"Revenge" by Tom Bower (2022)

[FigTree]

From other reports which have come out, William sensed that, and tried to get Harry to do something about it, but Harry went berserk at any implied criticism of Meghan. Maybe if he'd listened, and explained to Meghan that what was OK in California was not OK here, the situation could have been resolved amicably.

I don't know about that. The one who made a compliant is an American. I mean London workplaces are a diverse place and people are not such snowflakes as to be offended by different manners. As for emails at all hours, everyone has that and people just ignore them. If her attitude was to go berserk if she didn't get an answer then that is different.

 

[Hallo girl]

I don't know about that. The one who made a compliant is an American. I mean London workplaces are a diverse place and people are not such snowflakes as to be offended by different manners. As for emails at all hours, everyone has that and people just ignore them. If her attitude was to go berserk if she didn't get an answer then that is different.

I also wondered if it is something to do with differences between royalty and celebrity.

Could it be that Meghan requests were more celebrity than Royal, any refusal or maybe reluctance to comply was taken offence to.

Harry was supportive of Meghan, rightly, but there is more than one way to support somebody. Fighting their corner isn't always the correct approach.

Sometimes it is a lack of clear communications in these situations that can result in things becoming out of hand.

There are always more than one way to look at the same situation,

 

[Gawin]

I downloaded it as a Kindle book from Amazon today in the United States. It is also available in hardback and paperback.

Good to know, thanks.

Sent from my moto g play (2021) using The Royals Community mobile app

 

[kalnel]

Perceptions of what constitutes bulllying or arrogant behavior may vary widely, especially across different cultures. In particular, what is normally considered aggressiveness or arrogance in the UK may sometimes be seen as socially normal or perfectly acceptable in the US. I suspect many of the problems that Meghan may have had with staff in the UK possibly had to do with cultural misunderstanding.

Based on this book, I doubt it. According to him, her behavior irritated people in Hollywood, in Canada, and so on.

 

[US Royal Watcher]

I have heard the story before about late arrival etc, I have no idea if it is correct but something does appear to have happened that morning. When have you ever seen royals arriving at an event and they are not seated in order of arrival.
I cannot recall anybody having to shift along or get up to let somebody else in.

I don't believe they arrived late. If you look at the video, Anne, Edward and Sophie arrived, followed by Beatrice and Eugenie. Meghan and Harry were right behind them. That is the order of precedence. The surprise was the Meghan and Harry weren't seated on the aisle. Harry was understandably confused but I don't think there was sufficient time for the back and forth that Mr. Bowers described. I think Harry just thought that Beatrice was in the wrong seat but accepted the explanation.

From the general tenor of the book one can only imagine the "sources" were overjoyed that they had "driven the witch out". However, every ugly report we have heard or read has been from "reliable sources" most of which seemingly wished to be left unnamed to ensure they can't be sued.

This toxic mess Bower et al are espousing is at direct odds with her 'Suits' castmates and the show's creators, directors and producers. Same for her previous jobs. So, how can they be so diametrically opposed? Well, judging the way "things" are handled, both good news and bad, by TPTB a the palace, (eg scandals) they take no prisoners and ensure the main line remains pristine and family are expected to fall on their swords.

I find handling family with the same callous ruthlessness as a cutthroat business squashing a competitor is toxically nauseating. Anyway, as has been made clear by both the Prince of Wales and Prince William, they were more than happy that Meghan seemingly had room for Harry when she got on her broom and left!

I don't know the truth about her behavior on the set of Suits, but her status was very different than her status at the palace. Meghan certainly knew that if she had been too demanding on the set, she could have been written off. That doesn't happen to members of the royal family. What I do know is that Harry and Meghan haven't sued Valentine Low, who said he witnessed Meghan being rude to a staff person.

I don't think anyone on this board truly knows one way or another. I tend to believe that it is Meghan and Harry who have been displaying "callous ruthlessness" towards the royal family. I'm basing my opinion by what I actually observed during the Oprah interview (i.e., falsely claiming that Archie wasn't made a prince at birth because of his racial heritage).

 

[Hallo girl]

I don't believe they arrived late. If you look at the video, Anne, Edward and Sophie arrived, followed by Beatrice and Eugenie. Meghan and Harry were right behind them. That is the order of precedence. The surprise was the Meghan and Harry weren't seated on the aisle. Harry was understandably confused but I don't think there was sufficient time for the back and forth that Mr. Bowers described. I think Harry just thought that Beatrice was in the wrong seat but accepted the explanation.

That is the point I am making, everything is always organised. They know what seat they are sitting in. It was strange, I don't know if they were late I just found it different. They did arrive in order as you said, Anne followed by Edward then the York sisters then Harry and Meghan but when they got to the seats they were out of sequence. Maybe it was intended that the Yorks and H & M processed together with Harry leading , I don't know. It is what it was, no amount of detective work will resolve it.

 

[tommy100]

It does seem odd as the minibus the Yorks arrived in (Mercedes Viano) does seat 6 but it would be close quarters - I don't think it was ever the plan for the Sussex's to join them. I wonder if it wasn't part of the Royal Household's plan (and TBH I thought they did an excellent job at keeping everyone apart who wanted to be and treating everyone fairly) - letting H&M arrive last meant they would be well behind the "senior" royals i.e. Anne and Edward and back of the line for any "group shots" thus not being pictured with the senior royals. Then the seating meant likewise they were well out of any senior royal shots. As others have said, usually these things are well planned - I wonder if this was more well planned than it looked, it just meant looking "wrong" to what we are use to but still met the Royal Household and therefore the Queen's end game. If so, well done I say.

 

[Mbruno]

I don't believe they arrived late. If you look at the video, Anne, Edward and Sophie arrived, followed by Beatrice and Eugenie. Meghan and Harry were right behind them. That is the order of precedence.

Actually, if the official order of precedence were followed, Edward should outrank Harry, and both Sophie and Anne should outrank Meghan. But I understand there is some confusion since the British Court hasn't in practice observed the official order of precedence for quite some time (for example, Prince William has been consistently given higher precedence than his uncles).

 

[Hallo girl]

It does seem odd as the minibus the Yorks arrived in (Mercedes Viano) does seat 6 but it would be close quarters - I don't think it was ever the plan for the Sussex's to join them. I wonder if it wasn't part of the Royal Household's plan (and TBH I thought they did an excellent job at keeping everyone apart who wanted to be and treating everyone fairly) - letting H&M arrive last meant they would be well behind the "senior" royals i.e. Anne and Edward and back of the line for any "group shots" thus not being pictured with the senior royals. Then the seating meant likewise they were well out of any senior royal shots. As others have said, usually these things are well planned - I wonder if this was more well planned than it looked, it just meant looking "wrong" to what we are use to but still met the Royal Household and therefore the Queen's end game. If so, well done I say.

Well spotted, you might just have something.
Are you suggesting our Queen is devious, she had the last word whatever it was.

 

[Queen Claude]

I have heard the story before about late arrival etc, I have no idea if it is correct but something does appear to have happened that morning. When have you ever seen royals arriving at an event and they are not seated in order of arrival.
I cannot recall anybody having to shift along or get up to let somebody else in.

I concur that we have never seen where the later arriving royals had to scoot past the earlier arriving royals to get to their seats. I think that the Sussexes seating position had nothing to do with a late arrival and everything to do with not wanting the Sussexes in the same frame as Charles, Camilla and especially William and Kate. And the reason for that IMO was because of what happened at the Commonwealth Service a couple of years ago. The awkwardness of Harry and Meghan having to scoot past the York contingent was likely considered the lesser evil of having the feuding Wales, Cambridge and Sussexes in the same camera frame.

In terms of the arrivals, things could have gone according to plan, but I would not be shocked if it comes out that the Yorks and the Sussexes were intended to go down the aisle together but in order of precedence with the Sussexes bringing up the rear but then easing into their seats first, or the timing of the Sussexes being escorted in was on the heels of the Yorks and again they would have eased into their seats. However, even if I am correct, there still would have been some degree of awkwardness in the alternate scenarios. The only thing that I see that could have been done was to arrange to not have the cameras capture the Sussexes being seated.

 

[Kaye1850]

I thought it was a question of being on the aisle, as whoever was seated there would have been just inches (feet?) away from C, C, W & K as they exited the cathedral. Could have made for an awkward passing.

 

[FigTree]

I thought it was a question of being on the aisle, as whoever was seated there would have been just inches (feet?) away from C, C, W & K as they exited the cathedral. Could have made for an awkward passing.

Could have made for awkward pictures which was the sole and only reason for it at say. And very well done. All his cousins were gone when he came out and was left talking to Zara…who in fairness was the in,to never who seemed able to be civil…but still.

 

[kalnel]

It does seem odd as the minibus the Yorks arrived in (Mercedes Viano) does seat 6 but it would be close quarters - I don't think it was ever the plan for the Sussex's to join them.

I wondered if the Sussexes were supposed to arrive before the York daughters, rather than after them. Then, H&M could have slipped into the row followed by the Yorks.

Maybe that's the "late" arrival?

Harry looked annoyed about the seating, but he didn't look nearly as angry as his brother did. I wonder what ticked off William as he arrived. He looks like he is ready to punch someone.

 

[Claire]

okay - we need to step back here and look at it from the organisers view point first. I would think that there was 2 original seating plans - one which had the Queen attending and one not. As this was the brief. When the Duke of York pulled out - both were adjusted to cover the open seat. The decision if the Queen was attending was only made that morning - so was Harry and Meghan aware that she wasn't attending?
Normally the royals are made aware of the seating arrange and it many versions before an event. But as was the seen with the DOE memorial -unsure what is happening with precision coming and goings at the moment. The royals were only told the Queen would not be attending that morning - so everyone knew which plan to follow.
I wonder if Harry and Meghan still receive any function updates from BP - it is possible that Harry arrived only to be told that the Queen wasn't going and then didn't want to go himself. I also wonder if the decision not to attend the Guild Hall launch was done.
Either way - the fact that people had to move out of chairs shows that something went astray. That shouldn't normally happen at these events - you arrive and leave by your seats allocation.

 

[muriel]

okay - we need to step back here and look at it from the organisers view point first. I would think that there was 2 original seating plans - one which had the Queen attending and one not. As this was the brief. When the Duke of York pulled out - both were adjusted to cover the open seat. The decision if the Queen was attending was only made that morning - so was Harry and Meghan aware that she wasn't attending?
Normally the royals are made aware of the seating arrange and it many versions before an event. But as was the seen with the DOE memorial -unsure what is happening with precision coming and goings at the moment. The royals were only told the Queen would not be attending that morning - so everyone knew which plan to follow.
I wonder if Harry and Meghan still receive any function updates from BP - it is possible that Harry arrived only to be told that the Queen wasn't going and then didn't want to go himself. I also wonder if the decision not to attend the Guild Hall launch was done.
Either way - the fact that people had to move out of chairs shows that something went astray. That shouldn't normally happen at these events - you arrive and leave by your seats allocation.

All entirely plausible. However, I am of the opinion that H&M were delibrately placed in the middle of the row to avoid them being photographed with C&C and W&C, which in turn could be used to enhacing their marketability.

They may well have been allowed to process on their own as a sop, with a view to managing their increasingly fragile ego's.

 

[FigTree]

All entirely plausible. However, I am of the opinion that H&M were delibrately placed in the middle of the row to avoid them being photographed with C&C and W&C, which in turn could be used to enhacing their marketability.

They may well have been allowed to process on their own as a sop, with a view to managing their increasingly fragile ego's.

I think this is what happened. It was all to do with stopping the chat if they were anywhere near each other.

 

[intothesea]

Reading about the varying opinions of those who know Meghan, some fiercely defending her and others saying she’s a problem, it reminds me of Ellen Degeneres.

Among many celebrities, Ellen was very well liked. She promoted their show/song etc. and had a good humor while doing it, she was friendly and accommodating to them. For many years, her reputation was very, very good.

It’s now known that she was growing frustrated with her show, sick of the dancing, sick of having to be a positive comedian when she actually liked more acidic satire at times. Stories came out of her being rude and unkind to staff, and then a few celebrities felt compelled to say they too noticed. But many celebrities still defended her, saying, “Well, my experience is nothing like that she was all sweetness and funniness when I was around her!” Many replies to those tweets and comments from average citizens were along the lines of “yes, but you were benefitting off of her, and she was benefitting off of you….”

My impression of that whole situation was that Ellen always wanted to make it big, and she knew how to put on a show to do it. Once she became unhappy despite her success, her quest for perfection and image made her, well, brittle.

I think Meghan too had that drive and determination, and then found despite her success in that endeavor, she wasn’t happy. Any criticism therefore became very personal to her. So, yes, she’ll have people who had wonderful experiences with her who will defend her to the end of time. But, I think there’s truth to those who found her the exact opposite way too.

I think a revealing clip of Meghan is the interview with Ruben James when she was on Suits. She controls the interview, even going so far as to take his question card from him and at the end call him out when he looks over her shoulder at the next celebrity coming towards him. It is very clear to me that even then, she wanted to be a fierce guardian of her image and did not want any surprise questions at all. I think some would watch that interview and think, “she’s confident, she’s controlling it!” and others (like me) say, “she’s insecure, and feels the need to control it!”

 

[FigTree]

and others (like me) say, “she’s insecure, and feels the need to control it!”

I agree with this. A huge problem with what happened was massive insecurity.

 

[Kataryn]

IMHO the worst problem is that while there is a family who can be very nice, there is a court around them of people who have a lot of interest in the "Royal family", but not in supporting the members, but in using their image and position to further their own goals. Not necessarily bad goals, but their interest is not to make the family happy but to get them to do things they might not want because of "duty". it is a feeling I got when I watched the other ruling houses of Europe and the position the Royal families have there. The Swedish, Norwegian, Danish families are the most important people at their court, but in Britain, a lot of people seem to try to bring younger or not so important members down instead of helping them.



What happened before Harry & Meghan's wedding did not always seem to be in the interest of the bride, like in a normal wedding. Instead, courtiers tried to teach Meghan her place as the future wife of the spare - so I can imagine as an American with her own ideas about the value of her future husband and herself, this did not sit well with the bride. And once the environment as toxic, meghan managed to show Harry what had happeed to her and they tried to move away. Because it was clear there wouldn't ever be a situation where the Sussexes were treated as the son of Charles & wife, but as the spare to the heir. Second-class Royals, so to say. And the British media did not help at all.

 

[SirGyamfi1]

IMHO the worst problem is that while there is a family who can be very nice, there is a court around them of people who have a lot of interest in the "Royal family", but not in supporting the members, but in using their image and position to further their own goals. Not necessarily bad goals, but their interest is not to make the family happy but to get them to do things they might not want because of "duty". it is a feeling I got when I watched the other ruling houses of Europe and the position the Royal families have there. The Swedish, Norwegian, Danish families are the most important people at their court, but in Britain, a lot of people seem to try to bring younger or not so important members down instead of helping them.



What happened before Harry & Meghan's wedding did not always seem to be in the interest of the bride, like in a normal wedding. Instead, courtiers tried to teach Meghan her place as the future wife of the spare - so I can imagine as an American with her own ideas about the value of her future husband and herself, this did not sit well with the bride. And once the environment as toxic, meghan managed to show Harry what had happeed to her and they tried to move away. Because it was clear there wouldn't ever be a situation where the Sussexes were treated as the son of Charles & wife, but as the spare to the heir. Second-class Royals, so to say. And the British media did not help at all.

Meghan had guidance from members of staff to educate her on some matters pertaining to royal life such as Melissa Toubaiti, who has been working there for many years and others. Some of things that happened with Meghan and Harry were their fault, of course there was probably issues with some staff, but Meghan didn’t make things easy for herself and Harry, her husband who should have made some things clear to her, clearly didn’t and has enabled her and she vice versa. The media had issues, but Meghan and Harry stoked the fire a few times so they aren’t that innocent.

 

[Alison H]

Because it was clear there wouldn't ever be a situation where the Sussexes were treated as the son of Charles & wife, but as the spare to the heir. Second-class Royals, so to say.

Nobody thinks of Princess Anne as a second-class royal. No-one thought of Princess Margaret as a second-class royal. Nor of the Infanta Elena, Princess Caroline of Monaco, or numerous other examples. There is plenty of scope for a younger sibling of the direct heir to carve out their own role. British Royals are increasingly focusing on a small number of causes close to their own hearts, rather than every good cause there is, and there were plenty of things which Harry and Meghan could have done without their being any overlap with those ahead of them in the pecking order.

Meanwhile, we're now getting book after book - I gather that Omid Scobie is planning another one, as well as the one Harry's "writing" - going over and over the same ground. It's unpleasant and undignified.

"A source" told Heat magazine that:

It [Revenge]’s made her [Meghan] all the more determined to stand up for herself, but equally this is a sharp reminder that they have a colossal amount of repair work to do if this narrative is ever to go away.

“For all their bravado and stubbornness, Meghan and Harry don’t want to be at war with the world forever and there’s a lot that hasn’t come out yet.

“This book [Revenge] is pretty savage, but the worry is that it’s just the tip of the iceberg.

“The fact the author went out of his way to dig so thoroughly into their relationship has caused a good deal of anxiety.

... hence the desire to hit back, in yet another book.

 

[Hallo girl]

Meghan had guidance from members of staff to educate her on some matters pertaining to royal life such as Melissa Toubaiti, who has been working there for many years and others. Some of things that happened with Meghan and Harry were their fault, of course there was probably issues with some staff, but Meghan didn’t make things easy for herself and Harry, her husband who should have made some things clear to her, clearly didn’t and has enabled her and she vice versa. The media had issues, but Meghan and Harry stoked the fire a few times so they aren’t that innocent.

Harry knows how it works you move down the line of succession, it didn't come as a surprise.
Saying that I really do believe they had a lot to contribute, they could have encouraged changes and modern ideas. I think the hitting the ground running comment sums it all up. A bit patience and tolerance all round could have made a difference .
Diana made a huge difference to the royal family some not so good, but lots of positives, but she didn't try to do it in the first weeks and months.
Tortoise and the Hare come to mind.

 

[FigTree]

Nobody thinks of Princess Anne as a second-class royal. No-one thought of Princess Margaret as a second-class royal. Nor of the Infanta Elena, Princess Caroline of Monaco, or numerous other examples. There is plenty of scope for a younger sibling of the direct heir to carve out their own role. British Royals are increasingly focusing on a small number of causes close to their own hearts, rather than every good cause there is, and there were plenty of things which Harry and Meghan could have done without their being any overlap with those ahead of them in the pecking order.

Meanwhile, we're now getting book after book - I gather that Omid Scobie is planning another one, as well as the one Harry's "writing" - going over and over the same ground. It's unpleasant and undignified.

"A source" told Heat magazine that:

It [Revenge]’s made her [Meghan] all the more determined to stand up for herself, but equally this is a sharp reminder that they have a colossal amount of repair work to do if this narrative is ever to go away.

“For all their bravado and stubbornness, Meghan and Harry don’t want to be at war with the world forever and there’s a lot that hasn’t come out yet.

“This book [Revenge] is pretty savage, but the worry is that it’s just the tip of the iceberg.

“The fact the author went out of his way to dig so thoroughly into their relationship has caused a good deal of anxiety.

... hence the desire to hit back, in yet another book.

It's a law of diminishing returns. Books about them in 5 years won't sell. They've got a shelf life.

 

[Marengo]

The source is contradicting him/herself. He/she says that the Sussex couple does not want to be at war, yet they supposedly have the desire to hit back in another book. Both can't be true.

 

[Kataryn]

Meanwhile, we're now getting book after book - I gather that Omid Scobie is planning another one, as well as the one Harry's "writing" - going over and over the same ground. It's unpleasant and undignified.

"A source" told Heat magazine that:

It [Revenge]’s made her [Meghan] all the more determined to stand up for herself, but equally this is a sharp reminder that they have a colossal amount of repair work to do if this narrative is ever to go away.

“For all their bravado and stubbornness, Meghan and Harry don’t want to be at war with the world forever and there’s a lot that hasn’t come out yet.

“This book [Revenge] is pretty savage, but the worry is that it’s just the tip of the iceberg.

“The fact the author went out of his way to dig so thoroughly into their relationship has caused a good deal of anxiety.

... hence the desire to hit back, in yet another book.

How believable is that? For me Harry and Meghan are quite layed back in their home in California, doing what has to be done to earn enough money to live like they want (don't we all? On our own personal level?) and being quiet beyond that. That a guy who wrote so many books about celebrities and "acknowledged" that he had interview partners mostly from the haters at the British media should make them anxious is something I don't see. Especially as the same thing would have happened had they stayed in the UK. Because they sell papers and books. Even if they don't contain much truth. Before Diana's book noone knew what had really happened (and it was so one-sided, noone knew after it as well). Now Harry plans to publish his memoir, one-sided as well, but at east we will learn a lot about what is important for him and for Meghan.



For me, I just hope they'll be able to live a good life and one Harry hasn't been able to live in the UK.

 

[SirGyamfi1]

Harry knows how it works you move down the line of succession, it didn't come as a surprise.
Saying that I really do believe they had a lot to contribute, they could have encouraged changes and modern ideas. I think the hitting the ground running comment sums it all up. A bit patience and tolerance all round could have made a difference .
Diana made a huge difference to the royal family some not so good, but lots of positives, but she didn't try to do it in the first weeks and months.
Tortoise and the Hare come to mind.

Harry in all honesty has never truly taken royal life seriously, he has gotten away with things other royals would be crucified for in a heartbeat. Plus he enjoys the perks, but not the hard work or “boring parts” of it. I think the problem is that Harry has been indulged and coddled for too long especially when the distinctions weren’t made between himself and William. I also think they had ideas they wanted to implement but others weren’t welcoming to those ideas for some reasons which is understandable given the way Harry and Meghan have done things. They think it is them against the world and they consistently do the most puzzling things.

 

[TLLK]

Harry knows how it works you move down the line of succession, it didn't come as a surprise.
Saying that I really do believe they had a lot to contribute, they could have encouraged changes and modern ideas. I think the hitting the ground running comment sums it all up. A bit patience and tolerance all round could have made a difference .
Diana made a huge difference to the royal family some not so good, but lots of positives, but she didn't try to do it in the first weeks and months.
Tortoise and the Hare come to mind.

I have to agree with your comments. This was no surprise to Prince Harry as he had observed his uncles and aunts moving down in the line of succession. He was also expected to be an integral part of his father's and brother's reigns as a senior royal.

 

[tommy100]

Well spotted, you might just have something.
Are you suggesting our Queen is devious, she had the last word whatever it was.

I don't think the Queen is devious, she just likes neat solutions to keep everyone happy. TBH I've always believed (with no knowledge just my thoughts) that it might well have been that had Andrew attended he would have been sat in the seat closest to the aisle, then his daughters, then Harry and Meghan What we saw was "front row for working royals" (plus under 18 children). We were already told only "working royals" would be on the balcony so I wonder if they took the same line with the seating. If so, Andrew would have been the most senior "non working royal" so in theory the last to arrive before the working royals. With Andrew not there did they just move everyone down one place? If Andrew had sat in the chair nearest the aisle it all would have made sense (bar the order of arrivals) but in that case I suspect Harry wouldn't have inquired about their seating as Andrew would make more sense being on the end, then his daughters.

 

[Sun Lion]

I’m still plowing through the book …

(I shouldn’t have said upthread that I had finished posting about it. )

Though some chapters are less interesting to me, others strike me as full of revelations that contradict what was previously reported.

I’ve just read the chapter on Vogue -

Meghan wanted the cover. It took many meetings for the Vogue editorial team to dissuade her … the decision was “forced on her”.

Meghan was hoping to launch “The Bench” in tandem with the Vogue issue, hoping both would be publishing “sensations”.

Her American business team got busy with various projects in anticipation of this launching of her for her future US life … registering trademarks for her businesses and for Harry’s future business etc.

Meghan made demands that exasperated the editorial team.

They thought her contributions were superficial and lacked reason.

They wrongly assumed her ideas were coming from her PR people, but they were not, the ideas she put forth were her own.

No-one spoke up, they suffered through their exasperation in silence.

Buckingham Palace was “blindsided” when they learnt of the issue.

Things got fraught for everyone …

Meghan tried, through Sara Latham, to control the publication date.

The Palace put pressure on Ms Latham to shut the publicity about it all down as soon as possible.

Meghan wanted to leak information to build excitement.

The editor, Mr Enninful, wanted to have a bombshell launch without leaks. He resisted pressure put on him from both the Duchess with her agenda, and the Palace and it’s concerns.

Ms Latham, described as “aggressive and shirty” in her dealings with Vogue, made “aggressive demands” on behalf of the Palace.

Meghan contacted Mr Enninful, “sounding terrified”, for reassurance.

Meaghan gave up on her UK staff. She got her US staff to round up various celebrities to put forth support for her.

The whole thing started to take on a racist slant.

It was Vogue’s best-selling issue in its one hundred and five year history.

Mr Enninful and Meghan, though at odds with each other, saw no reason to dampen down the controversy.

 

[kalnel]

I keep wondering where this is all leading. One thing the book makes clear is that Meghan is "goal oriented." For better or worse, she sets her sights and pursues what she wants. (In contrast to Harry, who seems to be unfocused in this book.)

But, if Meghan is going for a profile as an international philanthropist, the lawsuits and PR moves don't make sense, since they make her look negative and defensive. Even if/when she is justified -- or wins a suit -- that stuff doesn't reflect well on her.

The lawsuits and stunts aren't a great way for her to launch a political career, either. In fact, if that's her goal, she'll need to dump the titles and the royal connections or American voters will reject her fast.

Her book didn't set the world on fire, so publishing probably isn't the next step. The Netflix and Spotify deals aren't leading anywhere, so that probably rules out Hollywood.

So, what's next? I wish Bowers had looked ahead more to offer some insight into her next move, rather than recapping stories that have already been in the press.