Since meeting Prince Harry, ex-actress Meghan Markle hasn’t stopped talking about her in the media. While his royal wedding has garnered a lot of interest, it’s his break with the royal family (the Megxit) that has garnered a lot of attention and hurt many Brits. Then the couple’s controversial revelations in interviews caused a stir. In an unauthorized biography due out in French in the coming days, author Tom Bower makes no gift to the Duchess of Sussex, whom he has no hesitation in calling “manipulative”. This is the other version of Meghan and Harry’s story that we discover there.
“Revenge” became a bestseller right after it was published in the original English version. Critics have reported an explosive book with shocking revelations about Meghan Markle. The author paints a sulphurous portrait and projects the image of a controlling, manipulative and unpredictable personality.
Tom Bower, a renowned British biographer, has spent more than a year interviewing Meghan Markle’s relatives, friends, former colleagues and servants in both the UK and the United States and even here in Canada. It is said that the couple first found sanctuary in a Vancouver Island mansion when they left Frogmore Cottage (her wedding gift from Elizabeth II) before settling in California.
All revelations apparently come from eyewitnesses, most of whom are quoted at the end of the book.
dream of glory
Rachel Meghan Markle was born in Los Angeles and grew up in California. Her father, Thomas Wayne Markle, an American of German, English, and Irish descent, married Doria Loyce, an African American. She was a makeup artist and met her husband on a film set when he was working as a cinematographer for television and film. Their marriage lasted only seven years. Doria then became a yoga teacher and was a small gift for her daughter. Meghan was mainly raised by her father, who regularly took her to film sets. Even as a child she wanted to be a movie star.
AFP
Meghan and Harry, the royal couple in exile.
Through her determination, she won additional roles and for ten years multiplied her efforts to become famous. Her first television appearance was on the American show Deal or No Deal. She then landed several small roles before finding fame in the role of Rachel Zane on the Justice TV series Suits.
It was her first husband, producer Trevor Engelson, who would have helped her. After their divorce, her ambition drives her to set up an “arranged” meeting with Prince William through a mutual friend, Violet von Westenholz.
Obviously it is this relationship and then his marriage that make him a figure of international renown.
manipulation and ambition
If Princess Diana was ever said to manipulate the media, that’s nothing compared to Meghan. In this biography, we learn that from her debut as an actress, she did everything to get her name anywhere in any newspaper. From the moment she made headlines about her relationship with Harry, her dream became a reality.
But Meghan wants to control everything and even have the right to see the published texts and photos.
When her engagement is announced, she realizes that she cannot easily control the media. She’s still using her new status to boost her Instagram account and website. In addition, Meghan does not hesitate to bring in a communications team to paint the public image of a Duchess who knows how to show compassion but is a victim of racism, always trapped and the subject of fake news.
According to the author, there is no evidence for this.
Controversial
If we are to believe the biographer, we understand that Meghan Markle is good at creating controversy, that she manages to drag her prince with her. After being idolized at her 2018 wedding, the Duchess of Sussex still wants more. She can’t stand being constantly compared by the tabloids to her all-too-perfect sister-in-law, Princess of Wales Kate Middleton. We also learn that Meghan treats the royal staff inelegantly. She will accuse the media of harassment. She says she wants to withdraw from UK media as her mental health is at stake.
The Megxit
In early 2020, Meghan and Harry announced their desire to withdraw from the royal family via Instagram. They now want to make a living from the media, the same media that Meghan accused of putting her in depression and that Harry blamed for his mother’s death.
Here again there is controversy. There’s a documentary series and various very lucrative deals with Netflix and Spotify that Meghan is struggling to keep, putting several big players at odds with her. We also use her two children, Archie and Lilibet, to strengthen her foundation.
Then, in 2021, there will be the shock interview with Oprah Winfrey on CBS, in which notably explosive statements blurted out that Meghan had been the subject of racism from the royal family.
Surprisingly we learn that everything was organized in advance. Commercial negotiations were going on with broadcasters up to a year before the Megxit. Everything was calculated even before the break with the royal family.
If her marriage to her prince brought her the fame and fortune she’d been searching for since she was a child, it’s understandable that the price of that success came at a high price for this Hollywood survivor.
“Success transformed the compassionate young woman into a ruthless opportunist. To secure her promotion, she abandoned her father and friends, betrayed Harry’s relatives and lied to Oprah Winfrey,” the author concludes.
The payback
Tom Bower
Hatchet, 440 pages
Available in bookstores from May 24th
- British biographer and former BBC journalist Tom Bower is known for his investigative journalism and the numerous biographies he has authored. In particular, the author has written the biographies of Boris Johnson, Prince Charles, Tony Blair, Conrad Black and Richard Branson.