Patrick Jephson - The Meghan Factor: A Royal Experts Insight on Americas New Princess—and How She Could Change the Windsor Dynasty Forever

Contents

A Royal Experts Insight on Americ a ' s New Princess
and How She Could Change the Windsor Dynasty Forever

Patrick Jephson

A BOMBARDIER BOOKS BOOK

An Imprint of Post Hill Press

ISBN: 978-1-64293-036-8

ISBN (eBook): 978-1-64293-037-5

The Meghan Factor:

A Royal Experts Insight on Americas New Princessand How She Could Change the Windsor Dynasty Forever

2018 by Patrick Jephson

All Rights Reserved

Cover Design by Cody Corcoran

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author and publisher.

Post Hill Press, LLC

New York Nashville

posthillpress.com

Published in the United States of America

For

MARY JO

With love and thanks

Prologue

Do you want to be a British princess?

Meghan Markle of California, USA, has said that she does. Or, more romanticallyand surely more accuratelyshe has said Yes to marrying Prince Harry, with the princess bit being very much a secondary part of the deal. That is the proper order of priorities, after all.

However, theres no getting away from it: a marriage that doesnt just start a new life but also takes her into the heart of the House of Windsor is going to give Meghan a steep learning curvemuch steeper than some of the other options that might have been open to her.

And in its turn, the British Royal Family may have to do some adapting to the newcomer, even though thats not a regular habit. Its more than eighty years since the last American attached herself to its exclusive family treeand that ended badly. Wallis Simpsons marriage to King Edward VIII in 1936 cost him his throne and earned him a lifetime of exile. The constitutional trauma of what became known as the Abdication Crisis left deep scars in the country and in the family, whose members have famously long memories.

Things had better be different this time around.

But will they?

In this book, longtime royal insider and bestselling author Patrick Jephson draws upon his unique experience as Princess Dianas first (and only) private secretary/chief of staff to give an expert assessment of the momentous marital gamble the House of Windsor is about to take.

As a naturalized American citizen, he brings a special insight to the transatlantic dimension the new princess adds to the royal line-up. Hes also able to analyze with a practiced eye the challenges faced by Meghan as she transitions to life in a palaceand the impact shell have on the worlds most famous monarchy.

Meghans arrival could be a well-timed boost for a dynasty that faces big challenges in the coming years. But he doesnt skip the hard reality that survival as a royal newcomer takes more than a winning smile and a stylish curtsy. Meghan is committing to a path of duty and sacrifice that will last to the end of her days. Happily, with Prince Harry at her side, theres every chance of fun and fulfillment along the wayand a legacy that leaves her very personal mark on the House of Windsor forever.

Like Wallis, Meghan is a divorcee and already a mature woman with a lifetimes worth of valuable experience to her name. Also like Wallis, shes slim, brunette, and something of a fashion plate.

Luckily, the similarities between the women seem to end there. Nor are there many similarities between the royal world of today and the court of the 1930s. Modern princes are free to marryand re-marrypretty much as they please, perhaps in hopes of improving the odds of long-term marital success. The statistics for top-level royal marriages during Queen Elizabeths reign are enough to make any potential royal bride think twice: out of six starters, only two are still running: Edward and William, unlike divorcees Margaret, Anne, Andrew, and Charles.

Meghan may quite rightly have decided that she and Harry need fear nothing from the past in making their own marriage a beacon of stability, longevity, and happiness. But there are plenty of good examples from recent royal history that could give her some valuable tips for successand quite a few cautionary tales too.

Forget Wallis Simpson. The real point of comparison is a much more familiar figure: Harrys much-missed mother. Meghan has already attracted hundreds of comparisons with Princess Diana, an iconic figure who will probably be a frequent presence throughout Meghans princess career.

Dianas example of how to use the royal cachet to benefit good causes is one her sons are already following to universal praise. Fortunately they have not needed to follow her other, sadder path in which Diana learned that her own unhappiness created a powerful affinity with some of the worlds most excluded and stigmatized people.

Dianas experience of separation and divorce has perhaps surprising resonance for Meghan in explaining some of the pressures and challenges of royal marriage management. Getting the balance right between public duty and private happiness might turn out to be her greatest achievement.

Meanwhile, other crucial balances must be struck, such as: tradition versus innovation, regal restraint versus passionate campaigning, privacy versus publicity, and spontaneity versus dogged persistence. Its a long list, and in tackling it Meghan will depend crucially on empathy with the ordinary citizens of her adopted country and on her own internal judgement. As she may already have guessed, as a real royal highness shell have access to an infinite supply of advice, but in the end, only she can decide how to take control of the extraordinary destiny providence has placed in her hands.

Then there are the in-laws. A royal newcomer could ask for no better role model than Elizabeth II, whose lifetime of dedicated public service sets a standard unlikely to be bettered in the whole history of the British Crown. Eventually, and many pray it will be far off, Elizabeths place on the throne will be taken by Meghans father-in-law, Prince Charles. He and his controversial second wife, Camilla, offer her a mixed buffet of how-to-be-royal experience. And of course, when she needs counsel from somebody her own age, William and Catherine will be her neighbors in Kensington Palace.

Not the least of Meghans challenges will be the speed with which shell have to assimilate the constitutional instincts that her new position in the British hierarchy will demand. Being American is an attractive noveltyfor now. How she retains the best of her native heritage and combines it with the distinctive qualities of Britishness will be a process under constant review. Against a backdrop of transatlantic cultural complexity, this may sometimes make the ocean feel very wide.