Meghan thought one royal still had her back but a private keepsake meant as love ends up feeling like a public betrayal, writes Chris Riches.
Before Meghan Markle even knew Prince Harry she was friends with Princess Eugenie – so it makes what has happened an even deeper humiliation. In 2024, while Meghan and Harry were still far away in California counting their dollars after the publication of his memoir Spare, it was claimed Eugenie was the only royal who reached out across the Atlantic. Eugenie was already running in the same social circles as Meghan before the Suits actress met the Duke of Sussex, as the two women were both friends with fashion designer Misha Nonoo.
Maybe Eugenie has always felt different as a royal – like Harry – and this mutual connection is why Harry reportedly introduced his future wife to Eugenie and her now-husband Jack Brooksbank, before any other royal.
After Harry and Meghan moved out of the UK, they allowed Eugenie and Jack to move into their former Windsor home, Frogmore Cottage, as they started their family. Both couples have since acquired holiday properties in Portugal – and it was no coincidence that at King Charles III’s coronation, Harry was positioned directly next to Eugenie and Jack.
When Meghan penned her Covid lockdown children’s book The Bench in 2021, post Megxit, the first royal she likely gave a signed copy to would have been her close friend Eugenie.
So seeing that what appears to be that exact same personalised gift – complete with a handwritten dedication inside – popping up for sale on eBay must have hit Meghan like a dagger through the heart. It is now claimed that Eugenie has apologised to Meghan after the gift was somehow listed for sale for almost £20,000.
The book details a loving story about the relationship between a father and son, as seen from a mother’s perspective, inspired by Meghan’s own experience of watching Harry, with their son Prince Archie.
It is not known how this particular copy ended up on eBay but the listing has since been removed. Meghan’s alleged message to Eugenie, written inside that copy purporting to be her, reads: “2021. Dear Eug & Jack, Celebrating the special bond between father and son. I wrote this poem at Frogmore – I hope that Eug, you witness the same love there with your guys. All love, Meghan.”
Now, it has been reported by sources that Eugenie has called Meghan to apologise that the book ended up for sale and she is “horrified” by the embarrassing situation. I know it can be hard to feel sympathy for Harry and Meghan when they do so much purposefully to upset our Royal Family, and embarrass us as a nation, but on this occasion they have my pity.
Imagine any of us giving a personal gift to a close friend, something we have written or crafted with our own hands, and we find it up for sale online? You would have to question that friendship wouldn’t you? Harry and Meghan must have thought returning to the UK would increase their royal social circle – in fact it seems to have diminished it.
The book listing on eBay will test the cousins’ friendship