MEGHAN’S “hectic night” with Rory McIlroy in New York left the golf superstar feeling below par, Tom Bower’s explosive new book reveals.
The author sets out how Meghan grew close to the superstar in August 2014, while she was with her then partner, chef Cory Vitiello.
Rory McIlroy posed with Meghan Markle during the Ice Bucket Challenge craze in 2014
Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the war between the Windsors by Tom Bower is out on 21st July
Meghan, then 33, met Rory, 25, while she was staying with a close friend near the Fitzpatrick Manhattan Hotel, where McIlroy had a suite, he writes.
During the ice-bucket challenge craze, McIlroy “unexpectedly” nominated Meghan.
Bower writes: “She accepted the challenge, on condition that Rory came to her friend’s apartment and personally poured the bucket over her on the balcony. After the video was posted, the two went to the Fitzpatrick hotel for a drink.”
Bower writes that they had dinner at the lavish Cipriani restaurant in a party of 20 people and were photographed sitting close together.
He continues: “The following morning, McIlroy arrived at the Ringwood golf course to play in a new competition. Worse for wear after a hectic night, he fell back to 101st place. His performance suffered. ‘I wasn’t quite on my game,’ he confessed. ‘I was enjoying myself’.”
Eight weeks later, Meghan travelled to Dublin for a conference with then-boyfriend Cory. Yet Bower writes that on the night of October 17 she and Rory had dinner.
A newspaper report from the time claimed that Meghan and Rory – a favourite to win the Open Championship in St Andrews this weekend – were spotted “looking very cosy”.
Bower writes that Cory was “annoyed” by the article and “challenged Meghan”, who made it clear she had not betrayed him.
Meghan also inquired about Chelsea and England footballer Ashley Cole to a journalist during a 2013 visit to London.
Bower writes that Meghan’s then agent Gina Nelthorpe-Cowne said the actress brought up Cole’s name again when she visited London in 2016.
He writes how Meghan discussed “finding an Englishman to marry”, but the agent was “surprised” by the mention of Ashley because of his “unpleasant past”.
© Tom Bower, 2022. REVENGE: MEGHAN, HARRY AND THE WAR BETWEEN THE WINDSORS by Tom Bower, to be published by Blink Publishing, on 21st July at £22
Tom Bower is a British author and investigative journalist
