I don’t know how many times they’re going to churn through these same stories, but these pieces have never proven what they think they’re proving. Apparently, royal biographer Andrew Lownie has repeated the same piece of gossip that Prince Philip looked down his nose at then-Meghan Markle when she and Prince Harry were first dating and engaged. Philip hated her on sight because Meghan was an American and an actress. Of course, we’ve also been told that Philip hated Meghan because she reminded him of a woman he barely knew: Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor. These people are still rushing around to describe how all of the Windsors hated Meghan on sight really proves how they all “welcomed” Meghan and gave her all of the support she needed to thrive, correct?
When Prince Harry announced his plans to wed Meghan Markle in November 2017, he was hopeful that the Royal Family would welcome their joyous news. But the prince was met with a rather curt response from his forthright grandfather, Prince Philip, who issued the stern warning: ‘One steps out with actresses, one doesn’t marry them.’
Writing in his tell-all book Entitled, Andrew Lownie revealed Philip’s reluctant feelings towards the Suits star entering the royal fold – unsurprising, perhaps, given that the pair had embarked on a whirlwind 16-month courtship before Harry got down on one knee.
Meanwhile, according to royal biographer Ingrid Seward writing in her book My Mother And I, Philip was ‘one of the very few wary’ of being charmed by Meghan, 44, in the early days of her relationship with Harry, 41. Philip was also said to have thought it was ‘uncanny’ how much she reminded him of Wallis Simpson – the American socialite who King Edward VIII abdicated to marry. As such, the prince nicknamed Meghan ‘DOW’ after Wallis, the Duchess of Windsor.
Philip also wasn’t the only royal to have attempted to caution Harry about the pace of his relationship with Meghan, with his brother, Prince William, said to have felt ‘nervous’ about their upcoming nuptials. In January 2023 Harry discussed William’s warning to take it slow in his memoir Spare, writing: ‘”It’s too fast”, he’d told me. “Too soon”. In fact, he’d actually been pretty discouraging about me even dating Meg.’
However, Harry dismissed his family’s concerns, with it claimed that he believed he had to marry her quickly because her ‘biological clock was ticking’ as she was almost 35 years old, according to royal author Tina Brown. Despite their fairytale wedding in May 2018, the Sussexes love story quickly took a sharp turn when the duchess realised that the life of a princess was far from what it was made out to be in the books.
This is what gets me every time: “Despite their fairytale wedding in May 2018, the Sussexes love story quickly took a sharp turn when the duchess realised that the life of a princess was far from what it was made out to be in the books.” All of the people who had “concerns” about Meghan and “warned” Harry not to marry her were not concerned about Harry, or whether the marriage would work out. The survival of the Sussex marriage shows that Harry and Meghan were and are in love and they’ve built a beautiful life together with their two children. All of these “concerns” were about Meghan fitting into an institution which was hostile to her from day one, because the institution was full of bigots, anti-Americans and racists. Philip and Prince William weren’t concerned that Harry was marrying a woman he loved after a “whirlwind 16-month courtship” – they were plainly worried that a woman like Meghan wouldn’t be weak and compromised enough to take their bullsh-t.
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- (170118) — DAVOS, Jan. 18, 2017 () — U.S. Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the 47th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 18, 2017.(/Xu Jinquan)(gl)
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- The Duke of Edinburgh and the Duke of Sussex leave after the wedding of Lady Gabriella Windsor and Thomas Kingston at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. Picture date: Saturday May 18, 2019. .,Image: 506549190, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon
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- 18/05/2019. Windsor , United Kingdom. Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Harry leaving the Lady Gabriella Windsor wedding at St.George’s Chapel, Windsor, United Kingdom.,Image: 506549519, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR SEVEN DAYS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon
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- Meghan Markle in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle for her wedding to Prince Harry watched by (middle row from left) Queen Elizabeth II, Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Wessex, Viscount Severn, Countess of Wessex, Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, Princess Royal, Sir Tim Laurence, (front row from left) Duke of Cambridge, Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall Duchess of Cambridge, Duke of York. .,Image: 515241949, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR SEVEN DAYS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon
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- 144439, Prince Harry and the Duke of Edinburgh at the Rugby World Cup final between Australia and New Zealand at Twickenham,Image: 532007750, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS, DIRECT SALES ONLY UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE IN CAPTION – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: i-Images, PacificCoastNews / Avalon
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- (left to right back row) Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, the Duchess of Cambridge, the Duke of Sussex, the Duchess of Sussex and the Princess Royal, (left to right front row) Sarah Ferguson, Princess Beatrice, Peter Phillips, Autumn Phillips, Mike Tindall, Zara Tindall, Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor and Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece at the wedding of Princess Eugenie to Jack Brooksbank at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.,Image: 534311281, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR SEVEN DAYS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: /Avalon
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- MANDATORY CREDIT: Chris Allerton – copyright SussexRoyal NEWS EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO COMMERCIAL USE. NO MERCHANDISING, ADVERTISING, SOUVENIRS, MEMORABILIA or COLOURABLY SIMILAR. NOT FOR USE AFTER FRIDAY JUNE 7, 2019, WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM ROYAL COMMUNICATIONS AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE. This photograph is provided to you strictly on condition that these conditions and restrictions will apply (and that you will pass these on) to any organisation to whom you supply it. There shall be no commercial use whatsoever of the photographs (including by way of example only) any use in merchandising, advertising or any other non-news editorial use. The photograph must not be digitally enhanced, manipulated or modified in any manner or form and must include all of the individuals in the photograph when published. All other requests for use should be directed to the Buckingham Palace Press Office in writing. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are joined by her mother, Doria Ragland, as they show their new son, born Monday and named as Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, to the Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh at Windsor Castle.
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- The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with their baby son, who was born on Monday morning, during a photocall in St George’s Hall at Windsor Castle in Berkshire.
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I remember seeing this story either just before Meghan gave birth to Archie or right after.
These people…as they try to smear Meghan, they continue to show the world that they are horrible.
They are so delusional that they seem to be unaware of exactly how they are painting senior members of the BRF with these stories.
Wasn’t Phil 342 and1/2 years old 🤔
We all know Phillip f@ anything that moved, AND the RF are desperate to align themselves with actors.. I hope cruise, blanchett, et Al pay attention. I’m wondering what the point is? Phillip was literally a wh^re. And?
Philip is long dead and gone. Philip had a live in mistress for so many years, he should’ve shut the f up. People are even wondering if penny’s kids are his, so he’s in no spot to give lesson to nobody. Same for other royals like tampon king and covid rosebushing lazy william, and escape weekend lover peter philips. They got nothing to write about. Harry says Meg was 35, can you believe she’s 44 and this sht is still going on?
All true and I find it fascinating that now that he is no longer living the stories of him hating her are coming out. He and the dead queen are very talkative lately.
Well, Phillip seems to have made sure that he stepped out only with women in his own tiny little circle (including his wife’s cousin) and, it goes without saying, White. We shouldn’t forget how much racism played into their attitude towards Meghan.
I could believe that someone who was 99 when they died 5 years ago would think something like this. What’s hard for me to wrap my head around is thinking that saying something like this in almost 2026 is going to be agreed with as a fair point. I keep saying this but they constantly insult other people in an effort to insult Harry and Meghan. And this is such a bad tack to take when you are a family that relies on co-opting other people’s popularity for relevance.
I just don’t get how they think that they’re expanding their shrinking base by putting out this type of story, or that Elizabeth was angry that Meghan dared to wear white at her second wedding, or that Meghan is a woke buzzkill because she wasn’t okay with Harry’s friends telling homophobic jokes at a private dinner. You already have the people on your side who are okay with this, why are you saying this stuff in print?
Yeah – this quote, by a well-known racist who cheated on his wife multiple times, in book called “Entitled,” isn’t a sign of superiority no matter how the DM wants to spin it.
Exactly this!
And it’s also big talk coming from the father of Andrew. (Ew, an actress. An American! Yeah, right.).
How about cressida who had an acting career. She was in a,low budget horror movie. Philip hardly knew Wallis Simpson. The queen mother did not like Wallis. Philip and the queen and Charles visited the Windsors and they were very cordial. Theres a photo of charles greeting her in a friendly way. Scooter is horrid trying to break up the couple and the writers admire bratty scooter. Philip had mistresses he is not one to preach.
This makes Philip look like an absolute ass. These people will destroy the monarchy in their attempts to hurt Meghan and Harry.
I was rereading parts of spare.. William really is a narc, he doesn’t look like one, he is one. He was constantly gaslighting people, especially Harry, but right from dating life, Harry no longer listened to his family. He said it over and over. It wasn’t Meghan who rescued the ‘dumb’ prince.. He fought because even though he grew up in it, he saw what was going on.
The family did not complain when Beatrice dated and later married Edo. He had an ex fiancee and they has a baby together. Or peter and Harriet both divorced decided to marry after only one year. Philip ultimately backed the c and c wedding. But peggs gets all judgmental over Meghan. Peggs who settled for keen after 10 years of dating and when no body else wanted him. Such hypocrisy
Phillip and Elizabeth supported Andrew giving him money and luxury homes. They turned a blind eye to him hanging out with sexual predators and his dodgy business dealings. Phillip was a terrible father so I don’t care what classist, xenophobic things he said about Meghan.
Philip was from a different generation than Wallis. He barely knew her. Philip dated an actress called Cobina wright she was also an American socialite. She was way too good for philip and she had a very happy marriage.
Co b i n a wright turned philip down and moved on.
Ew. So dehumanising.
Brilliant point about Cressida @Tessa!!
I don’t believe this quote. People assume that Philip was snobbish enough to think this, it fits with his image and reputation as someone who „strayed“ with actresses. I don’t think Harry had anything negative to say either in his book or any of his docuseries on his grandparents, he also described how he was in touch with Philip via Zoom. I don’t think this would have been the case, if Philip had openly insulted his wife. Philip‘s friend Guy Brandreth or some name like that wrote after Philip‘s death that Philip defended Harry against criticism after Harry left, saying that Harry is a good guy and should be left in peace. The Queen and Philip showed up for a photo op with little Archie days after the birth. I don’t believe any of it. Was he snobbish and probably thought an American divorced actress as not quite up to BRF level? Maybe. Mean enough to say so to his grandson? No I don’t think so.
Maybe it wasn’t Phillip who said this but William, lol. In the same article they remind us that William said the wedding was too fast but also that William discouraged Harry from even dating Meghan. Did Harry ever go into detail about what William’s problem was with Harry just dating her? Either way, yeah, this could be a made up story. It’s one that’s persisted though and that’s bc you can easily imagine Phillip saying. But yeah he stayed zooming with the Sussexes so he wasn’t that bothered by it.
I’m positive that the vast majority of these things that keep coming out that paint QEII in such a terrible light were actually said by William. He had them attributed to his grandmother because 1.) it adds more weight. No one really cares what he thinks, but people downright revere QEII, and 2.) she’s too dead to say otherwise. And now he’s doing the same with Philip. Which actually seems like yet another example of how stupid William is, really. You’d think he would’ve STARTED with Phil, given that it’s far more plausible that Phil, rather than QEII, would say something rude or derogatory (though I don’t think he did in this case. In spite of being a snob, a philanderer, and a terrible father, he did seem to genuinely care for his grandkids).
I can’t believe I’m gonna sort of defend someone in this awful family, but, yeah, I don’t believe this. Harry clearly adored his grandfather and kept in touch with him till the end. He never would have tolerated disrespect for Meghan from him or anyone. Philip was deeply flawed, classist and racist, but he loved Harry and seemed to respect his decision to marry Meghan.
I agree. If Phillip ever said this it wasn’t within hearing distance of Harry. I also kind of feel like Phillip mellowed a lot in his old age and he was probably happy that Harry was happy. I’m sure still a snob, and i’m sure he looked down on Meghan AND Kate (probably Kate moreso than Meghan) but i just kind of feel like by the end he cared about Penny, keeping Sarah Ferguson away*, and probably saved his energy for the big issues.
I mean when you look at the picture with Archie and QEII and Phillip they both look absolutely delighted with him. I don’t think they could have faked that.
I didn’t finish my * comment, lol. I was referring to the time when Fergie was photographed at Balmoral and Phillip immediately got on a plane to Scotland to make her leave.
I agree, the emotion in the picture with Archie looks real, including Harry’s look of absolute peace and contentment. By this point, Harry had busted his butt for years doing the work Will wouldn’t do, and Meghan had begun to join him on visits (e.g., Birmingham). It would’ve been clear to TQ and Philip Kate was also pretty much of a loss – while TQ thought enough of Meghan to invite her on an overnight train trip within a month of their marriage (and be photographed openly chucking at something Meghan said). Both H&M have always spoken of his grandparents with fondness, and I take my cue from that whenever I hear this regurgitated BS from the media.
Philip’s supposed remark is something I could easily see him saying years before to Charles – you know, the guy who reportedly said he wasn’t going to be the first POW without a mistress.
Philip’s last will and testament is being sealed for 90 years as not to cause “embarrassment”. He is a hanger on who stayed in a marriage in a time when you committed to the “optics” not had a lasting love. Not exactly someone anyone should take love or relationship advice from
Remember ladies, the very best person to take marriage advice from is definitely a 100 yo racist who cheated on his wife throughout their entire marriage.
He is a wealth of helpful, sage information.
All these article do is paint Prince Harry’s birth family as the racist we have learned they are. In addition, it shows us Meghan never felt welcomed and Harry knew this and got out of there once he saw she felt it was intolerable.
I hope this means the false narrative that the Royal Family welcomed Meghan with open arms and did everything to support her won’t be used by the Palace and the press anymore. It was always a lie and the more these people speak about this the more I feel that we haven’t heard half of what the Royal Family did to her. It also confirms that there definitely concerns about Archie’s skin colour from family members and staff.
This story has been going around for a while. I mean these royal authors should continue to push these points about how unwelcoming & prejudiced the royal family was towards Meghan as that just confirms what was said on Oprah. They cannot have it both ways – claiming Meghan was welcomed with open arms & the family was kind to her & then claim Philip said Harry shouldn’t marry an actress (no such claims about the actress that married into the family earlier Sophie Winkleman) & that Elizabeth was snarky on everything from Meghan wearing a white dress to name given to their daughter.
And whether this claim is true or not given 3/4 of Philip’s children divorced, he allegedly had several mistresses which many suspect is why his will is sealed and one of his kids is ANDREW I doubt many are checking for Philip as some great voice on relationships
Cressida is/was an actor and Chelsey Davy is a jewelry designer with her own business. But since Meghan was a successful working actor and made her own money she’s less than. Okay, Meghan never relied on the support of her rich parents the way the other rich girlfriends did. These losers acting like that’s a negative against Meghan shows their hypocrisy and racism.
So first off – this quote is old news as Kaiser mentions, so they’re just recycling these negative stories and trying to act like those against the marriage were right all along. (FTR while I can see someone of Philip’s generation saying something like this, I don’t think he ever actually said it because of how Harry speaks of him in interviews and spare.)
Also is a 16 month courtship really a whirlwind? that seems pretty normal to me.
But we do know that William cautioned harry against the marriage and while I think that part of his caution was Meghan specific (racism, xenophobia, competition/insecurity), I also think its clear that he never wanted Harry to marry, period. Remember the part of Spare where harry was talking to him about his future wife and how they (W, K, H, and Harrys wife) could work together etc or something like that and William was like well that might never happen and you need to accept that. This was pre Meghan, so it was more about the idea that William didn’t expect Harry to ever marry. he was never expected to have his own life.
I agree, there is nothing whirlwind about a 16 month courtship, especially if you’re in your 30s. A 10 year courtship is pretty darn slow though.
Yeah I don’t think William wanted Harry to ever get married for a number of reasons. Harry could entertain Kate at public events so he didn’t have to pay much mind. Harry could be sent to whatever country at any time when he didn’t have a wife. And Harry would look like the unstable one who couldn’t settle down while William would look solid. The house of cards has really fallen ever since Harry did marry.
These people really have no clue how horrible all their behavior and attitude towards a black woman makes them look. You know the worst part, one day Archie and or lily will see these articles and have to see for themselves and say wow , my dad’s family really were the worlds biggest racist . Granted Meghan sperm donor side are terrible too but my goodness, Just imagine growing up and seeing all this in black and white. It really reinforces how right Harry was to take his wife and child/children away from those bottom dwellers
I’ve always heard that the quote about “stepping out with an actress” was said by Philip in reference to (then Prince) Andrew’s relationship with Koo Stark, a porn actress that A very publicly dated well before Fergie. Not sure if it was ever attributed to Meghan.
Thanks for saying this. I am old enough to remember this one in real time. Although, i don’t think she was in literal porn, becuz –tabloids. Not defending Phil’s racism, etc. But, given how long W & K kept him waiting for retirement by not stepping up “full-time”(2017), I think he might have been pleased to see that Meg stepped up during the engagement to do what counts as work in that family. (Not even counting the real ongoing work with the Hubb kitchen women that whole time.)
The royal rota keep outing the royal family as being racist, classist, misogynistic and quite cruel. Harry’s grandfather thought Megan was okay to sleep with, but not to marry. What a charmer! The one Charles ‘stepped out’ with, but didn’t marry originally is now Queen. I would think considering that deplorable situation, all bets are off. Revealing the attitudes of Harry’s grandparents now that they have passed is not going to age well. They continue to look less welcoming, snobbish and quite hostile!
While I can see Philip saying this, I’m not sure I do at the same time. He was in the same era as Grace Kelly becoming Princess Grace after all.
(They are so desperate they’re repeating stale barely interesting gossip.)
Apparently the rota rats are HELLBENT on portraying Phillip as a rampant bigot. We already know by his treatment of his wife that he was a disrespectful misogynist but they seem determined to cement his legacy in racism and disgraceful behavior.
I don’t believe that Philip said this at all. They have been pushing this lie, the same way they put out so many criticisms of H+M in the queen’s name, because it so quickly became VERY apparent that these two, above anyone else in that family, actually LIKED Meghan and admired her work ethic. THAT’s why. They want people to forget that Philip and Elizabeth both remained in contact with Harry and Meghan for a long time after they had moved to California, including having Zoom calls with them.
Once the vipers in the palace discovered how close they had remained, they moved with lightning speed to cut off those connections (seized the queen’s burner phone, or blocked whoever was facilitating the secret contact – Eugenie(?) – from being alone with the queen). Then they proceeded to push out statements via the WhatsApp group claiming that the queen and Philip were “so disappointed, blindsided, hurt, upset, etc.”
One fine day I imagine Harry will go on the record about their interactions with his grandparents and although we have a fair amount of evidence of that already (and his own account in his book and interviews), we shall see that it is in marked contrast to what the various “royal experts” have been claiming.
It’s Opposites Day again, only this time, the writer(s) appear to be attempting to get ahead of some other news (either positive for Meghan, or negative for the leftovers).