Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were recently at the centre of a scathing article from Vanity Fair, which included a number of brutal allegations. But perhaps the most shocking was the claim that a member of Meghan’s team had reached out to a publishing house to “gauge interest” in a post-divorce book.

The article does make clear that the couple are not on the road to divorce, however – to the contrary, Harry and Meghan are said to be very loved up. An excerpt from the article reads: “Not a general book on life after marital dissolution, or one about Meghan’s past experience. (She was married to producer Trevor Engelson from 2011 to 2014.)

“This book—this notion of a book, really—might center on a post-Harry divorce. Not that there was actually one in the works! Just…if this a priori divorce ever came to be, would this publisher theoretically be interested in a book that took place in its aftermath?” According to The Times, the Sussexes have denied all claims in the blistering article and are ‘distressed’ by the whole ordeal.

Now a so-called insider has reacted to the report, stating that Harry and Meghan can’t break up because “their value is in being a couple”. The source, who is said to have worked closely with the couple, told Page Six: “Meghan and Harry know that they are tied together, their value is in being a couple — even if they wanted to split, they couldn’t. And honestly, they are obsessed with each other. They are just two narcissists.”

Another source familiar with the couple’s original $20 million Penguin Random House deal told the publication they had never heard about a possible divorce book. Instead, they insisted Harry and Meghan are “worth more together.”

“It doesn’t benefit them to be apart — they have all their deals together,” the source explained. “I think the Random House deal is much like the Netflix deal: Netflix just said ‘Yes’ to everything because they wanted to get the docu-series. So they said, ‘Ok, we’ll take the ‘Polo’ show’ and let’s see what happens with Meghan’s lifestyle show.”

Meanwhile a friend, who is reportedly close to Prince Harry has spoken out in their defence, telling the Daily Beast: “The Vanity Fair divorce story seemed very unfair. There was a book but there wasn’t a book, she was planning for life after divorce, but they are totally in love. What? There was not a shred of evidence.” The source, quoted as an old pal, added: “Things aren’t easy for them right now. Vanity Fair have succeeded in making a bad time worse.”

The cover article, published last Friday and cryptically titled ‘American Hustle’, set out what life was like ­’Inside Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Big Business Ambitions, 5 Years After Their Royal Exit’. The ” damning” piece contains more troubling claims about what it’s allegedly like to work for the couple. These follow previous bullying accusations against Meghan, which she has always strenuously denied.

Vanity Fair quoted sources as claiming Meghan could be “really, really awful” when things did not go her way at work and that projects often went poorly due to the couple’s ‘demands’. Other bombshell claims in the article include the suggestion that Harry underestimated the impact his explosive memoir Spare would have on relations with his family, that Meghan has ‘re-parented’ Harry, and that the couple lacked ideas when it came to their Netflix and Spotify deals.

One producer, said to have worked with the Sussexes, accused them of “naivety”, while an unnamed worker who reportedly collaborated with Meghan and Harry on their Spotify deal said: “The thing you’re escaping is the reason you’re compelling.” The former Spotify employee said that Meghan and Harry “didn’t do what celebrities do on podcasts, which is turn on the mic and talk. They wanted a big theme that would explain the world , but they had no ideas”.