I just finished Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand and I am amazed by two things: first, how much access the co-authors clearly had to sources close to Harry and Meghan. The book may not be an authorized biography, but it is obviously the story the Sussex’s want out there, and for that reason alone it’s an informative and intriguing read.
Having researched my new novel, A Most English Princess: A Novel of Queen Victoria's Daughter, the story of Princess Vicky, the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria, I’m struck by the strong parallels between the two women. Meghan is much like Vicky was, a foreigner who arrived in a deeply traditional court where protocol and precedence govern the royal family’s every move. Meghan’s fresh ideas and the energy and experience she brought to her new royal role were constantly being discounted by senior courtiers, just as Vicky, a well-educated young princess with liberal notions, was sidelined in the Berlin court in the 1860’s. Of course, 150 years ago the world was a different place, and plenty of women struggled to make their voices heard. What happened to Vicky was disappointing, especially given all that she offered to her adopted country of Prussia, but it was not entirely unexpected. The Prussian ruling class, the Junkers, were a very conservative bunch, right up into the 20th century. But that the British royal family so misjudged and mishandled Meghan is startling. You can argue that she should have been more tactful, more accommodating—more docile in other words. But as FINDING FREEDOM so vividly makes clear the institution of the royal family was not flexible enough to carve out a place for American-born Meghan who had so much to give. History repeats itself, and the loss is the UK’s.