I HOPE HARRY STA NDS UP TO MEGHAN ...I HAVE TO WITH MARY!
Jeffrey Archer on his biggest fear, that Oprah interview – and the key to his 55-year marriage
Jeffrey Archer is known for many things, but hiding his light under a bushel isn’t one of them. Within minutes of our chat beginning I’m besieged with facts and figures about his charity work (‘I’ve raised ¤70 million and
I’m not going to get to ¤100 million if there are many more lockdowns!’) and later, sales figures for his assorted novels (‘Kane And Abel sold 37 million copies and 100 million people have read it’).
Despite a spell in prison for perjury and perverting the course of justice, his wellpublicised infidelities and battles with cancer for both him and his wife Mary, he continues to churn out bestsellers. His latest novel, Turn A Blind Eye, is the third in an eight-part series about William Warwick, a detective who goes undercover to unmask corruption at the heart of the Metropolitan Police. It’s a typical Archer page-turner and while the critics have always been sniffy about his work (‘he has absolutely no command of the English language,’ railed one), he completed two books last year in lockdown, instead of his customary one.
He turns 81 this week – will he ever slow down? ‘At my age if I stopped I would crumble fairly quickly,’ he admits, before telling me about his closest friend, who has Alzheimer’s.
‘He doesn’t know who I am or who Mary is. He just stares at us and that frightens me. Mary has this semi-theory that if you keep working you’re less likely to get it so I’ve been working flat out. That’s my biggest fear.’
His wife, he says, is gentle and calm and above all strong, a quality he greatly admires. Talking of strong women, I ask what he made of Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah Winfrey. ‘Mary didn’t want to watch it as she thinks it’s selfish and self-absorbed, but I did. I have sympathy for both sides. We’ll never know what was really said.’ It’s the rift between the princes that particularly hit him. ‘I’ve got two sons [William, 49, and James, 47] and the thought of them not liking each other is incredibly sad.’ What does he make of Meghan? ‘She’s incredibly beautiful and it’s no shock to say I think she’s stronger than Harry as a personality.
I’ve lived with a strong personality for 55 years and there are times you have to stand up for yourself and say, “No, I don’t agree with you.” I hope Harry does that, but I don’t know him. Anyway, I adore strong women.’
People are forever trying to crack the code of their 55-year marriage. ‘I agree. People are puzzled by it. My son rang me the other day and said, “Has your relationship changed during lockdown, because two of my friends have divorced.” But I said, “No, we just sail on.”’ Has Mary ever thrown crockery at him? ‘Never! She’s very calm, that’s not her style.’ Would he understand if she did? ‘Of course. Heavens! Her tolerance is beyond belief.’
He says his political career has been a help to her in her role as Chair of the British Science Museum Group, and jokes, ‘I’m redundant now.’ Maybe she’ll leave him then? ‘Well, yes! She’s been cunning to make sure everything is prepared properly. I think I’ll end up living penniless in a tent!’
Their marriage has withstood two cancer scares. Mary, now 76, underwent surgery for bladder cancer in 2011 and Jeffrey was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2013. He said the surgery had rendered him impotent, but that has now been resolved. ‘Yes. Thank you for asking. I mean, you’re never the same again, but I’m fine.’
To date he’s sold 275 million books, and even his jail memoir, A Prison Diary, was a bestseller. ‘Was I scared in prison? Never. They treated me very well with one or two exceptions. Even then, it was only verbals and you get that playing cricket.’
Despite all the lemons life has thrown at him he always manages to make lemonade. ‘The number of people who spend their lives saying, “I’ve had one piece of bad luck and it’s all gone wrong since then,” well, that’s just an excuse,’ he harrumphs. ‘Get on with it. That’s my attitude.’