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A review by glyptodonsneeze
American Princess: The Love Story of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry by Leslie Carroll
4.0
I listened to this while I was hiking the road segment of the North Country Trail in Wisconsin between the Macquarrie Wetlands and Pattison State Park. Andi Arndt's voice is like a warm bath. The sky was drizzling, the asphalt was hard, and this book was perfect. This slapped-together biography made me happy all day. Harry and Meghan have a beautiful love and they're mature enough to keep it going, unlike, say, Prince Charles at 32 and his nineteen-year-old virgin wife, who both did a number on poor Harry. There's some clunky writing here. Carroll says, "Meghan's mother worked as a travel agent to make ends meet." Yes, work is what we do to make ends meet, but people work as travel agents because they like getting complimentary tickets to beach resorts in addition to their salaries. Carroll also weirdly insists that Meghan and her best friend were inspired by Diana as a personal and fashion icon even though Meghan has said repeatedly that she was only vaguely aware of the British royal family until she met Harry. Reading through Carroll's supposition, it seems that Meghan's best friend's mom was a big Diana fan and made the girls watch a video about her, but Meghan was a '90s kid and by '95 Princess Diana's wardrobe looked more dated than Queen Victoria's.
I stayed at the backpacking site on the Black River at Pattison and parked my food in the outhouse overnight so I didn't need to bother hanging it from a tree, and what in the world was Harry and Meghan's famous Botswana camping trip like? When rich people camp in Botswana, what happens? I can't imagine that they were just in the bush worrying about the Botswanian equivalents of the bears and raccoons whom I was hiding my food from, but what were the logistics of that camping trip and how often did they shower? The groundbreaking aspects of Harry and Meghan's relationship are discussed, especially the loosening of royal mores for this generation. Meghan and Harry were living together on the grounds of Buckingham Palace already before the wedding, and Meghan was invited to Sandringham for Christmas; unprecedented for a fiancee. Queen Elizabeth used to want a ring on it, but Meghan is the exception. Carroll does ask, what if the heir to the throne had gotten engaged to a divorced, bi-racial, American commoner? would the queen have allowed that? and leaves us sure that the queen loves Meghan dearly but it's best we don't have to find out.
The book ends with two hours of speculation on what might happen at Harry and Meghan's wedding, which I watched at 4:30am two years ago. Who will design Meghan's dress? Well, somebody did, and they did a very nice job. Will Meghan have a flock of royal children or adult bridesmaids, as in America; Meghan went with the traditional small children and it was adorable. What kind of cake will they have? No idea. But Carroll talks about royal wedding cakes for a good twenty minutes. This book is wonderful. It is charming. It lasts a few long roads alone in the mist. I highly recommend it.
I stayed at the backpacking site on the Black River at Pattison and parked my food in the outhouse overnight so I didn't need to bother hanging it from a tree, and what in the world was Harry and Meghan's famous Botswana camping trip like? When rich people camp in Botswana, what happens? I can't imagine that they were just in the bush worrying about the Botswanian equivalents of the bears and raccoons whom I was hiding my food from, but what were the logistics of that camping trip and how often did they shower? The groundbreaking aspects of Harry and Meghan's relationship are discussed, especially the loosening of royal mores for this generation. Meghan and Harry were living together on the grounds of Buckingham Palace already before the wedding, and Meghan was invited to Sandringham for Christmas; unprecedented for a fiancee. Queen Elizabeth used to want a ring on it, but Meghan is the exception. Carroll does ask, what if the heir to the throne had gotten engaged to a divorced, bi-racial, American commoner? would the queen have allowed that? and leaves us sure that the queen loves Meghan dearly but it's best we don't have to find out.
The book ends with two hours of speculation on what might happen at Harry and Meghan's wedding, which I watched at 4:30am two years ago. Who will design Meghan's dress? Well, somebody did, and they did a very nice job. Will Meghan have a flock of royal children or adult bridesmaids, as in America; Meghan went with the traditional small children and it was adorable. What kind of cake will they have? No idea. But Carroll talks about royal wedding cakes for a good twenty minutes. This book is wonderful. It is charming. It lasts a few long roads alone in the mist. I highly recommend it.