The Duchess of Sussex‘s outspoken half-sister Samantha has finally released her tell-all book about their relationship and the rift that has torn apart the Markle family, promising readers that the ‘truth is stranger than fiction’.
Ms Markle’s autobiography, titled ‘The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister: A Memoir, Part One’, is expected to heavily criticise Meghan for shunning her American relatives and what she sees as cutting off their father Thomas after he was unable to attend the royal wedding following a heart attack.
Its publication is likely to cause anxiety for the Duchess, whose US media team has not commented publicly on its contents, amid claims the former Suits star burst into tears and was ‘sick to her stomach’ when she first heard Samantha was writing it.
The book, released in the US via American bookselling giant Barnes and Noble, contains chapters called Queen Would be Appalled and Looking For Mr Right The Wrong Way.
And the 330-page autobiography claims to expose ‘hidden truths about her family’ and Samantha’s perspective on how and why Meghan’s ‘royal fairytale’ turned sour.
According to its pre-release description, she claims that when it comes to Meghan ‘things are not always as they seem’ and sometimes the ‘truth is stranger than fiction’.
Samantha Markle, pictured with her half-sister Meghan Markle at her graduation in 2008, has written her tell-all book called: ‘The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister: A Memoir, Part One’
A young Meghan is pictured with her father Thomas Markle, from whom she is also estranged. Her mother Doria was the only relative who attended the royal wedding after Mr Markle fell ill with a heart attack
Samantha, 56, who is wheelchair-bound and lives in Florida, completed the highly-anticipated memoir four years after announcing she was writing it.
Last month insiders told In Touch that the Duchess of Sussex, 39, who is currently living in her $14million Santa Barbara mansion with Prince Harry, 36, and one-year-old Archie, is upset about the book but ‘won’t act bothered in public.’
Ms Markle’s autobiography, titled ‘The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister: A Memoir, Part One’, is expected to heavily criticise Meghan
The book has been published by Barnes & Noble, with the description stating: ‘Things are not always as they seem, in a world where social labels define who we are, how we live, and how we view each other.
‘Samantha Markle finds herself caught in between the cross hairs of media mayhem, when she reveals hidden truths about her family.’
According to Newsweek, who have today published extracts from the book, Samantha describes setting up the staged paparazzi shots for Thomas Markle before the royal wedding, which would lead to a rift between Meghan and her father.
She claims it was to paint her father in an ‘honest light’ and not for money.
Samantha writes: ‘I got a call from someone offering to connect me with a photographer friend by the name of Jeff [Rayner], who promised to discreetly take photographs of my father, putting him in an honest light.
‘I received no money for the deal per my request, and the goal for my father was not money, because he had been turning down $50,000 interviews. It was just allowing the Royals and the world to see him in his proper light, because he was so horribly labeled and photographed. It was like watching vultures feast.
‘The photographer said, ‘Don’t worry, I will take good care of your dad, and nobody will even see’.’
Samantha claims she asked the photographer to be ‘discreet’ and stay a safe distance from Thomas.
In her memoir she writes: ‘When I saw some of the photographs, I was delighted, until I saw an article that said he ‘staged photographs’.
‘I nearly choked, when I saw photographs of the photographer walking three feet behind my father. I was guaranteed it would be discreet.
‘I sent an email to the photographer, letting him know that I was horribly upset by what had occurred, and he said that he would arrange ‘something’ with my father that would make him happy, and that he would ‘fix the situation.’ The damage was done, and the thought of ‘fixing it’ was tragicomedy at best’.
Meghan is thought to have last seen her sister in 2008.
According to media reports, Samantha has previously branded Meghan a ‘shallow social climber’, blamed the former actress for freezing out their father and other members of the family, branding her ‘inhumane’ and nicknaming her ‘the Duchess of Nonsense’.
A year ago it was reported that Meghan burst into tears after discovering her estranged half-sister Samantha was planning to write a book about her.
The Duchess of Sussex, 39, is said to feel ‘sick to her stomach’ about her half-sister Samantha’s upcoming bombshell memoir, sources have claimed
The Duchess of Sussex felt she was being ‘taken advantage of’ by her sister, according to a close friends, but has not spoken about it in public.
Samantha first revealed her literary ambitions in April 2016 when Meghan’s romance with Prince Harry became public.
She is already writing a second book called: ‘In the Shadows of the Duchess’.
Meghan was said to be ‘furious’ with members of her family after ‘absurd claims’ were made against her as her relationship with Prince Harry took off.
Bombshell biography Finding Freedom, by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, claimed Meghan and her ‘estranged’ half-sibling had only bumped into each other twice since they were children.
Ms Markle has been keeping a lower profile in 2020 while completing her autobiography but appeared on British TV in January last year when Harry and Meghan quit as senior royals and decided to emigrate first to Canada, and then moved to LA.
Samantha said that the decision, then after just 20 months of marriage, was a ‘gross breach of duty’ and a ‘slap in the face’ for the Queen.
She said: ‘Prince Harry and Meghan have quite a bit of apologising to do. We aren’t talking about teenagers, we are talking about adults who knew what they were doing and in regards to my father it was so incredibly wrong and shocking’.
She also said Meghan initially enjoyed the attention of being a royal, accusing her of adopting a ‘contrived British accent’, but wanted out once she was criticised about her ‘spending’.
Ms Markle has also been forced to deny criticisms of Meghan, Thomas’ only child with Doria Ragland, were laced with racism, calling the claim: ‘A misplacement of blame to avoid accountability’.
Meghan, 39, is suing Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) for breach of privacy for publishing extracts of a letter she sent her father Thomas Markle, 76, after her royal wedding in 2018.
Her lawyers have applied for summary judgment, a legal step which would see the case resolved without a trial and without the need for witnesses, but the newspaper argues the case is ‘wholly unsuitable’ for it.
A ruling by Mr Justice Warby on the application is expected this month.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex leave the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey in London on March 9 last year, on their final royal engagement before they quit royal life
The letter was sent to the parties on behalf of Jason Knauf (left) – formerly communications secretary to the Sussexes, whom the newspaper claims was involved in the wording of Meghan’s letter – and Christian Jones (right), their former deputy communications secretary
The other two members of the so-called ‘Palace Four’ are Samantha Cohen (left), formerly the Sussexes’ private secretary, and Sara Latham (right), their former director of communications
Four former aides of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex may have evidence which could ‘shed some light’ on Meghan’s letter to her estranged father, the High Court was told two weeks ago.
The publisher’s barrister Antony White QC told the court that a letter from lawyers representing the so-called ‘Palace Four’ said they would be able to ‘shed some light’ on the drafting of Meghan’s letter to her father.
He told the court it was also ‘likely’ there was further evidence about whether Meghan ‘directly or indirectly provided private information’ to the authors of an unauthorised biography of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Finding Freedom.
The letter was sent to the parties on behalf of Jason Knauf – formerly communications secretary to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, whom the newspaper claims was involved in the wording of Meghan’s letter – and Christian Jones, their former deputy communications secretary.
The other two members of the so-called ‘Palace Four’ are Samantha Cohen, formerly the Sussexes’ private secretary, and Sara Latham, their former director of communications.
The court was told that another area that requires ‘factual investigation at trial’ is how Royal biography Finding Freedom, which tells the story of Meghan’s life and marriage to the Duke of Sussex, was written.
The newspaper claims she co-operated with its authors, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, or authorised her friends to and share details of the letter.
Meghan has denied the allegations – as has Mr Scobie – but she has conceded in a court document submitted at a hearing last year that she did authorise a friend to speak with them on her behalf.