Meghan and the UnMasking of the Monarchy (2024)

Informative, intriguing, and perspicuous!

Meghan and the Unmasking of the Monarchy is the interesting, candid biography of Rachel Meghan Markle, a divorced, mixed heritage, American actress who grew up in a somewhat dysfunctional family, although supported and loved, before appearing in a successful tv series, and then ultimately capturing the heart of a British prince.

The writing is crisp and clear. The characters are influential, hardworking, and driven. And the novel is a compelling tale of one woman’s life, from a young girl in Hollywood to a grown woman with her very own real-life prince.

Overall, Meghan and the Unmasking of the Monarchy, especially this new updated novel, which includes even the most recent events involving the Monarchy in early 2021, is an insightful look into a strong, independent woman and her struggles to retain a modicum of independence, privacy, and freedom after marrying into an institution ruled by tradition, image, and responsibility.

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

In this biography about Meghan Markle, Andrew Morton chronicles Meghan's life from her childhood to the time when she and Prince Harry separated from the Royal Family. It includes many key parts of her pre-Harry life, including her private Catholic school experience, her formative years as a young activist, her college years, and her strive to break out in the acting scene.

Markle showed from an early age that she was confident, ambitious, and a natural leader who loves the spotlight. She has never shied away from attention and acting seemed to be the perfect career for her. From an early age, her father (a lighting director) has taught her how to best present herself not only in how she looks but also how she carries herself. Many have pegged her as a social climber but I think anyone in the entertainment business who is ambitious could be judged in the same way.

I appreciated that this book highlighted Meghan's humanitarian efforts because this perspective was new to me. Since she was young, she has advocated for gender equality and human rights. It has been a constant driving force in everything she does. Markle used her former website and social media accounts as a platform and opportunity to shed light on these types of issues. Markle also spent many years working with the UN and other organizations in touring and speaking about gender equality and issues affecting women around the world.

Since her relationship with Harry has been public, Meghan has experienced an inordinate amount of bullying from the public and media. The disturbing racism and sexism from trolls added to the isolation that she felt from the Royal Family and this contributed to her depression and suicidal thoughts. Mental health is something that needs to be talked about and the fact that she made her struggles public is a big step for the cause.

This was a thorough and detailed biography that was very informative for me, as someone who didn't know much about Meghan Markle before I read this book.

⚠️: racism, bullying, depression, suicidal thoughts, miscarriage

Meghan and the Unmasking of the Monarchy highlight the prejudices and indifferences, Meghan Markle had to face for love! Told by one of the best celebrity biographers, readers get a look at Meghan's life from childhood to the present day. This page-turner is filled with unseen photos, personal stories, and hard truths.

Meghan Markle is such a captivating person with her intelligence, confidence, and compassionate nature. I think these traits are what draw so many people to her. I am always eager to learn more about her and this is a perfect book to do just that.

The book starts from the very beginning of her upbringing. From early on, you get a sense that her mixed-race and heritage has been an important factor in her life. She questioned her heritage because she wanted to embrace every part of her. That should be something celebrated because everyone's heritage should be celebrated. Unfortunately, it brings about prejudice, racism, and hatred. It's sad that she had to learn this at an early age.

As she grew up, you see her determination for acting and philanthropy blossom. She just seems like a kind and generous human being. So, when she falls in love with a prince, Prince Harry to be exact, it is hard to imagine all the backlash.

I think Meghan and Harry should be applauded for following their hearts. Instead, it displayed the prejudice and hypocrisy of the monarchy. I mean don't you think lessons from the past would have been learned after such a tragedy as Diana's?

I think this book and delve into the royal life reminds people that being a prince or princess isn't as glamourous and magical like the fairytales. I applaud Meghan and Harry for fighting for their love and their family.

I give Meghan and the Unmasking of the Monarchy 4 stars. I feel like anyone who is a fan of Meghan and Harry's story will enjoy this read. It is detailed and full of great photographs to give readers a glimpse at Meghan's life then and now.

I am not a Royalist, but felt that I needed to know more about Meghan, the duch*ess of Sussex, so I chose Andrew Morton’s biography as I know that he writes balanced, well researched books. Given the significant amount of negative publicity that Meghan and Harry have received, it was a pleasure to read this book. Andrew Morton presents us with a portrait of a smart, hardworking, driven woman, who has a burning passion to help others and bring about real change on the world, especially for girls and young women.
The first half of the book gives a detailed accountant of her life before meeting harry, including the challenging family dynamics of the Markles, especially her stepsister Samantha. The second half is life after meeting Harry. The narrative is neither gushy or vitriolic, rather it keeps an even hand between the good and the bad. Meghan is shown to be hard working, driven, ambitious form a young age with a well-developed social conscience. It also highlights that Meghan can be ruthless in getting things done and in some of her personal relationships. This book manages to strike a balance between making Meghan either a saint or a nasty piece of work. She comes across as a human being, with both good and bad features.
Whether Meghan was a diva, or a demanding person or not, she did not deserve the absolutely shocking treatment by the: online trolls; the gutter press; and the establishment (by which I mean all the Royal courtiers, staff aides and “unnamed sources” who have been willing to “leak” tales to the press). Both Meghan and Harry deserved better treatment from the Royal Family, especially given both their popularity and their identification with issues that confront many young people. It is a disgrace that the tabloid press (and this includes all the glossy women’s magazines) would consistently print such toxic and false stories about Meghan and Harry just to sell newspapers and magazines. The fact that too many people read and believe those stories is just tragic.

Nothing new in this book. All repetitive of what we have already read and heard. Why he felt the need to write this book is a mystery.

Why write a book if you have nothing new to say? Don't waste your time or money on this one.

A few unknown factotums and historical data, but primarily a running commentary on known events, Diana history and ignoble paparazzi abuse of both Diana and Meghan.

I was very excited to read this book and it seems that it has very interesting information. However, the writing style was completely insufferable for me. It was a DNF.

Thank you Grand Central Pub for my free review copy. I’m a big royalty fan so I was interested to see what updates had been added to this book. Andrew Morton has done a massive amount of research and he is well connected to confidants of the Royals. This book has more detail about Meghan, before she started dating Prince Harry, than some other books have and I enjoyed learning more. It is understandable how such a strong independent woman would chafe within the confines of the Royal institution. I think it would also be a struggle for someone who has not been brought up with a strong understanding or connection to the roles of someone within the Royal confines. Sadly the fairytale of Harry and Meghan being royal figures will not happen. That definitely seems for the best after the famous Oprah interview and all the lies told by the couple were exposed. This is briefly dealt with at the end of the book. If you are a Royal fan you will enjoy this book.

I found this to be a very interesting take on Meghan Markle and her experiences with the Royal Family. The beginning of the book is much more detailed and dense than the last half. The 2nd half seemed to be more of a summary of reports and previous articles but I did find the comparisons to Princess Diana fascinating and very sad at the same time. I found the author's writing to be confusing in his bias. At times it felt very defensive of Meghan and then would flip to seem as if he was implying she was manipulative and not truthful. Overall, if you keep up with the royal family, this will definitely be an interesting and entertaining read!

Thanks to Grand Central Publishing for a gifted copy.

My reviews can also be seen at www.instagram.com/justonemoorebook.

She knew about Harry and his family before she met him .so she lied to him. There's no way, she had not heard of him and his family!!! She got what she wanted, then played on Harry!! She knows how to act ,lie, and what buttons to push!!! She wanted her cake and everything else, except playing by the families rules. So she chose the Diana card, race, and news media to get to Harry!!! Give her top rate as an actress. But you can't live a regular life and still expect to get all the perks of being royalty. Perks and no works!! Get a life!!! Meghan!!

This wasn't my first go ahead at reading about Meghan Markle. My first literary introduction to Meghan was in Finding Freedom by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand. This biography I feel was even more enjoyable since it dealt with a thorough look at her early life before meeting Harry. I didn't rate this book 5 stars due to the feeling of bias towards the end of the book of Meghan being the culprit of the dissolution of her royal status. That rubbed me the wrong way a tad.

This book takes an in-depth look at Meghan Markle’s life, before and after her marriage to Harry. The book starts with her family history and then selves into her education and career. If you like Meghan Markle or are intrigued by the royal family, you will enjoy this insider look.

Thank you to @grandcentralpub for the #gifted copy! I’m so thankful!

I’m not big on the magazines but have always been interested in learning more about her! I like to have this book in my car for when I need to wait at a doctor’s appointment or waiting to pick up a kid from school. I like the information.
If you’ve been following for quite some time then you might not get as much out of it, but I haven’t so it’s all new.

3.5 stars