Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the war between the Windsors by Tom Bower

Book Review Aug 09, 2022

My review

3/5 stars

I'd seen a lot about this book in the media, and I'm always interested in reading more about the Royal Family, so I thought I'd investigate what all the hype was about. In my opinion, the book isn't worth it's hype.

Despite it's title, the book felt very focused on Meghan; the first half of the book felt more like a biography of her pre-Royal Family life. I understand the need to paint a picture of her character, and clarify some of the stories that have circulated about her since her marriage, but I didn't come to this book expecting or wanting a biography of Meghan.

I had watched an interview the author gave on morning TV where he said that he had tried to write an unbiased account of what has happened since Meghan joined the family, but I can say in no uncertain terms that what I read was in no way, shape or form, unbiased. The author clearly favours The Firm over Meghan and Harry, and at times has written in a purposefully inflammatory way. I will admit that no one comes off particularly well from the book, but there is a lot of focus on the negative traits that Meghan appears to possess, and not a lot on what she bought to the family. There is also a focus on the damage one to the Royal Family's image, and not a lot given to the other side of the coin, with Meghan and Harry painted as antagonists rather than victims.

I found the writing style to be fairly repetitive throughout, in a two-fold way. There was the repetition of the same stories and sources throughout, as things were called back to in slightly different contexts time and time again. There was also the repetition of source names several times in the same sentence; I can't work out if the author was trying to drive home how trustworthy the source was by repeating their name and relationship to Meghan/the Royal Family, or he simply couldn't trust the reader to remember who he was talking about for more than 3 lines of text.

I read the Omid Scobie book, which is mentioned in this one several times, last year. I found it interesting to get the opposing viewpoint in this book. I do feel like I learned a few things about the background of what has happened to the Royal Family over the past few years, and I found the book very easy to read, but it was not the objective account that I had been led to believe that it would be.

Book blurb

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.