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Prince Harry has spoken about the breakdown of his relationship with brother William and blamed the media for Meghan suffering a miscarriage in the final episodes of the couple’s documentary series.

The second volume of Harry & Meghan goes much further than the first, with Harry accusing William of screaming and shouting at him at a summit meeting over “Megxit”, and saying he believes he and his wife lost their baby in 2020 because of coverage in the Mail.

‘She never asked me to leave’, Harry says – live updates as final episodes drop

Other revelations include the duke saying a joint statement was put out without his permission in his and his brother’s name, denying a story that William had “bullied” him out of the Royal Family. He also accuses William’s office of trading stories – something they “promised” they would never do when they were younger.

Palace aides would have been preparing themselves for bombshells in the second volume after a trailer included accusations that the royal household leaked negative stories as part of a “war against Meghan”. However, they are yet to comment on the programme.

Harry & Meghan. The Netflix Global event continues December 15.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9WMpiH8qd8
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Pic: Netflix

Key talking points from the first three episodes:

  • Harry says it was “terrifying” to hear William ‘shout and scream’ during Megxit crisis meeting
  • He says there is now a “wedge” between them and accuses brother’s office of trading stories
  • Duke also blames media for Meghan’s miscarriage in 2020
  • Meghan talks about suicidal thoughts
  • Harry says he was “trained” to keep stiff upper lip over wife’s struggles
  • He also describes how Meghan “stealing the limelight… that upsets people”
  • Broadcaster Danny Baker’s tweet following birth of Archie also addressed

‘It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me’

Talking about tweet - "Meghan needs to die"
Screen Grabs taken from Harry and Meghan  Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan
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Pic: Netflix

In the fifth episode, Harry recalls a meeting with the Queen, his father and William, now the Prince of Wales, about the couple’s future plans after they had announced they wanted to step back as senior royals.

Recalling what happened behind the scenes after the Queen summoned them to Sandringham in January 2020, he says: “I went in with the same proposal that we’d already made publicly, but once I got there I was given five options – one being all in, no change, five being all out.

“I chose option three in the meeting – half in, half out. Have our own jobs but also work in support of the Queen.

“It became very clear very quickly that goal was not up for discussion or debate. It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me and my father say things that just simply weren’t true. And my grandmother, you know, quietly sit there and take it all in.

“But you have to understand that, from the family’s perspective, especially from hers, there are ways of doing things and her ultimate, sort of, mission, goal/responsibility is the institution.”

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Queen Elizabeth, Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex pose for a picture with some of Queen's Young Leaders at a Buckingham Palace reception following the final Queen's Young Leaders Awards Ceremony, in London, Britain June 26, 2018. John Stillwell/Pool via Reuters/File Photo

Harry says the Queen would act on advice she was given by staff.

“People around her are telling her, ‘by the way, that proposal, or these two doing X,Y, Z is going to be seen as an attack on the institution’,” he says.

“The meeting finished without any solidified action plan. I think from their perspective, they had to believe that it was more about us, and maybe the issues that we had, as opposed to their partner, the media, and that relationship that was causing so much pain for us. They saw what they wanted to see.”

Read more:
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Harry and Meghan’s wedding album – new pictures revealed
Key revelations from first three episodes

Screen Grabs taken from Harry and Meghan  Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan
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Pic: Netflix

Harry goes on to say the “saddest part” of what has happened is “this wedge created between myself and my brother, so that he’s now on the institution’s side”.

The duke continues: “And part of that I get, I understand, right, that’s his inheritance. So to some extent it’s already ingrained in him that part of his responsibility is the survivability and continuation of this institution.”

Harry says a story came out that day saying that “part of the reason that Meghan and I were leaving was because William had bullied us out”.

A joint statement was issued on the day of the Sandringham meeting branding a front page story about the brothers’ relationship as false, offensive and potentially harmful.

Harry says he was told about the statement “squashing the story about him bullying us out of the family” after the meeting. “I couldn’t believe it. No one had asked me permission to put my name to a statement like that.

“I rang M and I told her and she burst into floods of tears, because within four hours they were happy to lie to protect my brother and yet for three years they were never willing to tell the truth to protect us.”

Meghan’s mother and Harry speak of devastation hearing she contemplated suicide

Harry & Meghan. The Netflix Global event continues December 15.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9WMpiH8qd8
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Pic: Netflix

In the fourth episode, Harry speaks about “lies” in the Royal Family, and compares Meghan’s treatment in the media to that of his mother, Diana.

“The lies that’s one thing, you kind of get used to that when you live within this family, but what they were doing to her and the effect it was having on her – like, enough, enough of the pain, enough of the suffering.”

As shots of Diana and Charles are shown, he continues: “No one sees what is happening behind closed doors. Back in the day my mum was in the back of the car going to engagements in floods of tears, and then my dad saying, ‘we’re almost there’ and 30 seconds to wipe the tears away, slap on some make-up, and the door opens and smile, everything is fine.”

Meghan talks about having suicidal thoughts – something she spoke about previously during the couple’s interview with Oprah in 2021.

A new Harry & Meghan trailer has been released for their Netflix docuseries.
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Pic: Netflix

“All of this will stop if I’m not here and that was the scariest thing about it, it was such clear thinking,” she says in the documentary.

Her mother, Doria Ragland, recalls finding out how her daughter was feeling: “I remember her telling me that she had wanted to take her own life and that really broke my heart because I knew that it was bad, but to constantly be picked at by these vultures, just picking away at her spirit that she would actually think of not wanting to be here, that’s not an easy one for a mum to hear. And I can’t protect her.”

Harry says he was “devastated” when he realised just how much his wife was struggling.

“I knew that she was struggling, we were both struggling, but I never thought it would get to that stage and the fact that it got to that stage, I felt angry and ashamed,” he says. “I didn’t deal with it particularly well. I dealt with it as institutional Harry as opposed to husband Harry, and what took over my feelings was my royal role.

“I had been trained to think, ‘what are people going to think if we don’t go to this event, we are gonna be late’, and looking back now I hate myself for it.”

Meghan says she wanted to get help but “wasn’t allowed”.

‘To see my brother’s office copy the very same thing… that was heartbreaking’

Britain's William, Prince of Wales and Prince Harry march during a procession where the coffin of Britain's Queen Elizabeth is transported from Buckingham Palace to the Houses of Parliament for her lying in state, in London, Britain, September 14, 2022. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier

Speaking about the press interest, Harry says: “No one would have private conversations with the editors saying ‘enough’. My dad said to me, ‘darling boy, you can’t take on the media, the media will always be the media’. And I said I fundamentally disagree.”

Harry then says: “I have 30 years experience of looking behind the curtain and seeing how this system works and how it runs and just constant briefings about other members of the family, favours inviting the press in, it’s a dirty game.”

He also speaks about the “leaking” and “planting of stories” – an issue addressed by Meghan in the preview trailer. “So if the comms team want to be able to remove a negative story about their principal, they will trade and give you something about someone else’s principal, so the offices end up working against each other, so it’s kind of a weird understanding, acceptance that this happens,” he says.

He says he and William “both saw what happened in our dad’s office and we made an agreement to never have that happen to our office”.

With images of the brothers as children shown on screen, the duke says: “I would far rather get destroyed in the press than play along with this game or this business of trading, and to see my brother’s office copy the very same thing that we promised the two of us would never ever do, that was heartbreaking.”

Harry also says he believes Meghan suffered a miscarriage “because of what the Mail did”.

He says: “I watched the whole thing. Now, do we absolutely know that the miscarriage was created, caused by that? Course we don’t. But bearing in mind the stress that it caused, the lack of sleep and the timing of the pregnancy, how many weeks in she was, I can say from what I saw, that miscarriage was created by what they were trying to do to her.”

Meghan’s letter to her father

Thomas Markle fears he will never see his daughter again

The final three episodes of the series also take a look at a letter written by Meghan to her father, Thomas Markle, about interviews he was giving, which was published in part by the Mail on Sunday.

She says she wrote it after seeking advice from the Queen and Charles, but that she tried to send it discreetly.

“People are scratching their heads going, ‘how would the Mail have either the stupidity, or the whatever you want to call it, to print a letter between a daughter and a father?'” says Harry. “Well the answer is simple: they knew the family would encourage us not to sue.”

In the end, they did sue – with Meghan winning her privacy claim. However, she was awarded just £1 compensation from the Mail On Sunday’s publisher for misuse of private information.

‘Then one day this little organism comes in’

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‘When someone steals the limelight, it upsets people’

Meghan also says the couple’s former private secretary told her about the monarchy: “It is like a fish that is swimming perfectly. It is powerful, it is on the right current. Then one day this little organism comes in. This foreign organism. And the entire thing goes… What is that? What is it doing here? It doesn’t look like us. It doesn’t move like us. We don’t like it. Get it off of us.

“And she just explained that, you know, they’ll soon see, that it’s stronger, faster, even better with this organism as part of it. It will be hard at the beginning for them to adjust to this new thing but then it’ll be amazing.”

Meghan added: “And I was really hopeful that that was true.”

The episode addresses the couple’s initial popularity following their wedding and when they announced they were having their first child, and how this affected the Royal Family.

“The issue is when someone who is marrying in who should be a supporting act is stealing the limelight or doing the job better than the person who was born to do this, that upsets people, it shifts the balance,” says Harry.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s death

Prince Harry and Prince Philip

The final episode shows Harry watching footage of black cabs in London lining The Mall as a mark of respect following the death of Prince Philip in 2021.

Speaking about his grandfather’s death, Harry says: “I was actually really happy for my grandfather. He went quietly. He went peacefully. He went happily.”

Asked about what it was like returning to the UK for the funeral, he adds: “It was hard, especially spending time having chats with my brother and my father who just were very much focused on the same misinterpretation of the whole situation.

“So none of us really wanted to have to talk about it at my grandfather’s funeral, but we did. I’ve had to make peace with the fact that I’m probably never going to get genuine accountability or a genuine apology.

“You know, my wife and I, we’re moving on. We were focused on what’s coming next.”

Danny Baker’s tweet

Screen Grabs taken from Harry and Meghan  Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan
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Pic: Netflix

Harry also speaks in the series about broadcaster Danny Baker’s infamous tweet following the birth of baby Archie.

The radio presenter posted a black and white photo showing a well-dressed man and woman holding hands with a suited chimpanzee, captioning it: “Royal baby leaves hospital.”

“The amount of abuse that we got, especially you (Meghan), but the both of us, for not wanting to serve our child up on a silver platter was incredible,” says Harry.

“Someone in the media posting a photograph of a couple with a chimp, and at the top it said, ‘Royal baby leaves hospital’. So that was one of the first things that I saw.”

Baker later apologised, writing: “Sorry my gag pic of the little fella in the posh outfit has whipped some up. Never occurred to me because, well, mind not diseased.”

Read more:
Row over whether Royal Family were approached for series
‘I’ve always been a hugger’: Meghan on meeting the royals for first time

The final episodes of Harry & Meghan come a week after the first three launched, recording 81.55 million viewing hours so far, translating to viewing in 28 million households, according to Netflix.

The streaming platform has launched the series almost three years after the Sussexes revealed they intended to “step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent”.

They officially left the monarchy in March 2020 and went on to sign lucrative deals, thought to be worth more than £100m, with Netflix and Spotify.

Before the first episodes were released, it emerged a photo and footage shown in two preview trailers, apparently to illustrate hounding by the paparazzi, were from events the couple were not associated with.

Neither Kensington Palace, which represents the Prince and Princess of Wales, nor Buckingham Palace have commented on the series.

Sky News understands palace officials are focused on the Princess of Wales’s carol service, which is due to be filmed at Westminster Abbey on Thursday.

The event will aim to shine a light on a congregation of almost 2,000 people who have been helping their communities across the UK, as well as remembering the Queen’s legacy.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.

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‘Where am I going to go with the kids?’ Mum-of-three left homeless after reporting threats to police

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'Where am I going to go with the kids?' Mum-of-three left homeless after reporting threats to police

As mother-of-three Danielle pushes two prams down the street in south London, her only thought is where will they all sleep tonight?

The 21-year-old, whose children are all under the age of five, had a council house in Southwark but had to move out because she faced threats of violence.

“I didn’t know that going to the police would end up with me being homeless,” she says.

Heartbroken and panicking, with nowhere else to go, Danielle is in a park with her three children – two daughters, aged one and four, and her two-year-old son.

“I’m so sorry, I wish this could all be better,” she tells them. Her eldest clutches a plastic toy and asks when they are going home.

“We don’t have a home anymore,” Danielle replies. She can’t hide the truth from her any longer.

Treated image for Farrell homeless piece

Danielle, who has long dark hair and is wearing a puffer jacket, is pacing, her mobile phone pressed to her ear, making a series of desperate phone calls, pleading for help.

“Where am I going to go with the kids,” she asks a housing officer. “I have nowhere to go.”

At this point it’s around 3pm and council offices will soon be closing. As her phone dies, Danielle, now sitting on a bench, her eldest daughter comforting her siblings in their buggies, breaks down in tears.

Her story exemplifies a national housing crisis where currently more than 150,000 children in England are living in temporary accommodation.

It is hard to imagine someone more vulnerable; a 21-year-old, at risk of violence, a care leaver herself, mother-of-three. If she’s fallen through the net, then who is it catching?

Treated image for Farrell homeless piece

Initially, Southwark council paid for her to have temporary accommodation elsewhere.

But things changed when police informed them it was too dangerous for her to come back to the borough.

“To sit there and tell a four-year-old little girl we can’t go home because we don’t have a home, that’s very upsetting as a mum because I brought her into this world to love her, protect her, to give her a home, and me being a mum telling her I can’t do that right now, it breaks my heart, but I know it’s not my fault,” she tells Sky News.

“Last Tuesday, I got a call to say they could no longer fund my accommodation because the police said it’s no longer safe to return back to Southwark, so they don’t owe me a duty of care.”

The council emailed her a letter which implied she was being made homeless for her own protection. The letter instructed her to present herself to another “local authority homeless person unit to seek rehousing outside of Southwark,” it said. “This is on the grounds of personal protection for you and your children.”

Treated image for Farrell homeless piece

The letter, dated 30 September, explained her current accommodation would terminate on 9 October.

But, when Danielle approached another council, they wanted more details from Southwark. In the meantime, her landlord said Southwark had stopped paying, so he evicted her and changed the locks.

“We are just going around in a loop and in the meantime me and my children are homeless, and nobody seems to care,” she told us when we found her on 10 October.

“They are not protecting me or my children, they’ve put us at an even more high risk, but they don’t seem to acknowledge that.”

As we sit on the park bench together, a Southwark housing officer calls confirming that, despite her being on the streets, they would not extend the temporary accommodation. The person on the phone says it was a management decision.

Treated image for Farrell homeless piece

At this point, we call Southwark’s press office and get a very different tone and a sense that the situation isn’t acceptable.

After an anxious wait, by late afternoon Danielle is told she can return to her temporary accommodation.

But while Danielle was on the streets, she took her child for a routine vaccination and was flagged with children’s social services, which adds to her worries.

“I know I am a good mum,” she says. “A doctor might have thought my nails were dirty or I didn’t look like a normal person, but she has to understand, I had nowhere to go that day.

“I had no keys, nowhere to live. I was living out of a black bag in my grandad’s shed. So, what do you expect?”

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In a statement, councillor Sarah King from Southwark told us: “This has been a very distressing situation for Danielle and her children, and I hope that she is at least relieved to be in safe accommodation now. We will be working to resolve her housing situation permanently and continue to support her until that happens.”

The council she was applying to told us they believed the issue was now being dealt with by Southwark.

Read more:
Number of children in temporary accommodation hits record high
Temporary housing spending for homeless people soars in London

Housing lawyer Simeon Wilmore told Sky he’s come across this kind of thing “many times” and believes both councils have behaved badly.

“Southwark should have been in contact with the receiving party or receiving local authority and it should be more managed and structured, and she should be at the centre of the decision making,” he said.

“If they have reason to believe she may be eligible for priority needs then the duty of care kicks in. They must accommodate.”

Danielle

The problem is councils have run out of homes. In Southwark alone 17,700 people are on the borough’s waiting list, nearly treble the figure over five years ago.

On average councils spend 1% of their budget on temporary accommodation, but research by Sky News has found 30 councils spend 10% or more, with several spending over 20% of their overall budgets on homelessness. This is council money going to private landlords.

Adam Hugg, head of housing at the Local Government Association, says the numbers of people needing support “are going through the roof” and the lack of available homes “creates a real challenge”.

He says there is a need for long-term investment to build more council houses as well as reform to housing benefit to make sure more people can be kept in their homes.

Danielle has few home comforts in her temporary flat, which has plain white walls and a TV on the floor. Her wish is for a place she can make her own and paint her daughter’s bedroom walls pink.

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She has Halloween decorations on a shelf, while in a corner of the living room there is a long box containing a Christmas tree. On top, there is a child’s yet-to-be-filled-out wish list for Father Christmas, while a pack of red and white baubles and a can of snow spray sit nearby.

“These are all my little Christmas bits I’m going to do with the kids when we eventually have a home,” Danielle says, but she still has no idea when that might be.

“They have told me I’m not going to be here for Christmas,” she says. “So, I don’t know where I’ll be. I just hope it’s not on the street.”

It seems the housing crisis has reached a point where even extreme vulnerability is no guarantee of help.

Councils want more secure longer-term government funding so they can build more homes, but with more children than ever living in temporary accommodation, this is a chronic national problem that will take more than one Christmas to solve.

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Sara Sharif: 10-year-old’s stepmother said girl’s father beat her up ‘like crazy’, according to WhatsApp messages read in court

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Sara Sharif: 10-year-old's stepmother said girl's father beat her up 'like crazy', according to WhatsApp messages read in court

Sara Sharif’s stepmother sent her sister some pictures of the 10-year-old looking bruised and miserable – and told her to “delete” them, a court has heard.

“Look what he’s doing,” Beinash Batool told Qandeela Saboohi, referring to the beatings Sara was allegedly getting from her father, Urfan Sharif.

“Delete the pictures.”

A series of WhatsApp messages exchanged between 2020 and 2023, in which Batool told her sister about the physical attacks Sharif was allegedly inflicting on his daughter, were read out to a jury at the Old Bailey.

Sara Sharif
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Sara Sharif

Batool repeatedly told her sister that Sharif was hitting Sara for being “naughty”, “rude and rebellious”, and because she had cut up his clothes, hidden keys and torn up documents.

Batool, 30, Urfan Sharif, 42, and Sara’s uncle, 29-year-old Faisal Malik, are accused of carrying out a campaign of abuse culminating in Sara’s murder on 8 August last year.

As early as February 2020, Batool described Sharif as going on a “rampage” after spilling hot tea, saying he was “possessed”.

Writing about 10 photographs of Sara, she wrote: “This is how bad he is beating her… I feel really sorry for her. He beat the crap out of her.”

On another occasion, Batool said Sharif “went ballistic” and “beat Sara up like crazy”. She expressed fears he could break an arm or leg.

In May 2021, Batool told Ms Saboohi: “Not great in our house, it’s all a bit manic. Urfan beat the crap out of Sara and my mind is all in bits. I really want to report him.

“Why the hell doesn’t Urfan learn – she’s covered in bruises, literally beaten black.”

Afterwards, Sharif sat “on his fat bum” and played the board game Ludo, she said.

She went on: “Why the hell I’m even letting him in the house. I’m sorry for Sara, poor girl cannot walk. She literally fainted in the kitchen in the morning. He made her do sit-ups all night.”

Asked what Sara had done, Batool said: “Because she hid the keys.”

By 2022, Batool said she was planning to get some “legal advice” but was advised by her sister to give it time and not to rush.

Urfan Sharif, Beinash Batool and Faisal Malik. Pics: Surrey Police
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Urfan Sharif, Beinash Batool and Faisal Malik. Pics: Surrey Police

In an update later that year, Batool said she was thinking about taking Sara out of school, saying: “I don’t want to but kinda don’t have a choice.

“I’m just fed up of her behaviour and Urfan’s. Sara’s body is literally bruised because Urfan beat her up. I cannot even cover it up.

“He beat Sara up yesterday and I can’t send her to school on Monday looking like that.

“She ripped Urfan’s documents in front of him and was being rude and rebellious.”

Referring to an image of Sara in a hijab, Batool wrote: “You haven’t even seen her body, it’s a whole lot worse.”

Days later, she said Sara’s school was worried about her and Sharif was “stressed” about it.

In an apparent reference to Sara’s injuries, she wrote: “Urfan told me to cover it up with makeup and she’s going to wear sunglasses.”

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Two months before Sara died, Batool referred to “Sara’s antics”, telling her sister: “Urfan beat the crap out of Sara… Yeah, he beat her up like crazy.

“Her oxygen level dropped really low, she’s finding it hard to stay awake.”

Asked if Sharif had hit her on the head, Batool said: “Nah, but she’s breathing really rapidly.”

The day before Sara died, Ms Saboohi tried to make contact but Batool told her she was “not in the mood to speak”.

Two days later, the defendants were captured on CCTV as they prepared to board a flight to Pakistan from Heathrow Airport.

That CCTV has now been shown to the jury.

On 10 August last year, police found Sara’s body in a bunkbed after Sharif called from Pakistan to say he had beaten her up “too much” for “being naughty”.

William Emlyn Jones KC, the prosecutor, has previously told jurors it was disputed whether messages Batool sent to two of her sisters were accurate or gave a full picture.

All three defendants, formerly of Hammond Road in Woking in Berkshire, have denied murder and causing or allowing the death of a child between 16 December 2022 and 9 August 2023.

The trial continues.

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Budget: Hostile market response as chancellor suffers Halloween nightmare

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Budget: Hostile market response as chancellor suffers Halloween nightmare

First things first: don’t panic.

What you need to know is this. The budget has not gone down well in financial markets. Indeed, it’s gone down about as badly as any budget in recent years, save for Liz Truss’s mini-budget.

The pound is weaker. Government bond yields (essentially, the interest rate the exchequer pays on its debt) have gone up.

That’s precisely the opposite market reaction to the one chancellors like to see after they commend their fiscal statements to the house.

In hindsight, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised.

After all, the new government just committed itself to considerably more borrowing than its predecessors – about £140bn more borrowing in the coming years. And that money has to be borrowed from someone – namely, financial markets.

But those financial markets are now reassessing how keen they are to lend to the UK.

More on Budget 2024

The upshot is that the pound has fallen quite sharply (the biggest two-day fall in trade-weighted sterling in 18 months) and gilt yields – the interest rate paid by the government – have risen quite sharply.

This was all beginning to crystallise shortly after the budget speech, with yields beginning to rise and the pound beginning to weaken, the moment investors and economists got their hands on the budget documentation.

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Chancellor challenged over gilt yield spike

But the falls in the pound and the rises in the bond yields accelerated today.

This is not, to be absolutely clear, the kind of response any chancellor wants to see after a budget – let alone their first budget in office.

Indeed, I can’t remember another budget which saw as hostile a market response as this one in many years – save for one.

That exception is, of course, the Liz Truss/Kwasi Kwarteng mini-budget of 2022. And here is where you’ll find the silver lining for Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves.

The rises in gilt yields and falls in sterling in recent hours and days are still far shy of what took place in the run up and aftermath of the mini-budget. This does not yet feel like a crisis moment for UK markets.

But nor is it anything like good news for the government. In fact, it’s pretty awful. Because higher borrowing rates for UK debt mean it (well, us) will end up paying considerably more to service our debt in the coming years.

Rachel Reeves and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones prepare to leave 11 Downing Street
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Rachel Reeves leaving 11 Downing Street before the budget. Pic: PA

And that debt is about to balloon dramatically because of the plans laid down by the chancellor this week.

And this is where things get particularly sticky for Ms Reeves.

In that budget documentation, the Office for Budget Responsibility said the chancellor could afford to see those gilt yields rise by about 1.3 percentage points, but then when they exceeded this level, the so-called “headroom” she had against her fiscal rules would evaporate.

Read more:
Chancellor defends £40bn tax rises
Hefty tax and spending plans a huge gamble – analysis

In other words, she’d break those rules – which, recall, are considerably less strict than the ones she inherited from Jeremy Hunt.

Which raises the question: where are those gilt yields right now? How close are they to the danger zone where the chancellor ends up breaking her rules?

Short answer: worryingly close. Because, right now, the yield on five-year government debt (which is the maturity the OBR focuses on most) is more than halfway towards that danger zone – only 56 basis points away from hitting the point where debt interest costs eat up any leeway the chancellor has to avoid breaking her rules.

Now, we are not in crisis territory yet. Nor can every move in currencies and bonds be attributed to this budget.

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Markets are volatile right now. There’s lots going on: a US election next week and a Bank of England decision on interest rates next week.

The chancellor could get lucky. Gilt yields could settle in the coming days. But, right now, the UK, with its high level of public and private debt, with its new government which has just pledged to borrow many billions more in the coming years, is being closely scrutinised by the “bond vigilantes”.

A Halloween nightmare for any chancellor.

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