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New book says ‘increasingly fragile’ Meghan Markle wanted to be Hollywood version of Princess Di

July 17, 2022 | | Print Article

A dishy new book paints Meghan Markle as a weak and narcissistic creature of Hollywood, preoccupied with providing “the leadership them monarchy needed” and delusional enough to think she was due the love, admiration, and respect bestowed upon Harry’s mother, Diana, The Princess of Wales.

In Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors, author Tom Bower offers “a blow-by-blow account” of “how repeated clashes with the Palace over family, charity and protocol led, inevitably, to Megxit.”

In an exclusive extract published by The Times of London, Bower notes a clash between Meghan, Prince Charles (who apparently liked Meghan), and the Queen over Meghan’s refusal to reconcile with her father, Thomas Markle.

Allegedly ignored by his daughter, a furious Thomas took to television in multiple appearances and criticized the royal family.

A conference call between Meghan, Harry, Charles, and the Queen ended with the senior members of the monarchy “perplexed” and Harry feeling the need to protect his wife.

Meanwhile, writes Bower, Camilla — who finally married her longtime lover, Charles, not long after Diana’s death — was not impressed with the actress from California.

“Unlike Charles, Camilla could see through the American actress’s coquettish smiles and tactile performance,” Bower writes. “During her life-long experience of England’s county set, Camilla had occasionally spotted self-important adventuresses. They were the sort she might call ‘a minx.'”

And while the elder royals questioned whether or not Meghan would properly represent the crown as her duty now dictated, “Meghan was angry that Palace officials refused to protect her image.”

“She refused to accept that staff were not employed to promote her as an individual, but instead placed her in the grid of the royal family,” Bower states.

“Meghan seemed isolated, vulnerable and stifled by convention,” he writes. “Apparently unwilling to accept that, unlike Hollywood, no one was counting the box office receipts of the crowds she attracted, she was waging a struggle for which she was not suited. Scornful of the Palace’s explanation that attacking the media would rebound on her, she adopted Hollywood’s rulebook and took the initiative.”

“No other member of the royal family had suffered as much embarrassment from their own family as Meghan,” according to Bower.

To make matters worse, Meghan became increasingly jealous and resentful of sister-in-law and future Queen, Princess Kate.

Says Bower, “Meghan appeared to be influenced by envy of Kate.”

And, Bower claims, Meghan wasn’t exactly what you’d call a “strong” woman.

“Despite being raised in Hollywood’s studios to work with others, Meghan became increasingly fragile, demanding that the Palace staff view the world from her perspective,” he writes. “In self-defense she demanded retaliation against her critics.”

After the wildly inappropriate timing of Meghan’s announcement that she was pregnant — in the middle of Princess Eugenie’s wedding reception — Meghan and Harry flew to Australia.

It was here, Bower suggests, that Harry began comparing his wife to his mother, which some might argue is creepy. On her 1983 tour of Australia with Charles and baby William, Diana dazzled the public and drew new devotion from Australians to the Queen, the nation’s head of state.

“The more Harry drew parallels with his mother,” Bower writes, “the more Meghan must have been convinced of her importance to the monarchy.”

“The only clue to their preoccupation,” he continues, “was Meghan’s comment about a pair of jewel-encrusted earrings she was wearing from Diana’s collection: ‘It’s so important to me to know that she’s a part of this with us.'”

Delusions of grandeur reportedly set in.

“Perhaps encouraged by Harry,” Bower continues, “Meghan appeared to conjure a fantasy that she could provide the leadership the monarchy required. Her activism would enhance the brand. To her staff, she gave the impression that she believed she personified the monarchy’s importance.”

While Down Under, Bower says, the “Sussexes had convinced themselves that their Australian success had blessed them with Diana’s magic. Never having studied British history or politics or shown interest in biographies, Meghan also perhaps could not understand that Diana had won the public’s affection after years of work. Neither she nor Harry could grasp that emulating Diana required time to weave a narrative and create a brand from which influence would flow.”

“Unlike Meghan,” he writes, “Diana had never needed to seek money or fame.”

Melissa Fine
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