he nor his partner were friends with Wootton, although he admitted to knowing the journalist. Byline Times has uncovered new photographic evidence of Wootton, the aide and the aide’s partner at a lavish private birthday party Wootton threw for his close friends in a £1,675-a-night hotel suite.
Prince Harry sent formal ‘letters before action’ detailing the claims about Wootton and the palace to News UK. Sir Clive Alderton – today King Charles and Queen Camilla’s right-hand man – and the former Lord Chamberlain Lord Peel put pressure on Harry to alter the legal papers. When the aide’s name was not removed from the legal letters, the Sussexes were cut adrift financially and left unable to protect themselves despite having a security threat level equal to the monarch.
The royal household had thought the threat of exposure would force Harry and Meghan to return to the UK, where their profile could be controlled preventing them from eclipsing the future King. But it drove a wedge through the Royal Family and set in train events leading to Prince Harry’s book Spare, a string of high-profile commercial media deals, and ongoing bad blood in the British monarchy.
The most damning information, to me, is the stuff about Charles deciding to withdraw from the “one-year breather” Sandringham deal, which would have had the Sussexes with royal protection and funding so that they could figure things out. We’ve heard variations on why that deal fell apart and when. The idea that the inciting incident was “Harry refusing to back down about naming William’s private secretary as a leaker” is as good a theory as anything else. I suspect that was only one part of why the “deal” fell apart in a matter of two months.
One thing that I absolutely, 100% believe is “The royal household had thought the threat of exposure would force Harry and Meghan to return to the UK, where their profile could be controlled preventing them from eclipsing the future King.” I’ve said that for years, that the Windsors believed that throwing the Sussexes to the wolves and putting them in mortal danger would somehow convince Harry to divorce Meghan and come crawling back to the UK. The Windsors have been reeling for four years that their stupid plot failed so spectacularly.
One question I still have, to this day, is about the intimacy of William’s involvement in all of these schemes. It’s clear that the Rose Hanbury story – which broke around March/April 2019 – sent William spinning and he was actively looking to make any deal he could to protect his own reputation. But for years now, I’ve just been left with the impression that William is no mastermind, he’s an empty suit and the Tories’ useful idiot. It would not surprise me at all if William was truly too stupid to understand most of what was happening with his Tory handlers. Which isn’t to say that William bears no responsibility – he’s a villain, absolutely, and his ignorance, laziness and childishness led to all of this. He was too stupid to hire responsible staff, and instead he gave free rein to his senior staff/Tory handlers to simply “manage” the burying of the Rose Hanbury story by any means necessary.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar.
USA Rights Only – London, UK -20180619-Royals Attending Royal Ascot Day at Ascot Racecourse -PICTURED: Camilla Duchess of Cornwall, Meghan Duchess of Sussex, Prince Charles and Prince Harry -PHOTO by: PA Images/INSTARimages.com -37087480.jpg This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact Instar Images LLC for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207 This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. Instar Images LLC reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded 
USA Rights Only – London, UK -20181225- The Royal Family Attend the Christmas Day Morning Service at St Mary Magdalene Church. -PICTURED: Prince Charles, Prince William, Catherine Duchess of Cambridge, Meghan Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry -PHOTO by: PA Images/INSTARimages.com -40364809.JPG This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact Instar Images LLC for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207 This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. Instar Images LLC reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded 
HRH Prince Harry, Meghan Markle leaving Westminster Abbey following the Service of Commemoration and Thanksgiving on Anzac day.,Image: 369657184, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no 
Celebrity arrivals att he World Premiere of Our Planet held at the Natural History Museum,Image: 424339108, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no 
Britain’s Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, foreground centre, sits with Prince William, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Charles, front row, Prince Andrew, background right, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, at the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey in London, Monday, March 11, 2019. Commonwealth Day has a special significance this year, as 2019 marks the 70th anniversary of the modern Commonwealth – a global network of 53 countries and almost 2.4 billion people, a third of the world’s population, of whom 60 percent are under 30 years old.,Image: 531581560, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon
119409, Dan Wootton attends Lorraine’s High Street Fashion Awards in London, England. London, United Kingdom – Wednesday May 21, 2014.,Image: 533821190, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS, DIRECT SALES ONLY UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE IN CAPTION – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: DRP, PacificCoastNews / Avalon 
London, UK, 27th March 2023. Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, leaves the Royal Courts of Justice in Central London after the first day of the phone tapping and privacy case against Associated Newspapers (owners of the Daily Mail). He is one of several claimants in the case.,Image: 765491336, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Imageplotter / Avalon 
Prince Harry departs The Royal Courts Of Justice in London, England, UK on Tuesday 28 March, 2023. He is part of a group suing the Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL) in the High Court over phone hacking allegations.,Image: 765696131, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
Prince Charles, HRH Prince William and HRH Prince Harry with Sir David Attenborough at the Global Premiere of ‘Our Planet’ at the Natural History Museum, London on Thursday 4th April 2019 (0) 02 7485 1005 email: pictures@famous.uk.com 
(Strictly for editorial use only and available until December 12th 2018) In this handout image provided by Clarence House, HRH Prince Charles Prince of Wales poses for an official portrait to mark his 70th Birthday in the gardens of Clarence House, with Their Royal Highnesses Camilla Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Willliam Duke of Cambridge, Catherine Duchess of Cambridge, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis, Prince Harry Duke of Sussex and Meghan Duchess of Sussex, on September 5, 2018 in London, England. 
09-03-2020 Commonwealth Day Celebrations Westminster Abbey 2020ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLHLnpmirJOdxm%2BvzqZmcWxiZ392e8Gyo6KmlZS4qrrGmJqhmaKhsrSr1qKroZyimsSgg49popihnpSztrrDoqWgl5anvK6r06GcmKulqMCmxMSslqKmj2d9c3yO