Books about and written by the Sussexes

[wannable]

There is not much room for competition in the households versus mid or large firms worldwide.  People in the outset look and behave cordial, but through competition for higher position/salaries is akin to all what you mentioned, bosses allow it, it's their best interest to pick the one (s) who perform, give value, are human assets to the firm.  This happens daily, be it a healthy or toxic competition defines the person or the team.

[wannable]

Lady Colin Campbell has claimed that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tried to 'influence' her upcoming tell-all book Meghan And Harry: The Real Story. 

She also say that she has email and WhatsApp proof of the people in Team Meghan who contacted her.

In Amazon thus far:
#1
Meghan and Harry: The Real Story
Lady Colin Campbell

#2
The Quest for Queen Mary
James Pope-Hennessy

#3
Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family
Omid Scobie Carolyn Durand

[Princess Cassandra]

....sigh, Meghan still has so much to learn (if this is true).

PS: I'm putting the James Pope-Hennessey book on my list. 

[wannable]

The Sun Exclusive: Finding Freedom book spoiler alert, the couple were openly discussing leaving the Royal Family before they got married.

Claims have today emerged that the couple started talking about plans for a life away from the Royal Family before they even got married.
The reports are set to emerge in a new book about the couple which will be released in August.
Finding Freedom - said to have been written with the couple?s knowledge - is also set to detail the couple's plans for the future following their decision to quit the UK for a new life in LA.
A source told The Sun Online: "The book will explore the journey that Meghan and Harry went through in coming to the conclusion that they did.

"It will make clear that far from it being a snap decision that they took a long time to make it.

The exclusive from the Sun, author: Brittany Vonow

I thought Omid and Carolyn's book was to make the couple look good in general.  This article @copyrights has been purchased by the DM, comment section is blasting the couple for accepting a public wedding, titles and money for duty expenditures, when they already were plotting to leave before marrying.

Who would be able to source an extract of the book, the book's publisher employees, the authors leaking a tidbit to garner publicity?
Will someone sue? Will Byline investigate?

[Curryong]

We know (because he said so) that Harry had thought of leaving the Royal family in his twenties and maybe doing something else. Duty drove him on then though.

IMO it's entirely natural that Harry would have discussed with Meghan, his girlfriend/future fiancee, his feelings about his Royal role and how these have varied over the years. They might have considered various scenarios if Meghan didn't feel comfortable in her role in the future.

However I do not believe in the inference that seems to be being drawn at second hand by these tabloid articles that have now appeared that there was some deep dark plot by the couple to pull the wool over the Queen and Prince Charles's eyes from the very beginning. If that's the narrative these papers are trying to flog it certainly doesn't work for me even if the DM rabble choose to rant about it. And they do, of course!

I saw the immense enthusiasm of both of them before the wedding when they visited various parts of the U.K., in the engagement interview, on the public engagements following the wedding and indeed in Australia on the Oceana tour when I saw them in real life. They were as happy as Larry when in Australia.

As always I'm going to buy the book on Harry and Meghan, just as I bought the book on Andrew. And  I'm not going to draw any conclusions on anything the Fail, Sun or anything any other rag tries to flog  until I've read that book for myself.

[wannable]

I had read the Queen had offered them a private wedding and no titles, so I'm a bit amazed* they accepted all the public expenditures IF what Omid and Carolyn state is true.

* And IF  they openly discussed it before the wedding with the knowledge of the Q and C, the sovereign and heir didn't think of the nation, it's people, the future reaction, the 99%. 

[TLLK]

Here's the article from The Sun.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry 'discussed Megxit before they got married', new book claims

As @Curryong pointed out we do know that Prince Harry has shared his desire to live outside the royal world in his twenties and unless they choose to share more of the book's contents we'll need to wait to purchase the book before we really can know what  the authors are trying to state. With that being said though I can understand why there will be questions regarding they couple's intentions.

I can certainly understand the pair discussing scenarios of "What would we do if the monarchy ended?" Or "What would you like to have done if you had not been a prince?" Or something like "Could we be part timers like the Cambridges were during his RAF/EAAA work? Or live outside the UK briefly like the Queen and DoE did in Malta?"

[wannable]

Those questions IMO are valid and would have been acceptable to the public, but the end result, which they themselves published in their official Instagram and website of wanting to make moneys from their Sussex Royal trademark, the registrations during 2018 and 2019 receipts speak loud and clear of merchandising their status Royal and the title.

How is that to be explained?

Disclaimer: I say public, because immediately after they dropped the bombshell, YouGov UK majority 70 plus percent wanted the couple to leave in all related questions.

[QueenAlex]

 I find ti hard to believe that the queen offered them a quiet wedding and no titles.. presumably accepting that they weren't going ot work for the RF.  But really?  If she did do so, if she accepted that they didn't want to do royal duties, didn't want a title or a fancy wedding.. why did they end up with one? 
And yes is it really likely that Charles and the queen would agree to this when it was planned that Harry would be a very important part of the slimmed down RF in the future?

Increasingly, I do think that the people who were unkind about Meghan may have been right and that she didn't intend to stay in the ROyal working family for the long haul.  She may have thought that within a couple of years, she and Harry COULD pull out and become part timers and that within a certain period of time, she and he could say "Hi Gran and Pa, we' have decided we're not happy with full time royal duties, we want to go part time.. and live in America part of the year, make money and do our own kind of charity stuff while we are on hiatus...." and that it wouldn't be a big deal.
That way they would have the security of being royal, they would do some work and have the protection of the RF, but could make their "own" money in down time...
I could go a bit more cynical and think that Meghan never cared tuppence about the RF except as a way of raising her own profile and believed that if her marriage didn't last, she would still be seen a Princess/Royal Duchess and it would improve her business and money making prospects if she returned to America.
Harry  I don't know.  I think he wasn't always happy with his royal role and did think of getting out but it was only when he met Meghan and married her that it became a serious prospect.  She knew the outside world and the business world and could help them make a living outside royal life.

[wannable]

This is a case of aristocrat prince doesn't see any immorality of having a very expensive public wedding tied to the idea of thoughts of 'we are leaving anyway the BRF'.

[QueenAlex]

but it does not make sense.  If he wanted out of the RF, why not tell the queen clearly before he got married?  or did he think that a year or so after the wedding he and Meg could cut loose partially, and didn't realise that he would not be able to do so, he would have to leave or stay.
Did they both feel that doing a year or 2 of royal duties was necessary to raise thieir profile as a couple and then when they had done that much, they wanted to leave?

[wannable]

I'm trying to enter the twilight zone of being 'entitled'. Historical behavior of entitled people don't see what a majority of the world population see as a negative.   

i.e. the woke don't want to be lectured by the 1%, Out of Topic but really is it out of topic since there seems to be a war of words? Two difference books going out sugar/anti sugar, example of war of words others - people who pause calm and collected won't on an impulse hit the keyboard and fudge it like JM due to a generic or trending issue, or a reverse of the generic and trending/Omid Scobie writing a specific article shaming the BRF for not personally saying anything about #BLM and purposefully not mentioning that the working royals have touched the subject through their charities, specifically the Prince of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

As I said these are dangerous, critical and madhouse times (first a pandemic war now a race war), people need to breath first, learn and then decide what to do, before taking any actions.  I was in a Zoom conference just a couple of days ago in re to #BLM, there on the other side of the box were regular black employees from labor to white collar people talking about their experience, and 3 famous black TV anchors, all of them said to CONSULT first with a black person HOW to help before doing anything.

So which book are you going to read? Both to compare and contrast. 

[Curryong]

I have already stated on this forum  that I intend to read both books on the Sussexes. That is, the one by Lady Colin and the one by Scobie and Durand.

I also stated on that post that I refuse to actually buy the Ldy C C book as I believe her to be a bald faced liar if you go by her past books, propagating ridiculous rumours about the QM being the product of the Earl of Strathmore and the family cook, plus stating that Diana had an abortion etc etc.

Therefore, as I said in my post, rather than add to her profits I intend to borrow her book from friends, who are going to buy it and have a good laugh at the same time.

I've never had any problem reading books about any Royal, even those I don't particularly care for. I have several bios on Charles and on Kate for example. As a Dianaite I loathe Camilla but bought her biography by Penny Junor. I reviewed it on this forum when it came out and I believe I was fair. Nobody here said I wasn't. It's there in the archives in the Camilla threads I suppose.

[wannable]

I'm going to post the book wars here, be it Omid/Carolyn, Lady C and a new book by Robert Lacey focusing on Princes William and Harry rift.

Meghan Markle was 'given greater privileges than Kate Middleton' as new Royal
EXCLUSIVE: Royal author Lady Colin Campbell claims Meghan Markle was given "greater privileges" than any other fiancee, including Kate Middleton, who married Prince William in 2011
Meghan Markle was 'given greater privileges than Kate Middleton' as new Royal - Daily Star

This probably is the only fact; Lady C numbers the what was conceded to Meghan versus Kate, Sophie, and Diana.


Robert Lacey

Biographer Robert Lacey, a historical consultant for Netflix's The Crown as well as the author of Majesty, a 1977 study of Queen Elizabeth, has penned Battle of Brothers: William and Harry - the Friendship and the Feuds (inset), set to be released in October. He told how he was 'astonished' and 'sometimes moved to tears' by the fresh details of the rift that emerged while he was researching the conflict. The book also explores conflicts that emerge as a result of the 'heir and the spare' dynamic that permeates British aristocracy, and claims that the 'seeds of damage were sown' when William and Harry's parents' marriage unravelled. It will also delve into how the relationship between the two brothers has been impacted by their wives - Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, both 38 - and claims to offer more detail on why the Sussexes chose to quit as senior members of the Royal Family and move to Los Angeles with their son Archie, one. Pictured left: William and Harry on Harry's wedding day in May 2018, and right at the Commonwealth Day service in March.

[Curryong]

I'll probably get Lacey's book later this year. I have his book 'Majesty', which is enjoyable, though his consultancy with the fiction series 'The Crown' isn't particularly praiseworthy. It's quite sad that people (especially non-Britishers) watch The Crown and then think they know everything about British royalty.

It appears more and more that Lady C trawled Twitter and Tumblr when 'researching' her new novel, (scarcely call it a biography.) I'll be reading it on the day of release, on loan from friends, because I think it will be a hoot.

Several of her past books have had to be recalled by the publishers and changed as people threatened to sue her for untruths. And the Daily Star! Really! That rag is worse than the Fail and that's really plumbing the depths!
Double post auto-merged: June 23, 2020, 06:58:05 AM

Another book on Meghan slated to come out in November has been signed up by Harper Collins. Tentatively called 'Misunderstood Meghan' for now it's by an author of several best-selling biographies. Though I like biographies, and welcome one that seemingly will be favourable to Meghan the market is going to be sated!

HarperCollins picks up 'pioneering' Meghan Markle biography | The Bookseller

[wannable]

So, I think this was the first/original thread of all H&M books 2020.

To date the best sellers

No. 2 and 4: Meghan and Harry, The Real Story by Lady Colin Campbell
No. 5 and 7: Royals at War,  The Untold Story of Harry and Meghan's Shocking Split with the House of Windsor by Dylan Howard, Andy Tillett  (Amazon promotes them as Front Page Detectives)
No. 8 and 16: Finding Freedom, Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand

No. 1 and 3 unrelated to the H and M books.
Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown by Anne Glenconner

[wannable]

So far the extracts of Omid and Carolyn's book has proved that many stories were true/did happen, but with the 2 authors ''version'' of how/who's fault it was. 


Double post auto-merged: July 30, 2020, 01:09:20 PM

ETA, modify (or add) is disabled, so I'm double posting.

The extract from the book, disclosed in the deal Omid and Carolyn have done now with People magazine, related to Courtiers advising (O and C used the word scolding) Meghan to not wear the H and M gold necklace when she was yet the girlfriend with no engagement announcement in place yet, in order to avoid photographers and the media to talk about her and keep the low profile, the book says she was emotionally distressed with the advise (scolding) from the courtier.

Here's the paparazzi's tweet, he said she notified him to take the pictures, who then sold it to the media.

"She was advised that wearing such a necklace only served to encourage the photographers to keep pursuing such images ? and news headlines"

Jesal Parshotam
@therealjesal
My picture of The Necklace That Got Meghan Markle in Hot Water with Palace Aides Camera with flash


Jesal Parshotam
@therealjesal
She knew she was being photographed and wanted this specific outfit with the necklace to be seen for two reasons:

1) Her friend Jennifer Meyer will get promo when these pictures publish

2) The ?H+M? necklace will be seen by the media, public critics

[wannable]

From Finding Freedom, Harry (and Meghan's) new black Labrador is called Pula, which is the currency in Botswana

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry?s Black Lab?s Name Is Revealed | PEOPLE.com

I'm going to use this thread to discuss Omid/Carolyn's book.

[TLLK]

I'm going to use this thread to discuss Omid/Carolyn's book.

:thumbsup:

[gmod]Thank you. I am going to change the title to reflect Finding Freedom and other books on the Sussexes. [/gmod]

[FanDianaFancy]

I predict both books, Omid's and Campbells, will in the bottom barrel, bargain books before you know it.

[wannable]

I predict both books, Omid's and Campbells, will in the bottom barrel, bargain books before you know it.

Both books hit #1 in Amazon for presales with the right PR push, in other words, 2 weeks before the book is out respectively were promoted, Lady C via her own Youtube Channel and guest invited to premium TV slots, Omid and Carolyn via serialization of bits and pieces via UK Times and USA People.


#1 is not the bottom of the barrel.

[TLLK]

Here is The Guardian's review of Finding Freedom.

Finding Freedom by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand ? Harry and Meghan and the making of a modern royal family | Biography books | The Guardian

[wannable]

The book is available as of today.  There is a lot of vagueness with no examples of i.e. the book claims that William's staff threw Harry and Meghan under the bus statement with no detail.
Double post auto-merged: August 11, 2020, 02:54:00 PM

First media commentator about the book after its deliverance today.

From Valentine Low for the Times UK
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/finding-freedom-by-omid-scobie-and-carolyn-durand-review-the-truth-behind-megxit-vrhj6n2q9?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1597142581

In the years to come, when historians come to unravel the chain of events that led to the downfall of the House of Windsor, perhaps they will pay particular attention to this book. Finding Freedom purports to be the first proper attempt to tell the truth about ?Megxit?: how the Duke and Duchess of Sussex went from the golden couple who were going to modernise the monarchy for a new, emotionally literate, socially aware generation, to the pair who found their lives so filled with misery and rancour that they ran away to California.

It is quite a journey. It takes us from Meghan landing in London in June 2016 when, apparently, she was a woman on a mission, not to bag herself a prince, but to go shoe shopping. Off she goes to Selfridges, where she enjoyed looking at her favourite designers, including Stella McCartney, Chloe and Marc Jacobs. In between shopping trips she is networking. Within a few days she is set up on a blind date with Prince Harry. ?Do you know what you?re letting yourself in for?? her London agent asks over lunch. ?Well, it?s going to be an experience,? Meghan says. ?And at least it will be a fun night.?

Meghan was right in one respect: the evening did go well. They chatted for nearly three hours, over beer for him, martini for her; he spoke about his charity work, she talked about her rescue dogs. There was no goodbye kiss, but the romance was on; by the time she was back in her hotel, Harry was already texting her. Meghan did not know what she was letting herself in for. There were warning signs early on, when Harry was so furious with what he saw as the racism and sexism in the tabloid coverage of his romance that he issued an angry statement condemning the ?abuse and harassment? of Meghan. Prince Charles was on tour in the Middle East, and had only 20 minutes? notice of Harry?s incendiary statement. He was not best pleased. It was another harbinger of how Harry and Meghan would come to fall out with the other royal households. By the time Meghan was pregnant with Archie, it was not short of all-out war. According to the authors, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, senior courtiers in other households ? the ?men in grey suits? ? were intent on reining in Harry and Meghan?s global popularity.

Meghan did not know what she was letting herself in for.

Who are these men in grey suits? It is never clear. They are not named. But they are a bad lot, it seems. The ?establishment? even feared that Harry and Meghan?s popularity ?might eclipse that of the royal family itself?. Really? At this point the reader might ask: what exactly were these rotters doing? And how do we know? Scobie and Durand do not claim to have had interviews with Harry and Meghan, but they have spoken to them. They have also been introduced, with the help of the couple?s staff, to Harry and Meghan?s closest friends. The result is that we get the pure, undiluted voice of H and M (as their staff call them). That makes this book an important contribution to the understanding of the biggest crisis in the royal family for more than 20 years. However, it is not necessarily an edifying experience, or indeed a reliable narrative. The main complaint, as far as one can tell, is that the Sussexes sometimes had to take a back seat in the royal pecking order. Did no one explain to Meghan that Charles is the heir to the throne and William the next in line? And that the concept of monarchy is built on the notion of hierarchy? If not, it was a woeful omission. There are attempts at balance, as when it is conceded that the way Harry and Meghan announced their plans to step down caused ill will. Yet when Meghan is quoted as saying things such as, ?I gave up my entire life for this family. I was willing to do whatever it takes,? one has to wonder about her capacity for self-awareness. This is not to say that they weren?t genuinely unhappy, or that they did not feel unprotected by the Palace. They did. But this book has only one story to tell: how Harry and Meghan are the innocent victims of a wicked Palace and an even more wicked media, and it?s all everyone else?s fault. It cries out for a decent account of how things really fell apart. The prose has its Mills & Boon moments. We learn that when Meghan moved in with Harry she immediately felt at home because ?she?s always been able to bloom where she was planted?. When Harry took Meghan to Zambia, she ?stretched her body into the perfect warrior pose?, which as well as being irrelevant raises the question: how did the authors know which yoga pose Meghan chose to adopt? Other than by her telling them? Worst of all, on the evening she first visited Harry at Kensington Palace, we read that he was ?every bit the gentleman? who would always gesture for her to go first. ?The short walk from the living room would have been no different.? Please: too much information. On and on it goes, detail after exhausting detail. There are some exclusive nuggets, such as the fact that they got engaged several weeks earlier than anyone realised. The name of their labrador, kept a secret for so long, is Pula.

Harry, Meghan and baby Archie.

However, for a book that sets out to put the record straight, there are curious omissions. There is nothing on the controversy over why they refused to divulge the names of Archie?s godparents, or what happened when she had an apparent meltdown on an official engagement in a market in Fiji. Their decision to set up their Megxit website on the sly without telling any of the royal family is skimmed over. Some of it is just plain wrong. When they flew to Canada to get away from everyone in November last year, it wasn?t on Air Canada, as the authors claim, but a private jet (whoops). The authors use a couple of jobs undertaken by the couple to berate the press, complaining that coverage of their first trip to Wales omitted to point out that the reason they were an hour late was because their train was delayed. Not true: every newspaper said that their train was late. Instead of the couple being ?pummeled with criticism?, the coverage was overwhelmingly positive. The Daily Mail, bete noire for Harry and Meghan, said she passed her initiation ?with flying colours?. A few days later she wore a trouser suit to an awards ceremony. The book says she was ?lambasted? for her fashion choice ? in fact, she was widely praised. Laziness by the authors, who could have checked? Or cynicism? Harry and Meghan had so much to offer. He was a popular and charming member of the royal family, with a drive and a sincerity that reached parts other royals never could. Meghan had glamour, intelligence, initiative and a fresh approach that could have transformed the monarchy. They could have done so much, which is why their departure was such a loss. They deserve a better account than this. Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family, by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand (HQ, 368pp) The Times

[wannable]

Meghan Markle and Harry 'sanctioned tell-all book Finding Freedom' as 'their truth'
EXCLUSIVE Meghan Markle and Prince Harry had involvement in ?Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family', according to palace insiders
By Russell Myers
Meghan Markle and Harry 'sanctioned tell-all book Finding Freedom' as 'their truth' - Mirror Online

I suppose we will have a lot of royal rota/political/social author opinions in the next few days

[PrincessOfPeace]

Camilla Tominey gives her two cents. Absolutely worth reading. Behind a paywall but free to read with registration.

Of course, Finding Freedom was always going to be a touchy-feely affair, not least when Mr Scobie himself admits he was once embraced by the woman he calls Duchess Different. 

As Radio 4s Nick Robinson put it when he interviewed the authors on Tuesdays Today programme: I've been a journalist for years, and I have never hugged one of my sources.

More: Strangely, touchy-feely 'Finding Freedom' hasn't brought a word of complaint from the Sussexes