Royal author Tom Bower has claimed Meghan Markle‘s drive for fame didn’t begin when she launched her Hollywood acting career — or even when she married Prince Harry — but when she was just 5 years old walking a red carpet with her father.
Bower shared the story on a recent episode of “Daily Expresso” — a podcast from Britain’s Express newspaper — revealing that the Duchess of Sussex’s estranged father, Thomas Markle Sr., once shared a memory from his youngest daughter’s childhood that Bower thinks could explain her behavior today.
“Her father, who is a good man and she’s treated appallingly, told me of this instance when she was 5 years old,” the author said, as reported by The News International.
“He was a very successful lighting director in Hollywood and he took her down the red carpet on some opening night. And she said, ‘Daddy I want to do this, I want to be the star.’ And that was it, she wanted to be the star.”
The author argued that Meghan’s lust for fame eventually became something far more consuming. “She wanted to be the star and of course she failed,” he claimed on the podcast.
“She failed on her own terms because the highest she got was Suits, which was, you know, a small program, nothing very important, but then became the star by getting married to Harry, a global star.”
“And instead of being happy with that and taking the terms … everything had to be on her terms and that was worse than narcissism — that was destructive,” he alleged.
Royal magic
Thomas Markle Sr. has remained estranged from daughter Meghan Markle since he collaborated with paparazzi photographers ahead of her 2018 royal wedding to Prince Harry. By: Rachpoot/MEGA
The author went even further, insisting Meghan’s royal title — not her professional abilities — is what has kept the public fascinated.
“Meghan is a woman of huge ambition and total ruthlessness on her terms. But she is a woman without much talent. She’s not a great actress. She has no mystery. She tries to cultivate a persona or an image and it doesn’t particularly work for long,” he said, explaining why he doesn’t think the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix career will last.
“They had a great shot at all sorts of things. The series on polo, her series on being a domestic goddess [With Love, Meghan]. … It didn’t work because she really is pretty empty other than that she has this amazing title and has always got the threat of destroying the British royal family and that’s what makes her so interesting to us.”
During his appearance on the podcast, the veteran royal commentator also branded Meghan “selfish,” “an agent of disruption” and “a breaker of relationships” who “in the end is only interested in one person and that certainly isn’t the royal family.”
Staying together
Despite persistent split speculation, author Tom Bower claims Meghan Markle and Prince Harry still need each other. By: MEGA
Despite reports claiming Harry and Meghan’s relationship is in crisis, the author said he does not believe claims the couple is headed for a split.
“I don’t believe they are [divorcing]. And I think, you know, there are tensions in relationships, but I think that in the end he needs her, she needs him, and it’s a relationship based on a good business understanding. … On the whole, he needs her because he’s a lonely, sad man and she needs the label,” the royal commentator claimed.
“And I don’t think there’s some unbelievably rich billionaire in California desperate to take on Megan and all her baggage. So I don’t think her exit would be smooth,” he added.
He also pushed back on the Sussexes’ dismissal of claims he made about them in his 2026 book, Betrayal: Power, Deceit and the Fight for the Future of the Royal Family.
They branded it a “deranged conspiracy” and accused him of building “ever more elaborate theories about people he does not know and has never met.”
He said their response only reinforced his view that they can’t handle scrutiny. “They can’t take it that somebody could criticize them, that someone can question them,” he claimed, “[that someone] tells a story they do not want told, which is the truth.”