Meghan Markle is facing criticism after writing a book about “relationship between fathers and sons” despite her troubled relationship with her father, Thomas Markle.
Royal watchers are commenting on the irony of the Duchess of Sussex writing a book celebrating fathers at a time that she is estranged from her own father.
Meghan has been estranged from her 76-year-old father, Thomas Markle, since she married Harry in May 2018.
Meghan’s book explores “the special bond between fathers and sons”
The Duchess of Sussex announced on Tuesday that she is releasing a children’s book titled The Bench, on June 8.
The book, inspired by the relationship between Prince Harry and their son Archie, “captures the special relationship between father and son, as seen through a mother’s eyes,” according to a press release by Random House Children’s Books.
The 40-page book features illustrations by award-winning artist Christian Robinson. One illustration shows a military father with ginger hair being welcomed back home by his son while the mother watches through the window.
Prince Harry served in Afghanistan with the Blues and Royals, a cavalry regiment of the British Army.
Meghan reportedly said the book “started as a poem I wrote for my husband on Father’s Day, the month after Archie was born.”
Meghan’s choice of subject is “odd” a royal biographer said
Royal biographer Penny Junor told The Sun that Meghan’s choice of subject is “odd” and that she is “on dodgy ground” due to her relationship with her father.
“She is on dodgy ground because of her relationship with her father and Harry with his,” Junor said.
During their interview with Oprah, Prince Harry also accused his father of refusing to take his calls after they left the U.K. and cutting him off financially.
Harry also said that royal life was a “very trapping environment” and that his father, Charles, Prince of Wales, was “trapped within the system.”
Royal expert slams Meghan for her “hypocrisy”
Royal biographer Angela Levin also slammed Meghan for her “hypocrisy.”
“Once again we have the hypocrisy of Meghan and Harry saying one thing but not doing it themselves,” she said, according to The Sun. “I don’t know how you can write about a boy, a son, or a father, when you haven’t spoken to your own father for years. It is extraordinary.”
Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told the Daily Mail said it was “extraordinary” that Meghan would choose to write a book highlighting “the relations between fathers and sons” after falling out with her own father and refusing to reconcile with him.
Harry never met his father-in-law before marrying Meghan
The news comes after Monsters & Critics reported that royal writer Ingrid Seward said Kate Middleton was concerned that Prince Harry never met his father-in-law, Thomas Markle before he married Meghan.
The Duchess of Cambridge reportedly “voiced concern” about Meghan’s relationship with her father and other relatives.
Although Kate publicly showed support for the couple, she privately voiced concern that Harry disregarded protocol by not contacting his father-in-law and asking for his permission to marry his daughter.
“[Kate] could not understand why Harry had never met his future father-in-law,” Seward said.
The Duchess of Cambridge also wondered why “Meghan… appeared embarrassed about her family and unwilling to speak about them apart from her mother.”