These days, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have quite a lot on their respective plates. Harry’s highly anticipated memoir is due late this year, Meghan’s forthcoming podcast series is on the way, and the two have attended dual and individual speaking engagements. Not to mention, they’re raising son Archie, 3, and daughter Lilibet, 1, at their Santa Barbara home. One piece of news the couple has yet to engage with, however, are allegations in a new royal book — and their lack of action alone speaks volumes.
In an excerpt of Tom Bower’s new book, Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors, the author portrays the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as a couple obsessed with online commentary regarding their actions. “Every night they scoured the internet to read the newspaper reports and the trolls’ postings on social media,” Bower writes, per Us Weekly, about the couple’s time leading up to their 2020 resignation from senior royal duties. “Irrationally, they grouped the two together and fed each other’s frenzy about the media. Convinced that as champions of goodness they were being persecuted by mendacity and racism, they felt victimized by the mildest criticism.”
Meghan Markle must deal with a lawsuit served from her half-sister, Samantha Markle. https://t.co/cc1YqHNmCE
— SheKnows (@SheKnows) July 28, 2022
Indeed, Harry and Meghan spoke at length to Oprah Winfrey in March 2021 about the toll such scrutiny took on their respective mental states. Harry also made passing comments about watching his wife deal with the deluge of unwarranted commentary she experienced. But with this new book, which paints the couple in a less-than-flattering light (author Bower has even said, per Newsweek, that he hopes the book will “hasten the downward trend” in the Sussexes’ popularity), Harry and Meghan are choosing not to engage.
In fact, they seem to be fairly unbothered by the book, and according to royal expert Gareth Russell, that might be the point. “You can’t respond to it all,” the author told Us Weekly. “If you go out answering every single book or allegation, it will consume your entire day. You won’t have spare time to devote to your own mental health and your own well-being.”
To be sure, Meghan and Harry have definitely taken the time to separate themselves (even physically) from the negativity they endured in the U.K. By keeping matters all quiet on the Santa Barbara front and not responding to this new royal book by choosing instead to focus on their causes, new endeavors, and young family, Harry and Meghan might just be demonstrating the power of taking the high road.
Before you go, click here to see the 100 best photos of the royal family from the past 20 years.
Leave a Comment