An future book by a royal biographer has revealed the harsh nickname the late Prince Philip gave to his grandson’s wife, Meghan Markle.
The autobiographical extract revealed the late Queen Elizabeth II’s feelings towards Meghan and her treatment inside the royal family.
Despite criticism, Prince Harry and Meghan remain optimistic about their next initiatives, including a Netflix feature, and hope for a fruitful year.
An passage from a future book by Royal Biographer Ingrid Seward reveals Prince Philip’s surprising and cruel nickname for the Duchess of Sussex. Philip died in 2021 at the age of 99, and according to Seward, he referred to Meghan as the “Duchess of Windsor.”
The term refers to the title held by American socialite Wallis Simpson. She was the infamous U.S. divorcée who married Edward VIII in 1937 after he controversially abdicated the kingdom for her.
According to Seward’s book “My Mother and I,” Philip always described Meghan and Simpson’s similarity as “uncanny.” According to the New York Times, she wrote: “He wasn’t simply referring to the fact that both were pencil-slim, dark-haired and glamorous American divorcées.”
Meghan and Simpson share a big commonality in that they were divorced ladies before marrying into royalty. Meghan was married to Trevor Engelson, a film producer, from 2011 to 2014, and began seeing Harry in 2016.
In the piece, Seward also revealed more about Queen Elizabeth II’s feelings toward Meghan. She stated that the late monarch was initially kind and welcoming of the former actress, and even “approved” when Harry introduced them in 2017.
However, difficulties arose at the couple’s wedding in 2018, when Queen Elizabeth deemed Meghan’s wedding gown “too white” for a divorcee.
The couple’s choice to quit as senior members of the Royal Family in 2020 strained their relationship with the late monarch and the rest of the family, particularly his father, King Charles III.
Seward linked their decision to stand back and relocate with their children to California to Edward VIII’s departure from the Royal Family. When Edward fell in love with Simpson and abdicated his crown, he went to France with her to begin a new life.
Hugo Vickers, a royal scholar, previously compared Prince Harry to the late Edward VIII. During a 2022 interview at the Henley Literary Festival, Vickers stated that both Royal men are more similar than Harry may realize. Both of them, he claimed, “radiated the same sadness after cutting their links with the royal family.”
Vickers claimed he could discern Harry and Edward’s actual emotions by “looking into their eyes.”
He stated that, like his predecessor, Harry “took the path of perceived happiness” in choosing Meghan, but failed to achieve actual happiness “in the end, as it’s [a] duty that makes you happy.”
Regarding Harry’s future with Meghan, Vickers believes he will struggle to find happiness outside of the Royal family. He continued, “As for the Duke of Sussex, who knows what will happen to him? “I think he looks completely miserable.”