Revenge - Review of the Book by Tom Bower

I'm listening to the book Revenge, by Tom Bower. It tells the story of how Prince Harry became engaged and then married Meghan Markle. It is a good story, but doesn't contain any startling revelations. What Bower does is confirm many of the rumours, and puts events in chronological order.

What I'm finding from other people's reactions, is a lot of hate being directed at Meghan Markle. I don't form that opinion. My initial reaction to her is confirmed with this book. She's someone trying to get ahead, make some dosh, get well known. She wants stardom, but more importantly, she wants money.

Meghan Markle is clearly industrious and resourceful, even clever. Her website, followers on Instagram, becoming the face of certain labels, and being paid rather large sums to play a role on a cable TV legal drama are testament to that. Good for her.

But then comes my criticism. Two things stand out for me; the first being she's not staggeringly good looking. Rather, she's someone average who puts in a lot of effort. Most Hollywood stars are gorgeous. Maybe Meghan is better suited to politics, after all politics is called Hollywood for ugly people.

Then the second thing that stands out is she can't act. She is not talented. You'd expect her to be at least competent given the amount of experience she's had, but I just don't see it. This comes across in the book, in a way it is easy to see people do not immediately embrace her for being talented.

Is she suited to being a royal? Excuse the pun, but no she's not. Why was she not thoroughly vetted, how come she only had her mother Doria at the wedding, what about her early years and the rumours around her background in Los Angeles? All these questions needed to be investigated by the Palace.

I reserve my biggest criticism for Prince Harry. What a plonker. The best he could do right now would be to destroy his cellphone, get himself to the nearest airport and get on the first plane to London. Don't tell anyone he's leaving, just leave. And when back in England, see his father and say to his Dad, he needs help.

I'm interested in your thoughts, please comment below.

[ Side note: I detect errors, the narrator clearly has Meghan growing up in Woodward Hills, near Bell Canyon. That should be Woodland Hills. I haven't seen the print, possibly the narrator spoke incorrectly, but if Woodward Hills is printed then I'm unimpressed, such details need to be correct]

Queen Camilla

I'm glad the Queen has said she wants Camilla to be Queen Consort when her son Charles becomes King. Camilla has done all anyone could expect of someone in her role, and more. She's a pillar of strength and someone to be admired. 

I'm sometimes critical of the British Royal Family, but not Camilla. She's lovely, she'll make a wonderful Queen.

And all the naysayers, they can get over it, we've all moved on and we can't stay stuck in the past forever.

Oh, and I wouldn't turn down an invitation to the Coronation if the right person is reading this - hint.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/queen-camilla-charles-title-b2008567.html

Prince Harry and Meghan: 'Vapid, Vacuous, Privileged and Hypocritical'

Funny, Rod Liddle calls Harry and Meghan vacid and vapuous, and he likely did so intentionally, but I've corrected to vapid and vacuous.

 

Prince Harry: At War with his Father?

It occurred to me that we are witnessing a modern form of Wars of the Roses. But instead of opposing armies lining up, now we have social media being used as the field of battle. The way I see it, there is no way Harry can win:

That Oprah Interview of Meghan Markle

I've seen the Oprah interview of Meghan Markle on CBS, Sunday 8:00pm, the 7th of March EST in the US. It was a cringeworthy affair, and not particularly interesting. I noticed a slight change in the appearance of Meghan Markle, she's now trying to look like a Kardashian. I also noticed she's changing the way she speaks, also sounding like a Kardashian. An example being her pronunciation of sure. The s and u being said with a pronounced sh sound, and the r accentuated - shurrr. 

You don't need to watch it as I've done the work for you, here's a transcript; moan moan moan moan, victim victim victim, racist racist racist, oh woe is me, right right right, moan moan moan, unsurvivable, moan moan moan. Get the idea?

There are laugh out loud moments, especially from Harry who isn't allowed his own face time with Oprah. No, he has to have his hand held by Meghan who can be seen to squeeze it when he either says too much or says the wrong thing. She's obviously wearing the pants in the relationship. I laughed when Harry talked about not being able to ride a bicycle when growing up. I mean, does he have no sense of self? This immensely privileged and grossly spoilt brat had palace grounds to ride his bike around in. He rides polo ponies as a pastime.

And what is it with Harry, he looks almost homeless. He can't pull his socks up and his shoes had holes in the bottom of them. His beard looks shabby. Has this man no pride in his appearance? I find it hard to believe he grew up a Royal, then went to Eton and then Sandhurst. He looks as if he's been dragged through a hedge backwards.

It was very disappointing Oprah did not ask Meghan about her side of the family, you know, the Markle's and the Ragland's. Clearly, there were indeed some interview no-go areas.

My advice to the Queen; throw the pair of them in the Tower. That's what the first Elizabeth would have done. 

Frogmore Cottage

Does anyone believe, even for a minute, that Prince Harry and his wife have paid back the British taxpayer for their excessive and pointless renovation of Frogmore Cottage out of their own money? I certainly don't. I suspect we'll find out that Prince Charles forked out, just to make the matter go away. Stop enabling Harry, he's shown his true character, let him sink or swim on his own.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Debacle

The full picture is now emerging and I have to say, I'm not impressed. The deal is the Sussexes will not be using their HRH titles, but they're not being stripped of them either; they won't be taking public funding but they will take funding from Prince Charles' Duchy of Cornwall. They're going to pay back the money spent on Frogmore Cottage, but it's unclear how and when that money will be paid.

I don't think this will work. The reason, too many areas of potential conflicts of interest, real or perceived. The only way for this to work is for Harry to become Harry Mountbatten-Windsor, a normal old Mister. Nothing more than that. 

Why do I say that? Using the Dukedom is a demotion. Harry and his wife become 'Your Grace.' That's got to sting and puts people they deal with in a difficult position, how do they address the pair exactly? Of course stripping away the titles makes the pair far less marketable, but wait, they're not meant to trade off their royal status. So explain, how does this work again?

Looking at the two, I have serious concerns about Harry. Meghan hasn't been part of the royal family for all that long and she's done well on her own, she's a survivor. But Harry has lived in a gilded cage his whole life, he probably thinks he knows what real life is like, but in reality he knows little of it. What is Harry meant to do now he can't be a royal? What can he do? There is nothing in his CV to suggest he can manage outside of the royal family. 

You want evidence of this I hear you say; he inherited a fortune from his mother, Diana, and the Queen Mother. These funds he now has full control of, so why isn't he already financially independent? What's this talk of seeking financial independence, he's only got himself, his wife who is not helpless and one small child. Harry is a fully grown man, what has he been doing with his money all this time?

Then it is reported Harry is considering buying a massively overpriced house in Vancouver, Canada. If he buys such a thing, I'd call that all the evidence anyone needs to prove he's financially illiterate. 

What does Harry know about? Land and horses. That's about it. Sensible is using a large proportion of his money on a farm in England, breeding horses, polo ponies and the like. Buying houses, even thinking about buying houses in Vancouver is simply throwing your money away. Where I see this heading, is in less than 2 years Harry will be back amongst the royals, cutting ribbons but much poorer for the experience of stepping back.

And what of Archie? How is he to be raised and educated? Remember, technically the couple are still HRH, he's seventh in line to the throne right now. When he grows older he may want to work as a royal, in that case he'd start to outrank his father who eschews his HRH status, odd indeed.

The Sussex Royal brand becomes problematic, isn't such a brand effectively trading on royal status? And funding from the Duchy of Cornwall, it's not really private money, this will become a sore point over time and an area where I feel Harry has shown he isn't thinking clearly. He can't be talking about financial independence but still relying on his father for handouts. 

What has been proposed looks rushed. It hasn't been fully thought through.

Here's the Deal

I have many readers and others who buy my books. I thought, why not combine the two by offering them a deal? Here goes:

If you buy the physical copy of any of my books, I'll reciprocate with one of the following;

• I'll rewrite your website landing page for you, up to 300 words, making it SEO friendly. Google will love you.
• I'll either post a lengthy comment on your blog (up to 500 words), or blog about you on this site, mentioning you and providing a link to your blog or website.
• I'll either edit any document, presentation, corporate statement or press release (up to five pages or 1,000 words), or rewrite any of the same up to 500 words.

What do you say? You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.

If this sounds like a good deal, simply buy the physical copy of any of my books. A good starting point is Snob's Guide to New Zealand Alternatively you may choose any of my three novels

Why the physical copy? Self-interest, I make more money out of the paperback. 

How to collect: take a selfie on your computer, using any of the many tools available for this, Skype comes to mind. Then email me using the contact form >>>>> over there on the right. I'll reply, whereupon you then send me the selfie image of you holding the book or displaying it (if you're bashful, conceal your face, ahem).

That completed, I'll then do as promised, you just say what you want done. 

Will this work for you? It could, there are no guarantees but I've got some pretty good blog posts out there floating around. My reporting on the claims that Prince Charles and Camilla have a love child went ballistic and still drives traffic to my blog nearly four years later. I've even seen the post appearing as a rich snippet (you know, the things that appear at the start of Google search results), even though I've never bothered setting any of my posts as rich snippets or structured data - go figure.

Will I have the time to do this for you? Probably, I figure only a few will take up the offer, but the effort will be worthwhile.

Royal Family and the Line of Succession

My most successful blog post by a country mile is where I reported the claims of Simon Dorante-Day, an ex-pat Englishman now living in Australia, that he is the first son of Prince Charles and his now second wife, Camilla (I'm not going to use their titles, Duke and Duchess of this and that, simply because it's bloated).

Read this blog post here >> http://kenhorlor.blogspot.com/2016/04/did-prince-charles-and-camilla-have.html

I'll be the first to say that this post was not the work of literary genius. Nor is it the work of august constitutional thinking. But it works. Why that is I have no idea. At times this one post can go ballistic, Russia, US, Britain. Everyone seems to want to know about this story.

Now, of course, I have no idea whether Mr Dorante-Day's claims are true. But I have been in touch with him and what I did find out is that he's just a regular bloke. Please understand that when you do get a blog that is as widely read as mine, you will find that it attracts some flakes. That and the downright deceitful and dishonest. Or they're just peddling something, which I'm not totally opposed to, just tell me you have an agenda.

If you look at photo's of Mr Dorante-Day, and check photos of Camilla at the same age, well, they look like peas in a pod. There is that. And Mr Dorante-Day comments that he's been the subject of intense police scrutiny for some time. If a member of the Royal Family is anywhere near where he lives, he gets his house turned over. Why? He's not a danger to anyone. Makes you think, eh.

Here's the idea; why are the Royal Family not subjected to DNA tests that are independently retrieved and analysed? They could then be publicly available for the wider scientific community to inspect. These tests could be compulsory for anyone in the top 10 of the line of succession, and voluntary below that. If the DNA cannot confirm the right to rule, then the person would be disqualified. Other than that they may keep titles and such, but not be in the line of succession.

Think about this some more; the science exists. Why not use it? And do it retrospectively, as of now. Charles must be of Elizabeth and Philip, William and Harry must be of Charles and Diana; George, Charlotte and Louis of William and Catherine. Any break and the line is broken and you move to the next line, and in this case it would be to Andrew and Sarah, through to Beatrice. You could find that Beatrice is the rightful heir. No I'm not kidding.

And to plug my latest novel, Dana Point out now, it does have this kind of idea in it. Everyone is subject to biochemical ranking at birth or at their assimilation into recognised society. This process also involves the curing of all disease, so there is a bonus. If someone is going to rule or be the elite by right of birth, shouldn't we be satisfied that they're qualified?

Did Prince Charles and Camilla Have a Child?

Simon Dorante-Day is an Australian born in England, who claims to be the first born son of Prince Charles. It is claimed his birth mother is Camilla Shand, later the Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Charles's second wife. You would likely know her as Camilla Parker Bowles (she was first married to Andrew Parker Bowles).

See an interview with Dorante-Day in the embedded link below, this is the latest interview as of 29th April 2021:

(the link from Australia's Seven Network Sunrise show has been removed as they no longer run the story, if anyone has a good link to a video about this story I'd appreciate a heads-up. 

Update: this is back in the news in 2021 and I have this link which also carries video https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/royal-family/royal-mystery-simon-dorante-day-claims-he-is-the-secret-love-child-of-prince-charles-and-camilla-ng-b881857373z ) 

The story goes that Camilla, who is a little older than Charles, got pregnant and gave birth to a son in April 1966. She would have been 18. The boy, it is claimed, was adopted out at about the age of 18 months. He was placed with a family that had connections with royals, as servants.

If this story is true it raises several questions:

1. Were Charles and Camilla married in secret before the child was born?

If they were married then Simon Dorante-Day is the legitimate heir to the throne of England, head of the Church of England - yes all that. Charles would have been a bigamist or divorced when he married Diana and his two sons would be disqualified (sorry William and Harry).

Here's the thing, Simon Dorante-Day appears to now have aboriginal connections, he has nine children, are any of them aboriginal Australians? It appears unclear, but his children may be in line to the throne. Can you see Britain putting a black Australian on the throne? Yeah right!!!

[Edit to add; if Dorante-Day was born illegitimate, does Charles's later marriage to Camilla legitimise this child by her and thus set up a whole new line of succession? That is, if the claim is true. 

And if it doesn't automatically set up a new line of succession immediately, does this newly discovered descendant line take precedence when Charles becomes King. That is, the King being above the law and all that. Do you see? In this case his descendants by way of Camilla are a shadow on the wall until he ascends the throne, whereupon the shadow becomes a physical presence in the room. You could end up in a situation where the King and Queen have a son who cannot be heir, but another son, who may not even be biologically his, ascending to the throne when he dies. Think about it, which is better, the first born son to his legally married parents, or another, in this case William.]

2. Was Princess Diana killed because of what she knew? Was she going to blow the lid on everything? It is rumoured Charles had other children as well, but of course they'd be illegitimate so not in line.

And what of Diana, are her children biologically Prince Charles's?  Hmm? We could find here that Simon Dorante-Day is the eldest biological child of Prince Charles, legitimate or otherwise and that none of Diana's are his.

[Edit to add; thinking about this some more, what if Diana didn't want her children to be in line to the throne. She wanted to marry Dodi Al-Fayed, a bit of a problem that, given he was the son of a dubious businessman and a Muslim. So how about she planned to first get rid of her children as heirs before marrying Dodi. Perhaps she was going to reveal that Charles married Camilla in the eyes of God, a church or chapel ceremony not backed up by marriage certificate, and that in the eyes of God, another man was the rightful heir. Get the idea? Prince Philip has always been accused of arranging the hit, and he did that because of the threat she posed to his bloodline. What do you think?] 

3. Can this Australian demand a DNA? You betcha, Charles isn't King yet, he's still within the reach of the law. And does anyone believe such a test would be done honestly if he was the son of Charles? I mean, really? Do you believe that?

The only way such a thing could happen is if Her Majesty was sufficiently sick of the inbred fools and demanded the proof be provided, to refresh their gene pool. Otherwise it ain't gonna happen.

[Edit to add Feb 2 2019: I noticed that this blog post has taken off again in term of readership, and checking this I find Mr Dorante-Day is back in the news: https://www.newidea.com.au/camillas-secret-son-bombshell-picture-proof The picture just published does bear a resemblance to both Camilla and her son by Andrew Parker Bowles.]

[Edit to add Sept 20 2022: here's the latest from Australia on the claims made by Simon Dorante-Day, taking into account the death of the Queen, and King Charles ascending to the throne. https://youtu.be/cVWjqmyCPJw ]

[Edit to add March 8, 2025: this blog post has once again taken off, and it is still by far my most read blog post, but its readership fluctuates over the years.]