Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Profile of future royal pleasant, but lacks ‘wow’
Meghan Markle is set to marry her prince May 19 in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle as Queen Elizabeth II, the British royal family and millions of television viewers around the world look on. The obvious question then, of course, is whether the American actress and Harry will live happily ever after.
Reading the just-released “Meghan: A Hollywood Princess” by Andrew Morton leaves me feeling hopeful for the bride (and Harry). The woman described in this book appears to be a talented, confident actress and humanitarian who has been an articulate spokesperson for gender equality whether writing on social media, meeting both female parliamentarians and refugees in Rwanda, or speaking at a United Nations forum.
Markle is not like previous royal brides. As The Telegraph wrote in an editorial at the time of her engagement: “A divorced, mixed-race Hollywood actress who attended a Roman Catholic school is to marry the son of the next king. Such a sentence could simply not have been written a generation ago.”
“Her presence inside the royal family is a challenge and an opportunity,” Morton writes, predicting she “will complement her husband and the august institution she has married into, bringing a freshness, diversity, and warmth to the chilly corridors of Buckingham Palace.”
Curiosity about the “Suits” star is certainly running high these days. This biography is one a slew of similar books being published in the weeks before the royal wedding to feed that interest.
What makes “Megan: A Hollywood Princess” stand out from the pack is the fame of Morton, whose book “Diana: Her True Story” explosively blew the cover off the unhappy marriage of Harry’s parents. That book packed so much punch because it came as a surprise to a public fed a steady diet of pap about Prince Charles and Diana, princess of Wales. And it was written with such authority — thanks to Diana’s secret cooperation.
Morton provides a dutiful and generally positive profile of Markle. But there’s little of the “wow” factor that made “Diana: Her True Story” such a powerful book.
Yes, Morton writes about Markle growing up with a white father and an African-American mother who divorced when she was a child. He writes about the challenges and racism Markle faced being biracial. But I still wish he could have gone deeper into what motivates and inspires her. That Markle is a descendant of Robert the Bruce, the 14th-century Scottish king, is cool, I guess, but I’m far more interested in knowing the import behind Markle writing that “being biracial paints a blurred line that is equal parts staggering and illuminating.”
Why? That’s the question I found myself asking repeatedly while reading this book. Why did Markle split from her first husband, film producer Trevor Engelson? Why did she seem to be dropping old friends while “carefully recalibrating her life” to newfound success? Why did her work for UN Women drop off considerably?
As much as this book explores Markle’s past, I found myself wondering what her future will be like. Yes, Markle has dutifully erased her social media accounts and shut down her blog, The Tig (which Morton writes “contained intelligent and well-written essays about gender equality and race”), but can she be content to stay silent or speak only lines scripted for her by royal officials?
Morton, for one, paints an optimistic vision.
“With her smarts, sophistication, beauty and talent, Meghan represents the American Dream of having it all, achieving her success by dint of hard work and ability,” he wrote. “Her life intersected with Prince Harry’s at a point where he had proven himself worthy of respect, in spite of, not because of, the privileges bestowed upon him by dint of birth and heritage. While they may have come from different countries, backgrounds, and cultures, their union is undoubtedly the crowning symbolic achievement of the special relationship between a monarchy and a republic.”
Let’s see.