Take a photo of a barcode or cover
2.94 AVERAGE
2.94 AVERAGE
Yes, I hate myself for reading this, but it was a fun ride. Basically it confirmed everything I thought about this couple - they just love to play the victim. It really puts that Oprah interview into a new light.
funny
slow-paced
2022 Reread Review:
I'm rereading the royal gossip books about Harry and Meghan in the order they were released so I can be ready with an informed opinion when Harry's upcoming memoir, 'Spare', is released.
I'm rereading the royal gossip books about Harry and Meghan in the order they were released so I can be ready with an informed opinion when Harry's upcoming memoir, 'Spare', is released.
Whew lawd the racist dog whistles in this book😬
I find it hard to believe that Meghan asking directly for what she wanted was more difficult than Princess Margaret's antics or King Charles III notoriously detailed 'demands'?
Here's a couple articles detailing the notorious behaviors of Charles III & Princess Margaret:
https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1447203/princess-margaret-served-revenge-fuming-palace-staff-antony-armstrong-jones-royal-news-spt
Here's a couple articles detailing the notorious behaviors of Charles III & Princess Margaret:
https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1447203/princess-margaret-served-revenge-fuming-palace-staff-antony-armstrong-jones-royal-news-spt
It seems staff's issue is that Meghan feels herself in an equal position to others in the royal family and household while staff doesn't consider her to be in an equal position to the family and as a result expect her to humbly accept whatever she is given and be grateful for it because just allowing her to join this Illustrious family is apparently worthy of her lifetime appreciation for whatever scraps are thrown her way.
Apparently the act of requesting certain accommodations in specific ways is somehow demanding if you're a divorced WOC who married into the royal family in a way that Charles's inability to put his own tooth paste on his toothbrush or pick up a towel to dry himself off after bathing is not. Like wtf. This is such a biased and ridiculous view of Meghan and Harry.
The idea that sending emails when she woke up at 5 because she'd worked rather early before joining the royal family and maybe it was a habit is somehow demanding? How? She didn't demand an answer to her early emails just sent them and apparently that was difficult. She has been a home cook for year's, written a multi year's long lifestyle blog which included recipes and cooking tips not to mention lived with a professional chef for a time. If she said she could taste an ingredient she asked to not be used in the cooking in the finished dish, she was in a reasonable position to assert so. I'm sure the cook felt hurt but was Meghan supposed to pretend she didn't recognize something she recognized? Like this is mostly petty nonsense. British folks are weird if that's a requirement to be 'polite'.
I use this example because it's early in the book and incredibly silly. In what weird ass culture is asking directly for what you want considering rude and demanding? Are staff supposed to be mind readers with Royals? I'm utterly confused how this behavior is unacceptable. It honestly sounds like the staff doesn't like Meghan. Which is sometimes how it goes but the staff need to just directly say that instead of pretending like Meghan asking directly for what she wants is somehow a social faux pas and rude to boot.
What utter nonsense🤷🏾♀️
I use this example because it's early in the book and incredibly silly. In what weird ass culture is asking directly for what you want considering rude and demanding? Are staff supposed to be mind readers with Royals? I'm utterly confused how this behavior is unacceptable. It honestly sounds like the staff doesn't like Meghan. Which is sometimes how it goes but the staff need to just directly say that instead of pretending like Meghan asking directly for what she wants is somehow a social faux pas and rude to boot.
What utter nonsense🤷🏾♀️
The repeated accusations that Meghan is 'woke' is really just dog whistle racism.
Here's a few articles explaining why this is proof of the author's own racism:
https://steady.substack.com/p/blowing-the-anti-woke-dog-whistle
https://steady.substack.com/p/blowing-the-anti-woke-dog-whistle
In conclusion, this author is racist and this book is complete trash.
Original 2020 Review:
The author passes off previously debunked myths as truths.
For example the perfume in the wedding chapel that Meghan requested was also requested by Kate and Eugenie.
In fact spraying down the musty church before a major event is somewhat standard and wasn't invented by Meghan.
The Dawn commercial shit is weirdly handled. Meghan was interviewed at the time of the letter writing by a local news station, the footage is on YouTube. She says they never responded but the commercial was changed. It's clearly not a story she made up or exaggerated, as footage of the interview still exists.
The author pretends that the royal family wanted Meghan precisely because she was 'mixed race', which is doubtful and was proved untrue by her racist treatment.
The author insists that racism doesn't exist in Britain, lol. The country of Brexit doesn't have racism?
The idea that a biracial or POC child in the USA never suffered racism is wildly preposterous. The author says Meghan can't 'prove' her racist experiences, so they didn't happen. This is a really common white supremacist narrative. It's not just the racist act that must be proven, it must also be proven that racist act was malicious. This is bolstered by the racist idea that Black people are not able to accurately and reliably judge their own treatment in society; therefore, acts, experiences, etc can only be deemed 'racist' if in fact white folks deem it so. This idea by itself is both dated and horribly racist.
This book is just chock full of the authors own internal racism and feelings of white supremacy. It's boring and ridiculous as well as tiresome as fuck.
The treatment of Meghan's clearly media hungry, aggressive and messy white relatives as if they are 100% honest is mind boggling. Thomas Markle has been caught in blatant lies. I don't doubt he loves his daughter but he's behaving horribly as are her other white relatives.
Also the author keeps eluding to the fact that Meghan's Black family is as put out and upset about her marriage as her white family only the press never interviewed them because they didn't want to be accused of racism.
Clearly the author is unaware that Black publications exist worldwide but quite strongly in the USA. I also assume Britain has Black press. Had there been something to report they'd have surely done so. As plenty of Black publications exist and report on Black as well as other folks and generally aren't accused of racism🙄
She maintains that Meghan was coddled and cherished but given the behavior of her father and sister I doubt that. Given how her entire white/Markle family has acted it's easy to understand why she stopped having them as a part of her everyday life.
The idea that Harry is acting out of jealousy of Wills was debunked when it came out that the staff leaking nasty tidbits to the press about the Sussexes worked for Kate & Wills. So the jealous person is clearly William here. He acted from his jealousy and it backfired and blew up in his face.
The author is strangely fixated on this idea that Meghan is/was a left wing activist.
Meghan's politics are liberal.
Left wing is considerably more radical than any public stance she's ever taken.
Contrary to conservative beliefs, feminism isn't radical or left wing. Actual folks who identify as conservative feminists exist. Dear fucking gawds.
The author also quotes other 'Black' sources who go unnamed other than that they are West Indian or Nigerian Black, etc. Meghan is from the US so it's not reasonable to expect Black women from other parts of the world to understand her when they don't share culture. This is as ridiculous as expecting white French folks to behave like white Norwegians since they're all white.
The idea that Archie was carried by a surrogate is bizarre and also who gives a fuck.
There's really nothing here that you haven't already read in a tabloid or seen some red faced white Brit expounding and pontificating on in a YouTube clip.
The author blatantly fails to include anything that doesn't fit her narrative whether it happened or not.
She's determined that the British press aren't racist and so she ignores the blatantly racist articles published about Meghan, skipping over them calling a LA, Compton, ghetto, etc. It was offensive and racist. That's why Harry rightfully released a statement addressing this coverage and Wills never released such s statement because his wife is white and so it doesn't apply. However the author entirely leaves out the blatant racism making it seem Harry overreacted. She should make her points using the actual facts.🤷🏽♀️
This was fun to read but the authors own racism and bias prevent any real conclusions from being reached.
The author passes off previously debunked myths as truths.
For example the perfume in the wedding chapel that Meghan requested was also requested by Kate and Eugenie.
In fact spraying down the musty church before a major event is somewhat standard and wasn't invented by Meghan.
The Dawn commercial shit is weirdly handled. Meghan was interviewed at the time of the letter writing by a local news station, the footage is on YouTube. She says they never responded but the commercial was changed. It's clearly not a story she made up or exaggerated, as footage of the interview still exists.
The author pretends that the royal family wanted Meghan precisely because she was 'mixed race', which is doubtful and was proved untrue by her racist treatment.
The author insists that racism doesn't exist in Britain, lol. The country of Brexit doesn't have racism?
The idea that a biracial or POC child in the USA never suffered racism is wildly preposterous. The author says Meghan can't 'prove' her racist experiences, so they didn't happen. This is a really common white supremacist narrative. It's not just the racist act that must be proven, it must also be proven that racist act was malicious. This is bolstered by the racist idea that Black people are not able to accurately and reliably judge their own treatment in society; therefore, acts, experiences, etc can only be deemed 'racist' if in fact white folks deem it so. This idea by itself is both dated and horribly racist.
This book is just chock full of the authors own internal racism and feelings of white supremacy. It's boring and ridiculous as well as tiresome as fuck.
The treatment of Meghan's clearly media hungry, aggressive and messy white relatives as if they are 100% honest is mind boggling. Thomas Markle has been caught in blatant lies. I don't doubt he loves his daughter but he's behaving horribly as are her other white relatives.
Also the author keeps eluding to the fact that Meghan's Black family is as put out and upset about her marriage as her white family only the press never interviewed them because they didn't want to be accused of racism.
Clearly the author is unaware that Black publications exist worldwide but quite strongly in the USA. I also assume Britain has Black press. Had there been something to report they'd have surely done so. As plenty of Black publications exist and report on Black as well as other folks and generally aren't accused of racism🙄
She maintains that Meghan was coddled and cherished but given the behavior of her father and sister I doubt that. Given how her entire white/Markle family has acted it's easy to understand why she stopped having them as a part of her everyday life.
The idea that Harry is acting out of jealousy of Wills was debunked when it came out that the staff leaking nasty tidbits to the press about the Sussexes worked for Kate & Wills. So the jealous person is clearly William here. He acted from his jealousy and it backfired and blew up in his face.
The author is strangely fixated on this idea that Meghan is/was a left wing activist.
Meghan's politics are liberal.
Left wing is considerably more radical than any public stance she's ever taken.
Contrary to conservative beliefs, feminism isn't radical or left wing. Actual folks who identify as conservative feminists exist. Dear fucking gawds.
The author also quotes other 'Black' sources who go unnamed other than that they are West Indian or Nigerian Black, etc. Meghan is from the US so it's not reasonable to expect Black women from other parts of the world to understand her when they don't share culture. This is as ridiculous as expecting white French folks to behave like white Norwegians since they're all white.
The idea that Archie was carried by a surrogate is bizarre and also who gives a fuck.
There's really nothing here that you haven't already read in a tabloid or seen some red faced white Brit expounding and pontificating on in a YouTube clip.
The author blatantly fails to include anything that doesn't fit her narrative whether it happened or not.
She's determined that the British press aren't racist and so she ignores the blatantly racist articles published about Meghan, skipping over them calling a LA, Compton, ghetto, etc. It was offensive and racist. That's why Harry rightfully released a statement addressing this coverage and Wills never released such s statement because his wife is white and so it doesn't apply. However the author entirely leaves out the blatant racism making it seem Harry overreacted. She should make her points using the actual facts.🤷🏽♀️
This was fun to read but the authors own racism and bias prevent any real conclusions from being reached.
informative
relaxing
slow-paced
DNF at 25 pages, seemed like a Meghan bashing book from the start. I'll read Finding Freedom instead.
It’s interesting to read this book and compare it to what Harry and Meghan claimed in their interview with Oprah. I’m guessing the truth lies somewhere in between the two.
informative
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
DO NOT READ THIS BOOK if you adore MEGHAN, HARRY or DIANA. It is the POLAR opposite of Finding Freedom the book that Harry and Meghan collaborated on with the authors (how else could the authors know so many intimate details?). I enjoyed this book as it contained a lot of stories and details that we are usually not privy to because the author has many connections to the Royal Family.
It is an excellent counter-balance to Finding Freedom.
It is an excellent counter-balance to Finding Freedom.
Couldn’t finish, too dull. Is there even a good book out there about these two and will I ever find it?
You know how sometimes you're in line at the supermarket and you somehow pick up a trashy magazine and a chocolate bar? That was how I felt when I picked up Lady Colin Campbell's intellectual thriller, Harry and Meghan: The Real Story, from kindle daily deals. The book is essentially 331 pages of gossip, rumours, and opinions on what has led to Harry and Meghan being the flawed humans everyone grows to be. While some things ring true - Diana's parenting techniques and Meghan's likely false claims that she didn't know who Prince Harry was before they met - others like Meghan's alleged fake pregnancy is too ridiculous for words. Meghan haters will love it and everyone else think it's trash (which it is)
I'd say a solid 3 1/2 stars. I was waiting for this book since it came out. Lady C is usually fair if a bit scathing in her biographies of royalty and this book is no exception. Despite what the critics say I think she let Meghan off lightly in this book. Considering these two managed to piss off the population of two countries, and a large portion of a third by mooching off tax payers and whining about how tough it is to live rent free in castles and travel private jets all the while preaching to us peasants about how we need to stop flying commercial once a year on a vacation we had to save all year for. Not to mention going to a country with very high poverty and crime rates and crying about how tough your life is. When Meghan and Harry first announced their engagement like everyone I was happy that at long last Harry found himself a well suited partner. I even over looked the fact she only invited her mother to the wedding. For the most part I didn't take much notice of them. After Archie was born though more and more things made me question them. There was all the secrecy of his birth, the belly clutching during pregnancy. I do believe she was pregnant and Archie is a real baby (There are plenty who think he's a doll or rent a baby which is weird since Archie resembles his father) but frankly find it stupid that the covered so much up during the pregnancy and after. Then there was the private jet flights hilarious because his brother the future King not only flies commercial with his family, but is known to fly budget airlines as well, but Harry feels their safety is higher risk. Then there is the even more laughable racism and unconscious bias talk, from a man who thought it was funny to dress as a Nazi and who used slurs to refer to fellow soldiers. Also if someone (or in this case a lot of people) doesn't like you it's probably because you are not a good person not because of your race, religion or nationality since apparently we all hate Meghan because she'sAmerican. The more I read the more I believed Meghan is basically a left wing version Trump. Both have very high opinions of themselves, both have incredibly thin skin and love law suits, both ghost old friends who fall out of favour claiming they weren't that close to them and both want to control the media and the way they are portrayed. Both also have a group of rabid followers who will not hear a bad word spoken of their hero, and detractors who despise them and everything they say or do and neither side is willing to meet in the middle to see there is good and bad in both of them as there is in most people. They are also both extremely polarizing figures. There were a few things that I didn't agree with. Comparing Meghan and Diana to Josef Goebbels was a bit extreme. Also saying Meghan and Diana were exactly the same also not true. Diana was and still is a beloved figure in England, known and remembered by many for her compassion and her death was mourned by everyone despite her faults. Meghan blew in like a hurricane upset everyone and everything in her wake and I don't think anyone in England or even Canada was terribly sad to see the back of her especially when we got the tax bill for their security. Harry once a beloved figure is now mocked and subject to ridicule whenever he opens his mouth. I was rooting for them and fine with them leaving, but her treatment of her father has left a bad taste in my mouth. As someone who lost a parent during bypass surgery the way she treated her father after two heart attacks filled me with rage. As for the book itself it was mostly enjoyable. There are always questionable things in Lady Colin Campbell's works, but for the most part she seems credible. But like with her Diana book it doesn't really follow a chronological order, bounces around in a confusing way, the last hundred pages were hard to read as they were dry and repetitive and there were many spelling, grammar and typing errors that made this book seem like it was self published. So overall a decent book, much like the politics going on south of the border it won't really change anyone's mind. If you love the Sussexes you'll hate the book, if you hate the Sussexes you'll enjoy the book but probably think it let them off too easy. If you are like me you just want to read another book on the royal family that sounded interesting. I might read Finding Freedom some day to get their side, but for now I need a break from these two.