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Meghan Markle ‘on dodgy ground’ writing kids’ book after ‘bust-up with her dad’ who Prince Harry has still never even met

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Meghan Markle ‘on dodgy ground’ writing kids’ book after ‘bust-up with her dad’ who Prince Harry has still never even met

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Royal authors have cautioned that the Duchess of Sussex is treading on dangerous territory by writing a book about father-child relationships.

Meghan says her husband Prince Harry’s relationship with their two-year-old son Archie was the inspiration for The Bench.

The Duchess of Sussex announced the news on Tuesday, May 4, saying that her book was inspired by a poem she penned for Prince Harry on Father’s Day in 2019, only a month after their first child was born. The book, titled “The Bench,” is set to be released on June 8, two years after the British royal began working on it.

Christian Robinson, a Pixar artist, illustrated the 40-page novel, she said.

“Christian layered in beautiful and ethereal watercolour illustrations that capture the warmth, joy and comfort of the relationship between fathers and sons from all walks of life.

“This representation was particularly important to me and Christian and I worked closely to depict this special bond through an inclusive lens.

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“My hope is that The Bench resonates with every family, no matter the make-up, as much as it does with mine.”

In one of the drawings, Harry is shown as a soldier lifting his son while his tearful mother watches from a window.

Meghan, 39, will also provide the narration for the audio book, which will be published next month.

Meghan has been involved in a public spat with her father Thomas, whom Harry has never met, after he sold paparazzi pictures of himself putting on suits ahead of the royal wedding in 2018. During a candid interview with Oprah Winfrey in February, Harry announced that his own father, Prince Charles, had stopped returning his calls.

The irony in writing about fatherhood when Meghan is alienated from her own was quickly pointed out by royal observers. Meghan’s ‘choice to highlight the relations between fathers and sons’ was ‘extraordinary,’ according to Richard Fitzwilliams of MailOnline.

Penny Junor, a royal biographer, informed The Sun that the subject was “odd” and Meghan was “on dodgy ground.”

“It’s very easy to talk about relationships between fathers and sons when they are two years old. But problems come when the children are older — as Meghan found out with her father and Harry with Prince Charles. So it is an odd thing to have done.”

“She is on dodgy ground because of her relationship with her father and Harry with his. But it is also a very schmaltzy book by the sounds of it,” added the author.

Angela Levin, Prince Harry’s biographer, shared identical sentiments to the outlet, adding: “Once again we have the hypocrisy of Meghan and Harry saying one thing but not doing it themselves. 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.”

Meanwhile, royal columnist Richard Fitzwilliams told MailOnline that Meghan’s choice of topic was expected to raise eyebrows because she “seeks to highlight the undoubted bond between Harry and Archie, but it is common knowledge that she is publicly estranged from her own father, Thomas, whom Harry has never met.”

“Also, the fact that Harry recently revealed to the world on Oprah that there was a rift between him and his father and that he had been cut off financially, was one of many shocks which that unfortunate interview provided,” Fitzwilliams said.

Meghan, who used her royal title for the book’s cover, wanted the tale to be portrayed from a ‘inclusive lens,’ through a ‘diverse cast of fathers and sons,’ according to a press release. Meghan will also narrate the $4.99 audiobook, which, when combined with the hardcover edition, could net her millions of dollars in revenue.

A red-headed soldier sporting an American-style Army cap is seen carrying his small son aloft in one picture, as a woman watches from a curtain, crying. This is most definitely a nod to her and Harry, who worked with the Blues and Royals in Afghanistan.

It’s unclear if Meghan received a book advance or whether all of the profits would be pledged to charities, but a branding specialist claims it would have already netted her £500,000 during a ‘bidding war to secure her first venture’.

According to popular culture analyst Nick Ede, the Duchess of Sussex may have received a £250,000 to £500,000 advance to compose the book. She continues in the footsteps of other Royals such as Sarah, Duchess of York, who has her own money-making collection, Princess Michael of Kent, and even Prince Charles, who wrote a children’s book named The Old Man of Lochnagar in 1980 to raise money for the Children’s Trust.

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