A royal specialist has said the late Prince Philip gave the Duchess of Sussex a fairly pointed nickname and it wasn’t nice.
British royal family themed home decor
Meant meanwhile to recall Meghan Markle and Wallis Simpson, the notorious ex of former king Edward VIII, both of whom divorced before marrying into the royal family.
According to Meghan, Prince Philip addressed her using a nickname which alluded to this connection.
King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson
After less than a year as monarch, King Edward VIII abdicated the throne in December 1936 (after calling Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee yet to be married to anyone, ‘the love of his life’) to marry her.
Credit: Getty.
At the time, royals weren’t able to marry divorced people, and that regulation didn’t change until 2002, three years before the then Prince Charles wed Camilla; according to the Royal Observer.
Following King Edward and Wallis Simpson’s marriage, however, they were unable to return home without King George VI’s brother, the new King George VI, giving their approval over fears it would prompt popular turmoil, Vogue reported.
Although the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were in exile much of their lives, they were always in the news, and one of the most shocking instances was in 1937 when they’d visited Nazi Germany and been pictured giving the infamous Nazi salute when they first met Adolf Hitler.
In October 1937, the British Duke and Duchess of Windsor came to Germany against the advice of their own government and met Adolf Hitler at his Obersalzberg retreat. Credit: Getty. Universal Images Group / Universal History Archive.
Prince Philip’s ?????? nickname
Royal biographer Ingrid Seward, whose forthcoming book, Prince Philip Revealed, is dedicated to the Duchess of Cornwall, told GB News that the royal saw many similarities between Meghan and Wallis Simpson, and that Prince Philip adopted a moniker for her that was kept very much intrafamilia.
Seward, who was known for being able to spot character, said she couldn’t resist seeing the parallels between Meghan and Prince Harry, and Edward and Mrs Simpson.
Credit: Matt Dunham – WPA Pool / Getty.
Seward said that he thinks Prince Philip was “very canny about people and he didn’t always look at bad people and see bad people, he often tried to see good in people.”
‘He just could not get away from how similar Meghan was to Harry and Edward was to Ms Simpson and that’s why he used to call her the Duchess of Windsor,’ he said. He used to call her not to her face, but DOW, she said.
In her book, My Mother and I, Seward goes into more detail about Prince Philip’s concerns for Meghan and says he was ‘wary’ of the former Suits actress as he feared she could have an impact on the royal family.
Prince Philip ‘sowed the seeds of division within the royal family’ when he saw Meghan as ‘a possible disruptor’, while his wife Queen Elizabeth II ‘had high hopes for her’, according to a security expert.
Credit: Chris Jackson / Chris Jackson / Getty.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left royal life
Since stepping down from their royal duties in 2020 and relocating to California, Meghan and Harry have stayed out of the royal spotlight.
But a service was also to be held at St Paul’s Cathedral on the city’s main thoroughfare – the day Harry is due to visit the UK to mark the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games there. Although some expect Meghan to hold fast to a plan to stay in the United States due to safety concerns and to avoid being characterized by her recent comments as ‘diva’ or ‘royal brat’.
But Meghan notably refused to attend other high profile events such as the likes of King Charles III’s coronation, which Harry went to alone last year.
Throughout her time in the spotlight of continuous monitoring and public interest in whatever’s happening in her relationship with the royal family, Meghan has evidently made a conscious decision to maintain there safety and calm.