Meghan Markle celebrated her first pregnancy with a lavish baby shower back in February 2019. It was organized by tennis star Serena Williams, less than three months before welcoming Archie. The event took place in the \u00a357,000-a-night Grand Penthouse of Manhattan\u2019s Mark Hotel, one of the city\u2019s most luxurious suites, featuring five bedrooms, six bathrooms, four fireplaces, two bars, and a rooftop terrace overlooking Central Park.<\/p>\n
Meghan Markle\u2019s baby shower was not what palace had in mind, says author<\/p>\n
Royal biographer Tom Bower criticized the shower as reported by The Daily Mail<\/a> in his 2022 book, Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors, calling it \u201ca launchpad for a group of friends <\/a>set on financially exploiting Meghan\u2019s status.\u201d He noted the event \u201cbore no resemblance to a traditional shower\u201d and highlighted that no members of Harry <\/a>or Meghan\u2019s families attended.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe guest list was Meghan\u2019s latest shot at launching her own celebrity in America. She had no intention of following the Queen\u2019s notable frugality,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Meghan reportedly faced criticism from palace officials over the \u201cmedia circus\u201d surrounding her baby shower. <\/p>\n According to the 2020 biography Finding Freedom by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, a senior aide admitted that \u201cthe optics of the somewhat flashy shower did not go down well with certain individuals at the palace.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think a few people who had defended her over the months felt a little disappointed. But sometimes in this role, you\u2019re damned if you do and damned if you don\u2019t. Ultimately, the trip was just Meghan\u2019s friends celebrating a really exciting moment in her life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n A royal commentator told ABC News that the baby shower was \u201chighly inappropriate,\u201d pointing out that Kate Middleton chose not to have similar celebrations for any of her three children.<\/p>\n