Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors

By Tom Bower

What it’s about?

From Goodreads:

The British Royal Family believed that the dizzy success of the Sussex wedding, watched and celebrated around the world, was the beginning of a new era for the Windsors. Yet, within one tumultuous year, the dream became a nightmare. In the aftermath of the infamous Megxit split and the Oprah Winfrey interview, the Royal Family’s fate seems persistently threatened.

The public remains puzzled. Meghan’s success has alternatively won praise, bewildered and outraged. Confused by the Sussexes’ slick publicity, few understand the real Meghan Markle. What lies ahead for Meghan? And what has happened to the family she married into? Can the Windsors restore their reputation?

With extensive research, expert sourcing and interviews from insiders who have never spoken before, Tom Bower, Britain’s leading investigative biographer, unpicks the tangled web of courtroom drama, courtier politics and thwarted childhood dreams to uncover an astonishing story of love, betrayal, secrets and revenge.

What I think:

This is a really interesting read.

It is clearly extremely thoroughly researched. The story of Harry and Meghan’s relationship with each other, the Royal Family and the media is explored in detail.

I felt that there was a clear biased against Harry and Meghan, Meghan especially. This seemed to increase as the book progressed.

The earlier chapters, about Meghan’s pre-Harry career veer between presenting her as a positive role model whio is hardworking, ambitious and pragmatic, to ruthless and selfish. The overall impression is that the author believes she is manipulative and self-interested.

At points the analysis was more objective. There are clearly issues with the way that the British media, especially the tabloid press, cover Meghan and the racism that drives it. It’s hard to escape this and denying it is impossible.

Both Harry and Meghan come across as entitled and demanding. The contradictions between different versions of the events are stark, and I imagine that as with most things, the truth lies somewhere in between. Revenge makes a fascinating contrast to Prince Harry’s own memoir, Spare.

I think if you already have a fixed opinion on this most polarising of couples, this is probably not going to change your mind.

Whatever your opinions and whatever you believe, it’s clear that there is a lot of money to be made and ongoing interest in the Sussexes.