Yes, of course it was authorised. Nothing "semi" about it.
Dan Wootton has long been a mouthpiece for Will and Kate.
The BRF and the British press have long been in bed together.
Byline Times did an expose proving (with copies of bank statements) that Will and Kate's private secretary's partner had received two payments totalling £4000 from a bank account belonging to the Sun, in exchange for insider info about Harry and Meghan. Dan Wootton revealed he'd been given insider information and details of private conversations by his longtime best friend, Harry and Meghan's former communications secretary Jason Knauf (the person who sneakily gave the Thomas Markle letter to the Daily Mail and who leaked the bullying allegations which he initiated to the press) and far from being fired for breaking his NDA and leaking private info about his employers to the tabloids, Will and Kate hugely rewarded him by appointing him CEO of their foundation. Obviously they knew and approved of the underhand smear campaign Knauf was engaged on. Otherwise why make someone proven to be untrustworthy and a backstabber head of your entire foundation?
Clearly someone on the Cambridge team leaked the private conversation and argument that occurred during the bridesmaids dress fitting.
Several of Harry and Meghan's staff revealed they were in regular contact with tabloid journalists throughout their time working for the Sussex household, which is in direct breach of their NDAs, none of them got fired for something that would be a case for immediate dismissal unless it had been condoned by someone higher than Harry and Meghan.
Melissa Toubati was installed in a senior position despite never having done that job even at entry level a day in her life, and after she was fired for misconduct and faking her CV she somehow immediately walked into a plum position as nanny to a billionaire whose sister is a tabloid reporter, that tabloid reporter has an inside line on Meghan stories since Toubati started working for her brother.
The Times have published, then deleted and removed multiple articles critical of or negative towards the RF.
Several journalists have gone on the record as saying whenever they've approached the Palace for a comment on a negative story they're planning to print about William, they've been offered a scandal about Harry to print in exchange for killing the William story.
Richard Palmer was publicly confronted with the fact he'd attended a private VIP reception which Buckingham Palace threw for tabloid editors and tabloid reporters, and his response was that he believed the event was strictly private and would be kept out of the public eye.
Piers Morgan claiming senior royals had personally thanked him for smearing Harry and Meghan and strongly implied on Instagram that one of them was William.
Are people really so naive they don't realise the tabloids and the RF enjoy a quid pro quo relationship, and that ALL the senior royals (bar the Queen) leak stories about each other to the tabloids and have close personal relationships with favoured journalists who they use to get 'their side of the story' out? Harry and Meghan used Omid Scobie, Will and Kate use Dan Wootton, Charles has his own pet journalists too, even back in the day Charles and Diana both had their own rival reporters who they'd leak their 'side' to.