Tue. Nov 5th, 2024
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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry ‘face [a] ticking time bomb’ after cutting royal purse strings according to a royal insider.  

Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told The Sun the couple’s “influence is failing”.

Meghan has put pen to paper before for her children's book3

Meghan has put pen to paper before for her children’s bookCredit: Paul Edwards – The Sun Newspaper
Could Meghan's "vivid imagination" provide the couple with a new income stream?3

Could Meghan’s “vivid imagination” provide the couple with a new income stream?Credit: Alamy

And with the £78m Netflix deal set to end in a couple of months, everyone’s left wondering what the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s will do next.

According to Tom Bower, Meghan is sitting on “a potential goldmine” that could result in a bumper pay packet. 

Appearing on TalkTV earlier this week and as reported by The Mirror, the royal author was surmising about the “real reason” why Meghan came to the UK – suggesting it wasn’t for Prince Harry. 

He spoke about her acting career and how she’s not pursued any acting roles since marrying Harry, and then mentioned how Meghan could sit down and put pen to paper in upcoming months or years and tell her side of the story. 

Tom claimed: “The only thing she has got left – and I think that is her potential gold mine – is her autobiography. 

“She has a very very vivid imagination and she’ll be able to spell out an amazing story… to increase her income.” 

He went on to suggest the endorsements the couple have received so far are “not worth anything anymore” and they might have to find other ways of making an income. 

It comes after Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare, broke records, with the New York Times revealing first-day sales exceeded some of publishing’s biggest hits, including books by Barack and Michelle Obama.

Spare sold more than 1.43 million copies in all formats in the United States, Canada, and Britain, including pre-orders, according to its publisher. 

The figure marked the largest first-day sales for any nonfiction book ever published by Penguin Random House, the world’s largest publisher.

So there is great opportunity for Meghan to do the same, should she write a book. 

But, she doesn’t have the greatest track record when it comes to writing books. 

Her debut children’s novel, The Bench, failed to hit the UK Official Top 50 chart after selling just 3,212 copies in its first week, The Daily Mail reported. 

Meghan's children's book The Bench was inspired by a poem she wrote for Harry3

Meghan’s children’s book The Bench was inspired by a poem she wrote for HarryCredit: YouTube

The Bench was inspired by a poem the Duchess of Sussex originally wrote for Harry on Father’s Day, the month after Prince Archie was born. 

It explored the “special bond between father and son [as] seen through a mother’s eyes”.

Mr Tivan, managing editor of The Bookseller magazine, explained how picture books don’t sell out instantly so these figures shouldn’t be surprising.

He said it wasn’t a “disappointment” for the publisher – even though “the writer [was] the Duchess of Sussex”. 

He added: “The aim is the long game as picture books tend to have a longer shelf life than adult titles. 

“The idea is to keep them selling week in and week out and is not about a quick hit.”

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