Meghan Markle becomes more powerful with every criticism

The announcement of Meghan Markle’s latest project, a children’s book called ‘The Bench’, confirms her determination to become financially independent after leaving the royal family

The 40-page illustrated story will, says the author, capture ‘the warmth, joy and comfort of the relationship between fathers and sons from all walks of life’ (The Independent)

There’s nothing quite like sticking it to your haters by becoming a roaring success. The trolls who thought that, if Meghan Markle didn’t want to be fair game for cruel commentary, she should go quietly into the oblivion of anonymity were enraged by her no-holds-barred, confident Oprah interview.

Those who laughed uproariously when Meghan and Harry announced they’d be leaving the royal family and seeking financial independence will also have felt the sucker punch of the Duchess of Sussex’s last few announcements: a podcast, a Netflix deal, and now a children’s book. Revenge is a dish best served on the pages of multimillion-dollar deals.

Meghan’s latest project, a children’s book called The Bench, is based on a poem she wrote for Harry shortly after the birth of their son, Archie. The 40-page illustrated story will, says the author, capture “the warmth, joy and comfort of the relationship between fathers and sons from all walks of life”, and will be published by Random House Children’s Books in June.

A sneak peek at the publication reveals a soldier with red hair lifting up his son while a mother watches on, and a black father and son lying on a bench together. Meghan has said she wants the book to show the father-son relationship through “an inclusive lens”. Naturally, the book, along with its positive message, was received like a grenade thrown into the viper’s nest of tabloid journalists who have made a living out of Meghan-bashing for several years.

Many took aim at the book due to the turbulent relationship Meghan has with her own father, Thomas Markle, and Harry’s comments, made in the Oprah interview, about the strained nature of his relationship with his father, Prince Charles. How can they possibly know anything about paternal love, came the cries, when they are so cruel to their own fathers?

Meghan’s tumultuous relationship with her father, which has included Thomas Markle staging paparazzi shots and selling private letters to newspapers, has been splashed across tabloids endlessly – is it any wonder she wants to rewrite the father-child relationship in an ideal image? And with Prince Charles not returning his own son’s phone calls, a loving, fictional father might seem appealing to Harry right now.

It’s not altogether surprising for “author” to be on the list of Meghan’s career goals, either – she’s been putting pen to paper for years. Before she even met Harry, the former Suits actor hosted her own lifestyle blog, The Tig, and in 2018, she wrote the foreword for a charity cookbook, which raised money in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire.

And before anyone gets up in arms about this latest venture, they should remember that Meghan joins a roster of royals who have published books, including the late Prince Philip, Prince Charles, and the Duchess of York, who has written numerous successful children’s titles. Did they all receive such hatred when their books were announced?

Perhaps the dissenters should consider the true meaning of privacy: having control over how you are represented and when you choose to let people in. It doesn’t mean fading into nothingness.

Ultimately, whether the book is good or not isn’t really important at this stage – but with the attention the trolls are giving it, even if it isn’t, it’s obviously going to be a bestseller. Bit of an own goal, that.