Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of A Modern Royal Family


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Muhler -- very good post no 1694. A few more reviews like yours would be helpful from others.
 
It's just embarrassing. I don't need to know about Meghan's toilet habits! It might have been funny in a sitcom, but royals are supposed at least to try to be dignified. Even Sarah Ferguson wouldn't talk about going behind a bush when there were no toilets!

when you say "even Sarah F wouldn't do that, you are saying a LOT
 
Fantastic Fem, much appreciated.

Does your version have the photos .... are there any new/unique photos included, or are they what we’ve seen before?

Can you share some information about The Queen’s jewel cabinet, that I believe is in the book.

And I’ve seen it reported that the Cambridge’s home is described in some detail - I’m assuming it’s Anmer Hall - and something about William and Kate’s photos.

Any details will be great, thanks again.

I was able to get my copy picked up and delivered today, it is the version with photos - none new, all ones we have already seen before.
 
Okay, I'll take another route.

This book somehow reminds me of Tatler's Catherine the Great article few months ago; at quick glance seems to be praising the subjects only to drag them down, from someone who claims to have close connection to the subjects, and a note that the subjects knew about the making of said piece before it was published.

Harry is the person who wrote "making people smile" is what make him happy few years ago during Head Together campaign. Will a man who have that kind of thought able to intentionally hurt someone else's feeling, especially his family? And Meghan is a feminist who campaigning women empowerment and support a charity that help women to find job. Will a woman with that kind of passion treats other women like that?

So, I'll say the Sussexes have nothing to do with this book, most intimate details came from Omid's and Durran's imagination (Omid admited in one interview that he tries to "humanised" the Sussexes with this book) where they took some liberties to spins several "close friends"/"insiders"/"source"s statements to fit their (the authors) narative.


If it all came from Omid's and Durran's imagination, why don't H&M sue them as they do whenever fake news is alleged?
 
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If it all came from Omid's and Durran's imagination, why don't H&M sue them as they do whenever fake news is alleged?

I dont think they do, Theryre suing over the copyright issue but if they sued every time someone wrote a book that had got some of its facts wrong they really woudl do nothing else...
 
LOL, I thought so, too, though didn't she tell about Diana's warts?


IIRC, she said she'd borrowed a pair of Diana's shoes and caught athlete's foot from them. Pretty gross, but I think the toilet thing is worse!
 
I can't understand the fuss people are making about the "bathroom break". Harry was pleased to find that a Californian actress was happy to go without a proper wash & loos when on safari. That's in her favour and why not say so? It was just a few words amongst 1000s so what am I missing here?
 
IIRC, she said she'd borrowed a pair of Diana's shoes and caught athlete's foot from them. Pretty gross, but I think the toilet thing is worse!

Yes and Diana never forgave her for saying that.. It was tactless and rude and anyway you shouldn't BORROW other people's shoes. but its NOTHING like the loo breaks of Meghan.
 
I am rather worried what H will do, his menral issues seem very strong,
people have commited suicide for less reasons than after having thrown everybody under the bus, family, friends, country... in the end part of the reason to do so your wife decides she wants to divorce you and keep the child?

on the other hand maybe his mental issues and his unrealistic look at the people may allow him back to the UK while anybody else would feel it's like a haunted dog coming back to the one who'd beaten it before... H might be strange enough to do .

I'd wish none of it was going to happen but doubt it.
 
Im not very clear on what you mean but I doubt if H is going to commit suicide. I think that he MAY be "following Meg" to the US and maybe in a few years the novelty will wear off or things wont go so well and he'll want to come back ot the UK... and that may cuase a lot of strain in the marriage. Its probalby Archie would suffer the most in a divorce.. however...
 
Im not very clear on what you mean but I doubt if H is going to commit suicide. I think that he MAY be "following Meg" to the US and maybe in a few years the novelty will wear off or things wont go so well and he'll want to come back ot the UK... and that may cuase a lot of strain in the marriage. Its probalby Archie would suffer the most in a divorce.. however...

These two have jumped the fence believing that the grass is greener on the other side and haven't yet had the time to truly establish themselves. Everything is new and sparkly and maybe even a few unicorns and rainbows but that's all part of growing up and standing on one's own two feet. Sooner or later, reality sinks in and that reality is that there are positives and negatives to deal with no matter what you do with your life and it doesn't matter which side of the fence you're on.

I just hope they're a strong enough couple together to be able to withstand whatever comes their way and grow rather than fall apart at the seams.
 
These two have jumped the fence believing that the grass is greener on the other side and haven't yet had the time to truly establish themselves. Everything is new and sparkly and maybe even a few unicorns and rainbows but that's all part of growing up and standing on one's own two feet. Sooner or later, reality sinks in and that reality is that there are positives and negatives to deal with no matter what you do with your life and it doesn't matter which side of the fence you're on.

I just hope they're a strong enough couple together to be able to withstand whatever comes their way and grow rather than fall apart at the seams.

What is Harry's legal status in the USA? Does he not need a green card to reside there? And surely Meghan's application for UK citizenship has stalled if she has left the country. Can she even legally be Duchess of Sussex?

I think it was an interesting choice to choose the US as their primary residence undoubtedly driven by Meghan.
 
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I decided to read the book myself, and put a hold on the ebook at the Free Library of Philadelphia.
I was #119 on one copy!

(Guess I'll get to read it in about two years!
 
What is Harry's legal status in the USA? Does he not need a green card to reside there? And surely Meghan's application for UK citizenship has stalled if she has left the country. Can she even legally be Duchess of Sussex?

I presume he's applying for one but it takes time to get a Green Card. And yes Meghan is the Duchess of Sussex.. She is legally married to Harry, she doesn't have to be a British citizen ot contract a marriage to him.
I think that she did pick hte USA, and that Canada was possibly a cynically used blind.. So I do wonder if Harry may find that if things dont go so well, and if the press bohter them and they can't earn a living there, the UK will begin to beckon...
 
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I'm about half way through and have stopped reading it. IMO its awfully written, a friend of mine said it sounded almost like Carrie from Sex and the City was writing it and I can't disagree, its not written like a true biography or historical book at all. It raises more questions than it answers and at times appears to almost contradict itself - I wonder if the two authors wrote parts separately then married them together in the book as at times the differences are so jarring- we go from William and Kate being really happy to meet Meghan and happy for Harry to 'Kate not doing enough' with no explanation. Thats either poor writing or because the authors don't have enough info (or maybe Harry & Meghan didn't want to talk) about exactly why there was a change in opinion.

I have to say the book seems to be a whitewash, especially in terms of Meghan. Its interesting that the book has almost a full page on how Meghan didn't do wrong wearing dark coloured nail polish but announcing the birth of Archie to family gets only two/three lines max - surely that can only be because they know doing it at Eugenie's wedding was wrong and can't really be excused. It seems to very much be a defence of Meghan who in the authors eyes can do no wrong other than be too perfect. Perhaps the most telling thing about the book are those incidents which aren't covered because maybe in the same vein we can assume they are true and there's no real excuse to explain them away. It has a very similar tone to the People article by her 5 friends.

I have no problem with people thinking Meghan is great, and I have never believed she is bad myself even if I have't warmed to her. But even if you think she is the most amazing person ever you must be able to see she and Harry have done some things wrong. Another interesting observation is that the book is much less forgiving of Harry than Meghan.

I think the only thing that makes this book stand out is the possible contributions from Harry and Meghan. Reading it I'm inclined to believe they had ah and in it and gave details, there simply is too much that wouldn't be widely known by others, unless as I've said before H&M have a tendency for people who want so much privacy to tell a wide circle of friends everything. Another reason I thing they contributed - pages are given to their wish for privacy, we've see that play out, the book says how relieved they were able to start hitting back at untrue things written and said about them for example hitting back at Trump's suggestion that they wouldn't have their security paid for by the US. If this book had nothing to do with them and was mainly made up by the author then I think they'd come out against it more IMO.

In all, read it if you want more gushing details than have already been shown in the exerts. Otherwise I wouldn't bother, certainly not if you want a rounded, balanced view.
 
Im almost tempted to buy it but I know it would be irritating to read. However Harry did say at the engagement interview that Meg had met K and Will and they all loved her...THEN later it began to seem as if this was a wild exaggeration and H was annoyed and upset that William at least had been wary on the issue of Meghan. I'm inclined to feel that he was in the middle.. prepared to like her but wary, and perhaps after a little while decidedly cool.... and feeling that he and K weren't going to warm to her very much
 
Denville I promise you probably won't be able to get more than half way through without needing a break for some sanity.
 
I did read a bit of it, in the Times a couple of weeks ago and I had to stop... I'm reading an older bio of Diana at present and its a bit uneasy making.. the parallels with Harry. Diana talked to the press, helped with a book.. used the media to put out her side of the story.. and it ended in her being pushed out of the RF. She then dropped a lot of her charities, and said she would concentrate on a few but was rather erratic in her work, in the last year or 2....and she began to lose some of the adoration and admiration that she had received from a lot of the public, because they began to get a bit bored with the War of the Waleses...and her friendships with rich but controversial people like hte Fayeds had been criticised... and Diana felt stressed out, she "talked about getting away from England"...
It all ended badly for Diana, whom I still feel affection for, though I think she did create many of her own misfortunes..
Its a bit worrying that perhaps Harry has inherited some of Diana's volatile qualities, gets angry wth people who crtiicise him and cuts them off, is unhappy wiht the Royal role but isn't sure what else to do
 
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The other side might not be greener but sometimes it’s worth the risk to try.

I know around these parts the BRF are perfect and never said or did anything bad toward Meghan or Harry. Not one rude remark or action ever. Anything bad or confrontational that happened was 100% on her. If she was ever offended it was her imagination. Yada yada.

So frankly it was really for the best they left for the sake of everyone...
 
I think very few people here think the BRF acted or have ever acted perfectly, but back to the book! it shows very little of what horrendous things the RF did (Princess Michael wearing that brooch, Kate not being as warm and welcoming as Meghan "expected" her to be, the Queen not including H&M in her pics at Christmas (along with the rest of her family are all pretty trivial things, Princess Michael is no favourite of the Queen or RF so even though her actions were wrong it doesn't show anything about the rest of the family)

As ever the answer lies somewhere in the middle IMO, both sides failed to understand the other and both sides were left disappointed. This book though is not showing that, according to this book Meghan (and to a lesser extend Harry, not my opinion but if you have read the book you'd agree) can not and did not do anything wrong either. Again, I'd say the answer lies in the middle.
 
Of course it all lies in the middle. I think they all made mistakes.

As for this book? I don’t see it any different than the many other 288632 royal biographies out there. They all take liberties. They all have sources. People cling onto whatever depending on their own feelings, one way or another.

I’m just not one of them to really buy much of this book and really have zero desire to read it. But that’s me about a lot of these clear money making books by correspondents.
 
I haven't read the book and really don't intend to as enough has come out in this thread alone to give me the opinion that this whole panorama of events and rehashing of inane blips and blunders makes me feel like I'm reading a screenplay for an upcoming season of "The Windsors", a comedic parody of the House of Windsor.

One doesn't know where reality ends and the farce begins. :lol:

I think it’s all farce, lol ...bordering on and probably crossing over into camp!
 
I can't understand the fuss people are making about the "bathroom break". Harry was pleased to find that a Californian actress was happy to go without a proper wash & loos when on safari. That's in her favour and why not say so? It was just a few words amongst 1000s so what am I missing here?

As far as I’m concerned, that’s way too much information no matter many words have been devoted to it. It’s also just another way of trying to make Meghan sound sooo perfect and special...
 
I can't understand the fuss people are making about the "bathroom break". Harry was pleased to find that a Californian actress was happy to go without a proper wash & loos when on safari. That's in her favour and why not say so? It was just a few words amongst 1000s so what am I missing here?


I think it's the case of TMI that gross people out. I mean, why would they put THAT in the book?


The other side might not be greener but sometimes it’s worth the risk to try.

I know around these parts the BRF are perfect and never said or did anything bad toward Meghan or Harry. Not one rude remark or action ever. Anything bad or confrontational that happened was 100% on her. If she was ever offended it was her imagination. Yada yada.

So frankly it was really for the best they left for the sake of everyone...


Many of us here don't think the BRF as perfect, but many of us want to know how the BRF (with the exception of possibly Princess Michael of Kent) were bad or rude towards Meghan. If Meghan thought that Kate didn't go shopping with her or William having reservations about someone he doesn't know as a perceived slight, that's her problem.


Also, I think it's far more rude and tacky to announce that you're pregnant on someone else's wedding, especially when the baby bump was barely showing.
 
I think it's the case of TMI that gross people out. I mean, why would they put THAT in the book?





Many of us here don't think the BRF as perfect, but many of us want to know how the BRF (with the exception of possibly Princess Michael of Kent) were bad or rude towards Meghan. If Meghan thought that Kate didn't go shopping with her or William having reservations about someone he doesn't know as a perceived slight, that's her problem.


Also, I think it's far more rude and tacky to announce that you're pregnant on someone else's wedding, especially when the baby bump was barely showing.

I roll my eyes whenever I see the “well hey, the BRF isn’t perfect....” because..who cares? No one ever said they were perfect; that isn’t relevant, and it’s a poor defense of the Sussexes. Meghan and Harry have behaved badly. As far as I’m concerned, the BRF tried their best to make those two happy, but it was an impossible task. I don’t ascribe to the “there must be a middle ground here”; for me, this mess is primarily on H and M.
 
I think it's the case of TMI that gross people out. I mean, why would they put THAT in the book?





Many of us here don't think the BRF as perfect, but many of us want to know how the BRF (with the exception of possibly Princess Michael of Kent) were bad or rude towards Meghan. If Meghan thought that Kate didn't go shopping with her or William having reservations about someone he doesn't know as a perceived slight, that's her problem.


Also, I think it's far more rude and tacky to announce that you're pregnant on someone else's wedding, especially when the baby bump was barely showing.

Well the book said a senior member of the family called her a 'showgirl' and another said she came with 'baggage' and neither remark sounds like it was a compliment. It was also reported at the time of her first Christmas at Sandringham that she felt Andrew had ignored her. If those examples are true then that is direct rudeness whereas the Princess Michael thing was just their own interpretation of what her brooch meant, which she herself vigorously denied.
 
I roll my eyes whenever I see the “well hey, the BRF isn’t perfect....” because..who cares? No one ever said they were perfect; that isn’t relevant, and it’s a poor defense of the Sussexes. Meghan and Harry have behaved badly. As far as I’m concerned, the BRF tried their best to make those two happy, but it was an impossible task. I don’t ascribe to the “there must be a middle ground here”; for me, this mess is primarily on H and M.

at times Im inclined to think that they did not really intend to stick the job out and that they trumped up reasons as to why they felt they couldn't stay.
 
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