Catherine Mayer, author of 'Divide and Rule: Royal Women and Their Battles', likens Meghan Markle's exit from the royal family to Anne Boleyn's downfall, highlighting similarities in their treatment as commoners turned royalty facing brutal exits.
A royal author has likened the Duchess of Sussex to a controversial figure in British history while promoting her upcoming book. A royal author has likened Meghan Markle to King Henry VIII's second wife Anne Boleyn while promoting her new book Divide and Rule: Royal Women and Their Battles.
Catherine Mayer - whose latest work documents the lives of eight royal women, including Elizabeth I, Victoria and Kate Middleton - compared the Duchess of Sussex's"brutal" exit from the royal family to that of Boleyn, who was beheaded after being falsely accused of treason, adultery and incest. Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Mayer claims"you don't have to look far" in the historical archives to find royal stories similar to that of the former Suits actress, 44.
A royal author has likened Meghan Markle to King Henry VIII's second wife Anne Boleyn. Picture: AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell Catherine Mayer compared the Duchess of Sussex's"brutal" exit from the royal family to that of Boleyn, who was beheaded after being falsely accused of treason, adultery and incest. Picture: Supplied "Consider the following description: 'A commoner raised to royalty, she is a heroine to some, a hate figure to others. Her adherents trumpeted her potential to refresh the monarchy.
Her enemies disparaged her as an interloper... Still the wedding went ahead – accounts differ on the number of ceremonies – but soon she was gone, her exit brutal.
"'Fans maintain that prejudice and plotting did for her. Critics hold her solely responsible for her own downfall.
' If you assume this to be a description of Meghan, you're right – but here's the thing: the same details apply, word for word, to Anne Boleyn. " She went on to dub Markle as the least popular royal"except for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor", adding that her reputation was most likely"damned" by palace briefings and a culture that is"hostile" towards opinionated women.
"To those who clamour for Meghan to be expunged from public life like a latter-day Anne Boleyn, I'd ask one question: what exactly has she done to earn such hostility? " Mayer added. Markle was accused of being a hypocrite after making a speech in which she addressed online safety for young people at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland.
The 10-minute address touched on various themes, including the importance of protecting children from the harms of social media and the dangers that powerful algorithms pose to kids. Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, attends the inauguration of the Lost Screen Memorial, ahead of the opening of the 79th World Health Assembly at Place des Nations on May 17, 2026 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Picture: Harold Cunningham/Getty Images The speech sparked debate online, with some critics questioning why Markle continues to post images of her kids if she is worried about their online safety.
"You can't lecture people about childhood safety online while also plastering your children online," one X user said, while another penned:"Flying 6,000 miles to speak to a handful of people about the dangers of children being online, while publicly sharing your own children online to sell white-label products and being associated with a travel sustainability initiative, is the kind of contradiction that wildly undermines credibility. " one of Markle's representatives told Newsweek that there was a big difference between sharing family memories online and exposing kids to public scrutiny.
"The Duchess has always been clear that there is a distinction between sharing moments from her life and exposing her children to public scrutiny," they said. "By obscuring their faces, she is demonstrating the very principle she advocates for: giving children privacy, agency, and protection in an increasingly digital world.
" The spokesperson added:"Far from being contradictory, by concealing their faces she is actually reflecting the message she delivered in Geneva: that parents can choose to share family experiences while still taking deliberate steps to protect identities, privacy, and digital footprint. "
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