Prince Charles’ biographer Tom Bower today branded Meghan Markle ‘spiteful’ and accused her of trying to ‘commercialise the royal family’ with zero thought for the Queen.
The royal expert described her and Prince Harry’s recent statement as a ‘threat’ that risked ‘destroying the 93-year-old sovereign of this wonderful country’.
He also said Meghan had ‘no status outside the royal family’ in a furious Good Morning Britain debate about the use of her Sussex Royal branding.
Mr Bower, 73, said the Sussexes’ choice of words were ‘rude to the queen’ and Meghan, 38, is looking to ‘commercialise the royal family’ with no regard for the monarch.
He appeared alongside fellow journalist Afua Adom on Good Morning Britain today who hit back saying the Duchess was a ‘successful actress in her own right’ before the royal wedding.
It comes after Harry, 35, and his wife said the monarch has ‘no jurisdiction’ over the use of the term ‘royal’ outside of the UK, but they have agreed not to use it anyway.
Mr Bower told the programme: ‘The statement was really spiteful fury from Meghan, What Meghan wants Meghan gets.
‘It was rude to the Queen. What is spiteful is, she married into the royal family not that long ago and she bailed out. But she wants to bail out on her terms.
‘What is most important for this country is to protect the reputation of the royal family.’
His debate rival Afua Adom said it was spiteful of Mr Bower to assume the couple will continue to use ‘Sussex Royal’ even though they have promised not to.
But Mr Bower responded: ‘What you’ve really got is this couple being led by Meghan that want to commercialise the royal family.’
Ms Adom asked how he could possibly know Harry is being ‘led by Meghan’, to which he replied: ‘It’s the truth.
‘She has a whole life, a whole career of commercial exploitation of herself. She has absolutely no status apart from being attached to the royal family.’
Biographer Tom Bower (left) has branded Meghan Markle ‘spiteful’ and says she has ‘no status outside the royal family’ in a furious debate about the use of her Sussex Royal branding on Good Morning Britain today. Pictured right: Journalist Afua Adom
Meghan and Harry are pictured during their October 2019 tour of South Africa
Ms Adom and host Susanna Reid interrupted to point out that Meghan had a successful career as an actress on the TV show Suits before she met Harry.
She was also involved in charity work and ran her own blog.
But Mr Bower insisted: ‘If she wasn’t married into the royal family she couldn’t have set up a charity, she couldn’t start marketing Meghan’s footwear and all the rest of it.’
Ms Adom lashed out at Mr Bower again saying: ‘Before Meghan Markle married Harry she was a successful actress in her own right.
‘She was known for doing a heck of a lot of charity work. It’s completely disingenuous to say without harry she would have no status.
‘And it’s spiteful for you to say that there going to continue to use it.’
Mr Bower said they had agreed ‘reluctantly’ not to use their Instagram-savvy Sussex Royal branding.
Mr Bower, 73, said the Sussexes’ choice of words were ‘rude to the queen’ and Meghan, 38, is looking to ‘commercialise the royal family’ with no regard for the monarch
He also claimed Meghan’s acting career had ‘come to an end’ by the time she became involved with the prince.
He added: ‘They’re trying to make money out of the royal family.’
Pressed on why the media’s coverage of the couple has been negative at times, he said: ‘Because of the hypocrisy. At the beginning she threw herself in it. She started campaigning for the environment and then she took all these private jets.
‘When she didn’t tell the truth about Archie’s birth, when she tried to deliberately confuse people about the time of the birth.’
But Ms Adom retorted: ‘When it comes to Harry and Meghan there seems to be no ability to see that it’s right for them.
‘It’s not all about Meghan, it’s about Meghan and Harry and Archie and what’s best for them.’
His debate rival Afua Adom (pictured) said it was spiteful of Mr Bower to assume the couple will continue to use ‘Sussex Royal’ even though they have promised not to
But Mr Bower said ‘it’s not about what’s best for them’ but what’s best for the Queen instead.
He added: ‘If they do anything to damage the 93-year-old sovereign of this wonderful country, they have got to start questioning themselves.
‘It’s selfish, victim-like approach to the world.’
Harry and Meghan announced on Friday evening that they will stop using their Sussex Royal brand when they step down as senior royals on March 31.
But hours after releasing a carefully worded statement via Buckingham Palace confirming the move, the couple posted a 1,114-word ‘update’ on their personal website.
They claimed the Queen had no ‘jurisdiction’ over the word ‘Royal’ overseas and said the monarch and the Government would have been powerless to stop them had they continued to use the word while abroad.
Harry and Meghan’s statement on their website in full
AS AGREED AND SET OUT IN JANUARY 2020:
- It is agreed that the commencement of the revised role of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will take effect Spring 2020 and undergo a 12 month review.
- The Royal Family respect and understand the wish of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex to live a more independent life as a family, by removing the supposed ‘public interest’ justification for media intrusion into their lives. They remain a valued part of Her Majesty’s family.
- The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will become privately funded members of The Royal Family with permission to earn their own income and the ability to pursue their own private charitable interests.
- The preference of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex was to continue to represent and support Her Majesty The Queen albeit in a more limited capacity, while not drawing on the Sovereign Grant.
- While there is precedent for other titled members of the Royal Family to seek employment outside of the institution, for The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, a 12-month review period has been put in place.
- Per the agreement The Duke and Duchess of Sussex understand that they are required to step back from Royal duties and not undertake representative duties on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen.
- As agreed and set out in January, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will retain their “HRH” prefix, thereby formally remaining known as His Royal Highness The Duke of Sussex and Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will no longer actively use their HRH titles as they will no longer be working members of the family as of Spring 2020.
- As the grandson of Her Majesty and second son of The Prince of Wales, Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex remains sixth in line to the throne of The British Monarchy and the Order of Precedence is unchanged.
- It was agreed that The Duke and Duchess will no longer be able to formally carry out ‘official duties’ for The Queen or represent The Commonwealth, but they will, however, be allowed to maintain their patronages (including those that are classified as ‘royal’ patronages).
- It is agreed that The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will continue to require effective security to protect them and their son. This is based on The Duke’s public profile by virtue of being born into The Royal Family, his military service, the Duchess’ own independent profile, and the shared threat and risk level documented specifically over the last few years. No further details can be shared as this is classified information for safety reasons.
- In relation to the military, The Duke of Sussex will retain the rank of Major, and honorary ranks of Lieutenant Commander, and Squadron Leader. During this 12-month period of review, The Duke’s official military appointments will not be used as they are in the gift of the Sovereign. No new appointments will be made to fill these roles before the 12-month review of the new arrangements is completed.
- While per the agreement, The Duke will not perform any official duties associated with these roles, given his dedication to the military community and ten years of service he will of course continue his unwavering support to the military community in a non-official capacity. As founder of the Invictus Games, The Duke will proudly continue supporting the military community around the world through the Invictus Games Foundation and The Endeavour Fund.
- Based on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s desire to have a reduced role as members of The Royal Family, it was decided in January that their Institutional Office would have to be closed, given the primary funding mechanism for this official office at Buckingham Palace is from HRH The Prince of Wales. The Duke and Duchess shared this news with their team personally in January once they knew of the decision, and have worked closely with their staff to ensure a smooth transition for each of them.
- Over the last month and a half, The Duke and Duchess have remained actively involved in this process, which has understandably been saddening for The Duke and Duchess and their loyal staff, given the closeness of Their Royal Highnesses and their dedicated team.
- As The Duke and Duchess will no longer be considered full-time working Members of The Royal Family, it was agreed that use of the word ‘Royal’ would need to be reviewed as it pertains to organisations associated with them in this new regard. More details on this below.
ADDITIONAL DETAILS:
- As shared in early January on this website, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex do not plan to start a ‘foundation’, but rather intend to develop a new way to effect change and complement the efforts made by so many excellent foundations globally.
- The creation of this non-profit entity will be in addition to their cause driven work that they remain deeply committed to. While The Duke and Duchess are focused on plans to establish a new non-profit organisation, given the specific UK government rules surrounding use of the word ‘Royal’, it has been therefore agreed that their non-profit organisation will not utilise the name ‘Sussex Royal’ or any other iteration of ‘Royal.’
- For the above reason, the trademark applications that had been filed as protective measures and that reflected the same standard trademarking requests as done for The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, have been removed.
- While there is not any jurisdiction by The Monarchy or Cabinet Office over the use of the word ‘Royal’ overseas, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex do not intend to use ‘Sussex Royal’ or any iteration of the word ‘Royal’ in any territory (either within the UK or otherwise) when the transition occurs Spring 2020.
- As The Duke and Duchess of Sussex continue to develop their non-profit organisation and plan for their future, we hope that you use this site as the source for factual information. In Spring 2020, their digital channels will be refreshed as they introduce the next exciting phase to you.
