The shockwaves from Prince Harry’s bombshell autobiography Spare are still being felt 10 months after the book hit the shelves.
But they could be nothing compared to the fallout that’s likely to rock the royal family if rumours that his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, is planning on writing her own tell-all book are true.
Speculation that the former actress is going to publish a memoir has been rife since it was announced Harry, 39, had signed a multimillion-dollar deal to write about his life. Several royal correspondents say they’ve heard Meghan, 42, will be next to lift the lid on her experience of being part of the royal family.
Tom Bower, author of Revenge: Meghan and Harry and the War Between the Windsors, says, “My information is that she is writing her memoirs and it’s going to be a huge money-spinner.”
Harry was reportedly paid around $30 million for his book, but Meghan might fetch even higher fees for spilling secrets about her relatives.
Longtime royal correspondent Camilla Tominey says Meghan’s father-in-law the King and the rest of the royals are bracing for a book in which she would be likely to reveal details they’d prefer were kept quiet. They’re especially concerned Meghan will name the member of the family who, she alleged during her TV interview with Oprah Winfrey, made comments about how dark her son Prince Archie’s skin would be.
“Everyone’s worried about the prospect of Meghan naming the royal ‘racist’,” says author Camilla, adding that “all hell will break loose” if she does that.
If Meghan has her say, things will go from bad to worse for Harry.
Meanwhile, royal writer Phil Dampier says if the book does happen, the most controversial parts are likely to be Meghan’s interactions with sister-in-law Catherine, Princess of Wales, 41. She has already talked publicly about their strained relationship, including telling Oprah it was Kate who made her cry in the days before her wedding, not the other way around, as had been reported. And in the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, the duchess described her first meeting with Kate and husband Prince William, 41, suggesting that it was awkward because they were very formal while she’s a “hugger”.
Phil says Meghan would no doubt want to address comparisons between her and Kate in a memoir.
“She would give her side of what really happened between her and Kate in the run-up to the wedding. Everyone will be fascinated to hear Meghan’s take on her relationship with Kate and whether she was hostile or welcomed her from the start. She probably thought she should have received equal treatment, and didn’t appreciate that she and Harry were seen as secondary to William and Kate.”
He says Meghan needs to be careful that doesn’t come across as sounding bitter if she paints Kate in a bad light. That would “be the last straw, and I doubt William and Kate would talk to Harry again”.
He believes the one person who wouldn’t cop any flak is the late Queen. “While Meghan may not directly criticise the Queen, she could reveal private conversations which would be troubling for the royal family.”
A palace insider agrees that a memoir could destroy what’s left of the relationship between the Sussexes and Harry’s family, who will be concerned that anything they’ve ever said to Harry and Meghan will end up in print.
“There’s not a lot of trust left to allow the family to maintain a good relationship. How do you speak openly without it ending up in a book?”
Since she and Harry left their roles as working royals and moved to the United States in 2020, Meghan has been upfront about many of the issues she faced after marrying her prince. But a royal confidante says Meghan should have been better prepared for what her new role would entail.
Lady Anne Glenconner, who was one of the Queen’s maids of honour at her coronation, says Meghan wrongly thought that being a member of the royal family would be the same as being a film star.
Speaking on a podcast, Anne, 91, said, “I think the thing about Meghan was she had no idea what was expected of her. I think she just thought it was sort of like being another actress, riding around in a golden coach and everything like that. Being a member of the royal family… a lot of it is extremely boring.”
Harry not Meghan’s first choice!
Ashley had a roving eye while married to Cheryl.
A British journalist who had an encounter with Meghan Markle three years before the actress embarked on her romance with Prince Harry says things could have been very different if she hadn’t given the Suits star a particular piece of advice.
Katie Hind says a 2013 meeting was organised with Meghan – whom she’d never heard of – by a publicist trying to drum up interest in her in the UK. During the get-together in a London bar, Meghan talked about being keen on having a British boyfriend and revealed she’d been sent DMs (direct messages) on social media by England footballer Ashley Cole.
Katie says she warned Meghan off the sports star, who had cheated on popstar Cheryl Cole during their brief marriage, and Meghan heeded her advice.
But Katie says now things could have been very different if Meghan had followed through with Ashley and not met Harry. “The sisterly advice about a rogue footballer I shared with her might well have changed the course of history.”
