Meghan Markle was upset — and Buckingham Palace was shocked — when her 2017 Vanity Fair profile mentioned Prince Harry, book says

• A new book claims Meghan Markle's 2017 Vanity Fair profile angered her because it mentioned Prince Harry.
• Markle, 40, was reportedly upset because the profile did not focus on her philanthropy.

Meghan Markle and the British royals became upset after her 2017 Vanity Fair profile focused on her relationship with Prince Harry, according to a new book excerpted by The Times of London.

The excerpt came from British biographer Tom Bower's upcoming book, "Revenge: Meghan, Harry, and the War between the Windsors," which hits stands on Thursday. According to Bower, Prince Harry, 37, gave Markle, 40, a list of sensitive topics to avoid ahead of the Vanity Fair interview: Donald Trump, race, their relationship, and him.

The book states that the interview with Vanity Fair reporter Sam Kashner was supposed to focus on Markle's philanthropy and the 100th episode of the USA series "Suits." According to the book, Kashner asked Markle about her relationship at one point without expecting her to answer, but she did.

"Tell me about Harry," Kashner said, according to the excerpt, to which Markle replied: "We're a couple. We're in love."

She added: "I'm sure there will be a time when we will have to come forward and present ourselves and have stories to tell, but I hope what people will understand is that this is our time. This is for us. It's part of what makes it so special, that it's just ours. But we're happy. I love a great love story."

Soon after, Vanity Fair published the profile and featured Markle on its cover with the caption, "She's Just Wild About Harry! Meghan Markle and the Sudden Glare of the Spotlight That comes with Being Prince Harry's Girl."

The Vanity Fair profile sparked a reaction from the British media and the royals, according to the book.

"Meghan's unprecedented brazenness took Buckingham Palace by surprise — and electrified the British media. The interview triggered sensational reactions: Meghan had used her relationship to promote herself. The Hollywood-isation of the royal family had sealed Meghan's fate as Harry's fiancée," the excerpt read, according to The Times.

When Markle saw pre-publication copies of her profile, the book claims that she called her public relations team at Sunshine Sachs and "hysterically" described Buckingham Palace's "fury" over the headline.

According to the book, Sunshine Sachs initially wanted Vanity Fair to satisfy Markle's requirement that she be presented as a philanthropist and activist.

"Sunshine Sachs had demanded that the magazine satisfy Meghan's requirement that she be presented as a philanthropist and activist, without considering one problem: Vanity Fair's scrupulous researchers could find no evidence of her global philanthropy and activism," the excerpt read, according to The Times.

The book claims that Vanity Fair's fact-checkers had trouble verifying some of Markle's anecdotes, including that she campaigned for P&G to change a slogan and got a response from former first lady Hillary Clinton.

Representatives for Markle and Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

In the same book, Bower also claimed that Markle told Kashner they couldn't be friends after the profile was published. In addition, he wrote that Queen Elizabeth was relieved when Markle — who was pregnant with her daughter Lilibet at the time — would not attend Prince Philip's funeral.