Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s holiday with George Clooney

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle joined George and Amal Clooney at their Italian villa in Lake Como to relax by the pool and explore on motorbikes, according to the authors of new biography Finding Freedom.

Authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand claim the couple weren’t the only royal guests invited to stay at the A-list couple’s luxurious home – because their visit overlapped with Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank’s stay, too. 

The bombshell book, which is out today, alleges that George Clooney, 59, arranged for Harry, 35, and Meghan, 38, who tied the knot at St George’s Chapel in Windsor on May 19, 2018, to fly from London to Lake Como on his own private jet In the early evening of August 16.

The newlyweds are then believed to have arrived into Milan’s airport, and from there were driven in an unmarked motorcar to George and his human rights barrister wife’s Villa Oleandra.

During the three-day visit, a source said, ‘Meghan and Amal spent a lot of time relaxing by the pool and playing with the twins while George and Harry checked out George’s motorbike collection. Harry took one of them out with one of his protection officers. George recently had an accident, so he wasn’t back on his bike yet.”

‘The duke and duchess weren’t the only guests that weekend. Eugenie and her fiance, Jack Brooksbank, were already at the villa when Harry and Meghan arrived, their visits overlapping briefly.’

The authors went on to claim that the Clooneys, who have twins Alexander and Ella, aged three, had been staying at their twenty-five-room mansion a month before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived.

They had previously hosted an array of high-profile friends – including Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerbe and Stella McCartney and her husband – not to mention David and Victoria Beckham and their children the previous summer.

According to the authors, the villa, which is located in the village of Laglio, boasts an outdoor theater, a swimming pool, and a garage to house the movie star’s five vintage motorbikes. 

They continued: ‘It also included a tennis court, a full gym, huge bathrooms, and a ‘pizza parlor’ complete with pizza oven. The ornately carved ceilings in each room were a talking point alone.’ 

And it seems the high-profile group did everything they possibly could to ensure they had the safest stay possible – and away from the limelight.

‘To maximize security, the group stayed in every night, well fed by rotating chefs,’ the authors claim. 

‘On the final night of Harry and Meghan’s stay, George hired the chef from Il Gatto Nero, one of his favorite local restaurants, to prepare an Italian feast for fifteen. 

‘The party, including neighbors and their house guests, dined at long trestle tables in the landscaped gardens. 

‘As live music echoed over the estate, guests enjoyed the gathering until the early hours.’ 

The book goes on to claim that Prince Harry and the Hollywood actor had been friends for a long time before the royal met Meghan Markle and had first connected at a charity event.

‘The two men discovered that despite their age difference, they had a lot in common, including their love of motorbikes,’ according to the authors. ‘George had collections of bikes in Lake Como, LA, and Sonning.’ 

And apparently it wasn’t the first time the Hollywood power couple had hosted Prince Harry and the former Suits actress.

‘On at least two occasions, George and Amal hosted Harry and Meghan in Sonnong, which was about an hour from the Great Tew Estate the royals rented in Oxfordshure,’ the authors allege. 

‘Harry and Meghan brought their dogs with them to the house, where the Clooneys loved to take friends out by the lake.

‘There, they had a secluded decked area and inside was a lounge decorated with traditional club wood paneling, heavy drapes, dark velvets, plush chairs, and a bar.’

The Duke and Duchess and the Clooneys are understood to be close friends and Meghan and Amal are both said to use celebrity stylist Miguel Perez.

The Clooneys were among the 200 guests who partied the night away at Frogmore House to celebrate the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding earlier this year.

Hollywood heartthrob George is said to have danced with Meghan at the reception.

Clooney, 59, fell in love with Italy and purchased the villa in 2002. At the time, the actor paid £10million (€11.7 million) for Villa Oleandra.

Lake Como is known for its expensive celebrity homes and one of Clooney’s neighbors is celebrity fashion designer Donatella Versace.

The presence of the A-lsit actor led to the local council approving an ad hoc regulation to protect Hollywood star’s privacy.

George is known for sharing his multiple luxury homes around the world with friends during special occasions.  

Finding Freedom provides an intimately detailed and personalised version of the events leading up to the Sussexes’ dramatic departure from royal life, with co-authors Scobie and Durand insisting ‘all information in this book has at least two sources’.