Meghan Markle was conspicuously absent from the spotlight as Prince Harry started on a media tour in support of his latest biography. The Duke of Sussex’s incendiary memoir, “Spare,” published on January 10, sold 1.43 million copies on its first day of sale in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada, making it the fastest-selling nonfiction book of all time.
Despite the book’s overwhelming success, sources recently told The Telegraph that the duchess, 41, “may have raised gentle concerns about whether it was the right move.” The mother of two, who was described as “media-savvy,” was “warier than the duke about this particular project.”
GB News host Dan Wootton called the Telegraph report “absolutely fascinating” because he felt “it was the first sign of Meghan trying to distance herself from all of the collateral PR damage caused by ‘Spare,'” U.K.’s Express reported. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s spokesman did not immediately reply to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Christopher Andersen, a royal author who just wrote a book on King Charles III, told Fox News Digital that he was not surprised the former American actress was nowhere to be found after the book’s release. He believed she was conveying a clear message – this was all Harry’s responsibility.
“Meghan clearly doesn’t want to make it look as if she’s somehow manipulating Harry, or that she’s had a hand in shaping his memoirs,” Andersen explained. “The Sussexes are very sensitive to the fact that their critics believe she has some mesmeric sway over him. The fact is, this is Harry’s story, and for better or worse he has to own it.”
Andersen also feels there’s a reason why the former “Suits” actor was supposedly scared of some of the themes in “Spare.” “What may be most concerning to both Harry and Meghan is the blowback they’ve gotten from people in the military who feel he was ill-advised to write about killing 25 enemy combatants while serving in Afghanistan,” said Andersen. “I can’t imagine if they’d had it to do over, that Meghan in particular would just as soon have had him leave those kinds of statistics out of the book.”
Harry, 38, made solo appearances on ITV, CBS’ “60 Minutes,” “Good Morning America,” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” to promote “Spare.” In contrast, when Markle debuted her “Archetypes” podcast, Harry made a humorous cameo in the Serena Williams episode. Furthermore, when she presented her children’s book “The Bench” at a New York school, her husband was present to show his support.
The outlet also pointed out that when Markle spoke to The Cut magazine, Harry “appeared from somewhere in the house” to tell the journalist that his wife “had complained after her photoshoot that she was a mom, not a model.”
“You can be both,” he said.
“The book was always Harry’s thing, in the same way, the podcast was always hers,” royal expert Shannon Felton Spence told Fox News Digital. “We didn’t see him in podcast promotion. Their PR strategy has never made sense to me, but they are clearly trying to build a Harry and Meghan brand and a Harry brand and a Meghan brand.”
“The question is… What about an Archewell brand?” she asked, referring to the couple’s nonprofit. “The book has definitely hit their brand. In my estimation, they had everything they wanted one month ago after the Netflix documentary. Their story was out and garnered massive sympathy from even the most apathetic American viewers. The memoir undid all that goodwill, and the press tour has been an absolute cringe-fest.”
“Spare” is the latest in a series of public statements made by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex since their departure from royal life in 2020. They noted the media’s racist treatment of the duchess at the time, as well as the palace’s lack of support.