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Unroyal: Three Women Who Shook the Monarchy
Wallis, Diana and Meghan: Three Wives, One Narrative
One was a married American socialite who embarked on a scandalous affair with the future king of England. Another was an aristocratic ingenue whose winsome charm captured the world's imagination. And the third was a thirty-something actress whose outspokenness put her on a collision course with the British public. The marriages of Wallis Simpson, Diana Spencer, and Meghan Markle into the British royal family sparked a series of crises that at times seemed to threaten the future of the monarchy itself. In Unroyal, veteran New York Times reporter and former London correspondent Sarah Lyall revisits how each royal wife threatened the stability of—and was ultimately rejected by—this most ancient and opaque of institutions.
Using archival material and interviews with experts like the bestselling author Tina Brown, the royal biographer Andrew Morton, and the social commentator and broadcaster Afua Hirsch, Lyall's audio documentary examines three pivotal TV interviews in which each woman pushed up against the official royal narrative: Wallis in 1970, Diana in 1995, and Meghan in 2021. Lyall describes the differences and highlights the similarities between the women at these three flexion points to examine the endless codependent dance between the monarchy, the public, and the news media and to shed fresh light on the fraught intersection of power, fame, and family politics in an institution torn between tradition and modernization.
Narrated by the author against a beguiling soundscape of contemporaneous news footage and a spectral score, Unroyal blends the probing inquisition of You're Wrong About with the historical intrigue of The Crown, serving both neophytes and obsessives a delectable royal feast for the ears.
One was a married American socialite who embarked on a scandalous affair with the future king of England. Another was an aristocratic ingenue whose winsome charm captured the world's imagination. And the third was a thirty-something actress whose outspokenness put her on a collision course with the British public. The marriages of Wallis Simpson, Diana Spencer, and Meghan Markle into the British royal family sparked a series of crises that at times seemed to threaten the future of the monarchy itself. In Unroyal, veteran New York Times reporter and former London correspondent Sarah Lyall revisits how each royal wife threatened the stability of—and was ultimately rejected by—this most ancient and opaque of institutions.
Using archival material and interviews with experts like the bestselling author Tina Brown, the royal biographer Andrew Morton, and the social commentator and broadcaster Afua Hirsch, Lyall's audio documentary examines three pivotal TV interviews in which each woman pushed up against the official royal narrative: Wallis in 1970, Diana in 1995, and Meghan in 2021. Lyall describes the differences and highlights the similarities between the women at these three flexion points to examine the endless codependent dance between the monarchy, the public, and the news media and to shed fresh light on the fraught intersection of power, fame, and family politics in an institution torn between tradition and modernization.
Narrated by the author against a beguiling soundscape of contemporaneous news footage and a spectral score, Unroyal blends the probing inquisition of You're Wrong About with the historical intrigue of The Crown, serving both neophytes and obsessives a delectable royal feast for the ears.
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Published November 7, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews
December 7, 2023
This is ok.
The author has an issue with presenting full facts on Meghan & Harry.
It's weird.
The perfume in the chapel was also used by Kate in her wedding to William.
There exists history of working Royal Family members: Andrew worked as a kinda Ambassador though he was also illegally dealing arms, William worked as a rescue pilot, Prince Edward's wife, Sophie worked until her gaffe caught on hit mic berating the royal family.
What Meghan & Harry were asking for wasn't new. It was traditional, the Firm simply didnt want them to work.
Only the racism that Meghan first faces as a new girlfriend is covered.
Now the author does point out that the public has an anger for Meghan doing the same thing as Kate, for example touching her baby bump.
Still it ignores much of what The Sussexes have themselves discussed in interviews and by Harry in Spare.
The author chooses to use primarily British sources, ignoring British papers bias towards Meghan and while Afua Hirsh is quoted its very limited.
In addition some of the info is just incorrect. For instance both Harry & Meghan still retain their HRH titles formally, they are forbidden from using them.
Entirely ignored is Harry's own explanation of what The Sandringham Summit entailed and how they were not given choices.
She uses the tired sexist 'megexit' talking points and ignores that couple have themselves given more insight into what happened.
I find it weird that the only first person narrative is largely ignored in favor of tabloid fodder.
Either way theres reslly nothing new here and this reads as a boring money grab by a relatively unknown reporter.
I pirated this and am truly glad I did.
I am not a royalist and I don't support monarchy. I find monarchy to a bullshit, oppressive, archaic institution and in Britain as in most of Europe, racist as fuck.
That said Meghan was fine with that until she found that her kids would be excluded from the benefits, then and only then did she get upset.
My concern is the ignoring of blatant fucking racism inorder to prop up a biased and bullshit institution.
Its frustrating that folks just ignore the racism. Otherwise in most ways I dont care.
Meghan & Harry are rich and they'll be fine.
I'm gona assume this reporter is conservative. In the states most folks who hate Meghan also watch Faux News and think chump won the election in 2020.
She continually refers to folks who had antiracist views as 'woke' but fails correctly identify conservatives as racist. Its frustrating because she carefully never defines 'woke' as most conservatives refuse to do as well.
She utterly ignores the vitriol online, that both Meghan & Archie were called the n-word on royal sites, comments that can still be viewed on royal social media. The racism was measured and reviewed undoubtably covering how Meghan is viewed.
I hate the author treats antiracism work as a 'culture war' vs holding racists responsible for their fucked up views.
I'd give the actual narrative 1 star, too many inaccuracies for my tastes.
However the audiobook used voice clips from interviews and it was really nice. So I weighed that in my overall score.
The author has an issue with presenting full facts on Meghan & Harry.
It's weird.
The perfume in the chapel was also used by Kate in her wedding to William.
There exists history of working Royal Family members: Andrew worked as a kinda Ambassador though he was also illegally dealing arms, William worked as a rescue pilot, Prince Edward's wife, Sophie worked until her gaffe caught on hit mic berating the royal family.
What Meghan & Harry were asking for wasn't new. It was traditional, the Firm simply didnt want them to work.
Only the racism that Meghan first faces as a new girlfriend is covered.
Now the author does point out that the public has an anger for Meghan doing the same thing as Kate, for example touching her baby bump.
Still it ignores much of what The Sussexes have themselves discussed in interviews and by Harry in Spare.
The author chooses to use primarily British sources, ignoring British papers bias towards Meghan and while Afua Hirsh is quoted its very limited.
In addition some of the info is just incorrect. For instance both Harry & Meghan still retain their HRH titles formally, they are forbidden from using them.
Entirely ignored is Harry's own explanation of what The Sandringham Summit entailed and how they were not given choices.
She uses the tired sexist 'megexit' talking points and ignores that couple have themselves given more insight into what happened.
I find it weird that the only first person narrative is largely ignored in favor of tabloid fodder.
Either way theres reslly nothing new here and this reads as a boring money grab by a relatively unknown reporter.
I pirated this and am truly glad I did.
I am not a royalist and I don't support monarchy. I find monarchy to a bullshit, oppressive, archaic institution and in Britain as in most of Europe, racist as fuck.
That said Meghan was fine with that until she found that her kids would be excluded from the benefits, then and only then did she get upset.
My concern is the ignoring of blatant fucking racism inorder to prop up a biased and bullshit institution.
Its frustrating that folks just ignore the racism. Otherwise in most ways I dont care.
Meghan & Harry are rich and they'll be fine.
I'm gona assume this reporter is conservative. In the states most folks who hate Meghan also watch Faux News and think chump won the election in 2020.
She continually refers to folks who had antiracist views as 'woke' but fails correctly identify conservatives as racist. Its frustrating because she carefully never defines 'woke' as most conservatives refuse to do as well.
She utterly ignores the vitriol online, that both Meghan & Archie were called the n-word on royal sites, comments that can still be viewed on royal social media. The racism was measured and reviewed undoubtably covering how Meghan is viewed.
I hate the author treats antiracism work as a 'culture war' vs holding racists responsible for their fucked up views.
I'd give the actual narrative 1 star, too many inaccuracies for my tastes.
However the audiobook used voice clips from interviews and it was really nice. So I weighed that in my overall score.
November 16, 2023
The author seems to put down the monarchy for how it treated these women, but then goes on to blame Meghan for ruining Harry’s life. I wish she would have just picked one viewpoint and stayed with it. Also this book won’t provide any new or interesting information for royal followers.
December 23, 2024
Ooof it started off so good and then went so bad. I can’t imagine being a JOURNALIST and because you sometimes get glimpses of the inside (the inside that the royal family WANTS you to see) you think you know more than primary members of said family. This author tries to be “unbiased” but it’s very clear in her commentary that she has issues with Meghan and Harry. Calling them “influencers” seriously made me laugh, because how out of touch do you need to be to think they’d ever become influencers? Pretending like they hatched any plans for their exit, like the firm wouldn’t have had to have a say in every step and essentially tell them what they were going to do, is just embarrassing. Trying to pretend like she’s standing up for the women in the monarchy who have been wronged (why is Wallace Simpson, a nazi, on that list?) and yet essentially blaming Meghan and calling it the bs term of. “Megxit” like that was a fun little name the two of them hatched.
Once again, how people on the outside can pretend they know the inner-workings of that madhouse baffles me. The only reason it’s getting 2 stars is because I loved the section on Princess Diana.
Once again, how people on the outside can pretend they know the inner-workings of that madhouse baffles me. The only reason it’s getting 2 stars is because I loved the section on Princess Diana.
January 20, 2024
read if…
- (like me) you’re obsessed with the royal family
- you think princess di was just incredible
- you like investigative storytelling; this reads like a podcast!
- you’re a history buff
- you need a short audiobook; it’s 4.5 hours
- (like me) you’re obsessed with the royal family
- you think princess di was just incredible
- you like investigative storytelling; this reads like a podcast!
- you’re a history buff
- you need a short audiobook; it’s 4.5 hours
December 31, 2023
Author grinds from British Media viewpoint with deeply biased sources and against much of her subject matter. Much of this reads as a tabloid hit piece, and not a very adroitly written one at that. Don't waste your money or time with this one, there are much better books and writing out there.
June 4, 2024
I surprised myself by truly enjoying this book. I’m not sure what I thought it would be and guessed maybe it would be too silly or cheesy or too much of a stretch but it was short, interesting and well written! Recommend it for those interested in the royals.
April 10, 2024
I’ve read more than a few books about the British monarchy, and especially about these three women. I wasn’t expecting to learn anything new from this audiobook, and I didn’t.
That said, I found “Unroyal” easy to listen to, and particularly appreciated hearing from actual interviews — especially the one with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, not of common knowledge.
Some Goodreads reviewers take the author to task for not bringing anything new to the table. I disagree, again because the story of the Windsors goes back nearly a century. I give Lyall credit for acknowledging that Wallis Simpson most certainly did not capriciously leave her husband to fool around with the Prince of Wales. The fact is, rather, that the prince relentlessly inserted himself into the Simpsons’ marriage and quite literally broke them apart to have Wallis for himself, damn the consequences. He was a feckless man, and she a shallow woman who was both flattered and overwhelmed by his attention.
Lyall fails to mention that Ernest Simpson was a loyal British monarchist who found it impossible to compete with the heir to the throne. Or that Mr Simpson found solace in the arms of the heartbroken Thelma, Lady Furness, the prince’s discarded mistress. (The two later married.)
Her account of the War of the Waleses seems like a fair assessment, in which neither Charles nor Diana made good choices or behaved well.
I also disagree that the author “takes sides,” particularly against Meghan. It may have been in poor taste, but the South Park episode about the Sussexes, titled “Waaah,”was funny because it hit the mark: Meghan and Harry really do not seem to be able to stop talking publicly about their perceived mistreatment by both the monarchy and the tabloid press. Yes, they have suffered shameful mistreatment, but their ubiquity is making them a bigger target.
I enjoyed listening to “Unroyal.” No regrets about buying it, and I can’t say that about every print or audiobook.
That said, I found “Unroyal” easy to listen to, and particularly appreciated hearing from actual interviews — especially the one with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, not of common knowledge.
Some Goodreads reviewers take the author to task for not bringing anything new to the table. I disagree, again because the story of the Windsors goes back nearly a century. I give Lyall credit for acknowledging that Wallis Simpson most certainly did not capriciously leave her husband to fool around with the Prince of Wales. The fact is, rather, that the prince relentlessly inserted himself into the Simpsons’ marriage and quite literally broke them apart to have Wallis for himself, damn the consequences. He was a feckless man, and she a shallow woman who was both flattered and overwhelmed by his attention.
Lyall fails to mention that Ernest Simpson was a loyal British monarchist who found it impossible to compete with the heir to the throne. Or that Mr Simpson found solace in the arms of the heartbroken Thelma, Lady Furness, the prince’s discarded mistress. (The two later married.)
Her account of the War of the Waleses seems like a fair assessment, in which neither Charles nor Diana made good choices or behaved well.
I also disagree that the author “takes sides,” particularly against Meghan. It may have been in poor taste, but the South Park episode about the Sussexes, titled “Waaah,”was funny because it hit the mark: Meghan and Harry really do not seem to be able to stop talking publicly about their perceived mistreatment by both the monarchy and the tabloid press. Yes, they have suffered shameful mistreatment, but their ubiquity is making them a bigger target.
I enjoyed listening to “Unroyal.” No regrets about buying it, and I can’t say that about every print or audiobook.
December 4, 2023
“The monarchy always wins.”
Super interesting read about the monarchy & how it deals with “royal” women who challenge their ideals & traditions. Non-biased read that lets you form your own opinions!
Super interesting read about the monarchy & how it deals with “royal” women who challenge their ideals & traditions. Non-biased read that lets you form your own opinions!
November 20, 2023
A brisk and enjoyable listen. I picked this up as a companion to “The Crown,” which we’ve been watching this week, and am glad I did.
November 16, 2023
I guess the book did impact how I feel about the players. But, honestly, I just don't buy into royalty.
October 15, 2024
2.5 stars. Audiobook read by author. This is framed up to be about three women who caused waves in the royal family, but, it feels a lot more salacious than the author seems to suggest. At least half the book is about Megan Markel, and the author doesn’t sound very unbiased about Megan and Harry. It just spirals into recent drama, and gets repetitive and heavy handed to boot. It was almost three stars, but I was rolling my eyes by the end.
April 7, 2024
I thought this was pretty well written. It essentially was a five paragraph essay in book form, with the overall topic being three women who could not conform to the monarchy. It simply provided the facts and that was it. I can see where others were concerned regarding bias but that’s true for any book ever written ever. The audiobook is AMAZING, with lots of snippets from the actual interviews mentioned.
March 11, 2024
2.5⭐️ listened to this one bc i loved the crown - was v interesting but a little meh / slow. didn’t offer anything i didn’t already know. alsoooo a lil too harsh on meghan and harry like noticeably biased
August 31, 2024
I was hoping for more, didn’t get much new information and the author struggled to pick a side
February 12, 2025
The argument the author was making was a good one and it is worth exploring however this book was poorly researched and not laid out great. Not worth reading.
April 29, 2025
I listened to it and it felts like a longer podcast. Interesting stuff about Wallace, I don’t know much about her but Diana and Meghan didn’t really have anything new.
December 20, 2023
It was interesting learning about Wallis Simpson. I had no idea who she was. The drama in the Royal family and monarchy is so intriguing!
January 7, 2024
I listened to the audiobook through Spotify and enjoyed it!
May 1, 2025
Inherently wildly interesting but at times leaves you feeling just as voyeuristically icky as the press it demonizes
November 29, 2023
Very interesting, I haven’t heard a ton about the royal family’s history but learning more through this audiobook was very interesting. My opinion on certain members of the royal family was changed a bit although this was enlightening.
November 27, 2023
Listened to the audiobook and liked it. As someone who knows a little bit about these stories this book didn’t necessarily give me any new info, but would be very interesting for someone wanting to learn about it. Rated based on that
November 9, 2023
A fun quick read on some powerful women that have been unfairly treated by both the public and their families.
I appreciate that the author gives a mostly-unbiased presentation of the women in the book. She notes the horrid Nazi-affiliations of Wallace, how Diana could manipulate the press, and how Meghan has wrung every bit of social sympathy from audiences in reference to her and Harry’s treatment.
I appreciate that the author gives a mostly-unbiased presentation of the women in the book. She notes the horrid Nazi-affiliations of Wallace, how Diana could manipulate the press, and how Meghan has wrung every bit of social sympathy from audiences in reference to her and Harry’s treatment.
November 11, 2023
I listened to this audiobook and I absolutely loved it. The incorporation of the actual interviews made this book much more fun to listen to. I loved Lyall’s journalistic approach; she is unbiased and extremely well-spoken.
November 11, 2023
Like candy for me. I read a lot about the British monarchy but the juxtaposition of Wallis, Diana, and Meghan interspersed with Lyall’s experience as a New York Times royal corespondent was delightful.
December 13, 2023
I’ve tried to avoid all the frenzy regarding British Royal these past few years. The possibility of a well researched, unbiased account of those years intrigued me. Very well done.
March 20, 2024
This was a fun listen, but not super groundbreaking or remarkable. I sadly know too much about the Royal Family to have learned anything, but this was a quick primer to the absurdity of The Firm.
Overall, I found Sarah Lyall to be lukewarm towards Wallis, exude sympathy for Diana, and slightly antagonize Meghan. The points of view weren’t congruent although there were obvious parallels in each of the women’s stories. I initially sympathized with Meghan but now I’m not her biggest fan. After consuming so much content by her and Harry, I am a little tired of their repeating the same narrative. However, I thought Lyall could’ve been more empathetic in covering her story.
Overall, I found Sarah Lyall to be lukewarm towards Wallis, exude sympathy for Diana, and slightly antagonize Meghan. The points of view weren’t congruent although there were obvious parallels in each of the women’s stories. I initially sympathized with Meghan but now I’m not her biggest fan. After consuming so much content by her and Harry, I am a little tired of their repeating the same narrative. However, I thought Lyall could’ve been more empathetic in covering her story.
September 4, 2024
Type of read: Commuter Read
What made me pick it up: I've been binging 'The Crown' on Netflix and 'Unroyal' popped up on the available now list for my library.
Overall rating: 'Unroyal' felt like an end-of-the-year book report. It's a collection of the author's writing mixed with citations and references to other significant points in time that connect the dots between Simpson, Spencer, and Markle, attempting to share what qualities, triggers, and instances distanced them - and in some cases the men they loved - from the throne. I'm not mad at it, but I think I was expecting more. Again with the book report analogy, it felt like Lyall took the easy sources and used them to their advantage. That's not a bad thing, it just felt...fluffy.
If you choose to enjoy 'Unroyal,' I highly suggest the audio version as it has actual audio clips from the citations, which is always fun to hear the true voices.
What made me pick it up: I've been binging 'The Crown' on Netflix and 'Unroyal' popped up on the available now list for my library.
Overall rating: 'Unroyal' felt like an end-of-the-year book report. It's a collection of the author's writing mixed with citations and references to other significant points in time that connect the dots between Simpson, Spencer, and Markle, attempting to share what qualities, triggers, and instances distanced them - and in some cases the men they loved - from the throne. I'm not mad at it, but I think I was expecting more. Again with the book report analogy, it felt like Lyall took the easy sources and used them to their advantage. That's not a bad thing, it just felt...fluffy.
If you choose to enjoy 'Unroyal,' I highly suggest the audio version as it has actual audio clips from the citations, which is always fun to hear the true voices.
February 5, 2024
Wallis. Diana. Meghan.
Three different women.
Three different women challenged the monarch making their mark on the royal throne and disrupting the traditional norms that the British Royals followed only to be faced with intense scrutiny and criticism from royal watchers and the paparazzi.
4/5
a reader's guide to books and reviews | Pillowfort | Bookbub | LibraryThing | The Story Graph | livejournal | Litsy | Booksprouts
Three different women.
Three different women challenged the monarch making their mark on the royal throne and disrupting the traditional norms that the British Royals followed only to be faced with intense scrutiny and criticism from royal watchers and the paparazzi.
4/5
a reader's guide to books and reviews | Pillowfort | Bookbub | LibraryThing | The Story Graph | livejournal | Litsy | Booksprouts
April 1, 2024
i have a few mixed feelings about this book because whilst it was absolutely fascinating, the author kind of missed the mark in their analyses.
i didn’t know much about wallis [wallace???] before this, so all of that was interesting and i came in super fresh for it. the diana commentary was nothing new but it was handled pretty well i thought, like most authors though, they lost me with their analyses of the meghan and harry conflict. maybe the situation is too recent for a wide view or some empathy but we need to stop blaming meghan for being the catalyst so something that was inevitable. harry was always going to leave. everything about his behaviour beforehand shows this. also, his paranoia about the threat of the press is not unfounded, his mother died when he was 11. let’s bffr.
i didn’t know much about wallis [wallace???] before this, so all of that was interesting and i came in super fresh for it. the diana commentary was nothing new but it was handled pretty well i thought, like most authors though, they lost me with their analyses of the meghan and harry conflict. maybe the situation is too recent for a wide view or some empathy but we need to stop blaming meghan for being the catalyst so something that was inevitable. harry was always going to leave. everything about his behaviour beforehand shows this. also, his paranoia about the threat of the press is not unfounded, his mother died when he was 11. let’s bffr.
August 6, 2024
I honestly don’t know why the author left out so many instances of the true reasons why Meghan and Harry stopped engaging in the royal duties, it read as extremely biased and barely covered Wallis as well. (I.E. extreme racism!!!!)
It read as a long podcast, and I believe if it was just a bit more fleshed out the real comparisons between the women could have been explained more. It seemed to stop just after the very basic overview of each woman and didn’t really dig any deeper than that.
Also, as someone who doesn’t want to be known as a royal expert or royal corespondent the author seemed to lean into that area more often than not.
AND why are there so many Monty Python references?!?
It read as a long podcast, and I believe if it was just a bit more fleshed out the real comparisons between the women could have been explained more. It seemed to stop just after the very basic overview of each woman and didn’t really dig any deeper than that.
Also, as someone who doesn’t want to be known as a royal expert or royal corespondent the author seemed to lean into that area more often than not.
AND why are there so many Monty Python references?!?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews