What if we never really knew the real Meghan Markle?
That is the claim that is currently being made by Meghan’s half-sister, Samantha Grant aka Samantha Markle. Seventeen years her senior, Samantha shares a father, Thomas Markle, with Meghan. But the two sisters are estranged, and Samantha did not receive an invitation to the royal wedding.
Now, after years of making heated comments, Samantha is set to release a tell-all book about Meghan called The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister on January 17.
But will there be any real surprises in the book? To find this out, we did a deep dive into the truth about Meghan Markle’s relationship with her estranged half-sister Samantha.
Details about the book
We already know a few details about Samantha’s book. As befitting a tell-all, though, she has so far only given us teasing glimpses about the contents of the book.
For example, Samantha claims (via The Daily Mail) that the book will lay bare “hidden truths about her family, as a royal fairy tale plummets from the tea towels.” Furthermore, the book’s description says, “Samantha Markle finds herself caught in between the cross hairs of media mayhem, when she reveals hidden truths about her family.”
Previously, Meghan had dismissed Samantha’s claims as “absurd.” Only time will tell if the claims within this new book are any less absurd.
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The last time they were together
Generally speaking, the point of a tell-all book is to give readers some inside knowledge. However, it seems very doubtful that Samantha knows much about Meghan’s life in recent years. That’s because the two of them last met way back in 2008!
And 2008 was a fairly big year for Samantha. That was when she graduated college and Meghan flew into town to see her. But this was also the same year that Samantha was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and is now confined to a wheelchair.
Speaking of that time period, Samantha previously said (via The Daily Mail), “My world turned upside down.” She and Meghan have not spent any time together since then, and Samantha did not attend her wedding. But in describing their relationship, Samantha is quick to say “I don’t like the word ‘estranged.’”
Then again, she has said far worse words when it comes to her sister!
Nicknames for Meghan
We may not yet know the exact contents of Samantha’s book. But it’s not hard to figure out how she feels about her famous royal sister!
Over the years, Samantha has leveled a number of demeaning nicknames and insults towards Meghan. This includes “The Duchess of Nonsense” to go along with the book’s titular “Princess Pushy.” Along the way, Samantha has also claimed that Meghan is a “shallow social climber” and even called her sister “inhumane.”
Many (if not all) of these insults are likely born of years of resentment. But at this point, we must wonder what else there is for Samantha to say about Meghan.
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Meghan’s reaction to the book
How did Meghan take the news about the book? Despite being functionally estranged from Samantha for many years, she did not take it very well at all.
According to The Daily Mail, a close friend claimed that Meghan actually burst into tears when she heard about the news and felt was was being “taken advantage of” by her sister.
Honestly, it’s hard not to agree with Meghan about this. Her sister likely doesn’t have much insight into Meghan, Prince Harry, or anything else. But this hasn’t kept her from previously promising to release a second tell-all book after she releases the first one.
And when it comes to family members taking advantage of Meghan, Samantha is hardly the first!
The family takes advantage of Meghan
Where would Samantha get the inspiration to take advantage of Meghan? Sadly, taking advantage of the duchess has become something of a family affair.
Previously, her father Thomas Markle made international news for staging photos with paparazzi ahead of his daughter’s wedding and ultimately ended up not attending the ceremony. Later, Meghan had to file suit against London’s Mail on Sunday for publishing parts of a letter that she sent to her dad and that he sent to the publication, presumably for profit.
Meghan is now fully estranged from her father. Nonetheless, he still feels she owes him. In a documentary, Thomas Markle claimed (via NBC News), “They owe me. The royals owe me, Harry owes me, Meghan owes me. What I’ve been through, I should be rewarded for.”
He continued, “My daughter told me when I reach my senior years, she’ll take care of me. I’m in my senior years now. I’m 75 years old, so it’s time to look after daddy.”
However, it seems that Thomas is doing a fine job of looking after himself by exploiting his daughter!
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The royal connection
Even to outsiders, one thing is clear: both Samantha and Thomas Markle upped their exploitative antics as Meghan’s wedding day drew closer and closer.
Samantha seemingly had no literary aspirations until 2016. That was when she first announced her upcoming tell-all books. And she only made the announcement after Meghan went public about her relationship with Prince Harry.
This was part of a pattern of family gossip and exploitation. At the time, Meghan was allegedly (via The Daily Mail) “furious” at the “absurd claims” that her family members were making about her. As her relationship with Prince Harry deepened, her relationship with her family members further deteriorated.
Years later, Samantha is trying to further stir the pot with the release of this book. But is this truly the end of the relationship between these sisters?
Is a reconciliation likely?
Some fans of the royal family can’t help but root for a happy ending. And when it comes to Meghan and Samantha, they have a simple question: is reconciliation between these two women likely?
Not very. The word “reconciliation” implies that they would repair and rehabilitate an existing relationship. But it seems clear that Meghan has not had much of a relationship with her sister for a very long time. In fact, they haven’t seen each other in 12 years, and haven’t been close in far longer.
And even if reconciliation were possible, it looks like Samantha’s book may drive the final nail into the coffin of their would-be relationship.