Name and shame.
Prince Philip had a seemingly spiteful nickname for Meghan Markle, according to a bombshell excerpt from a forthcoming book by royal biographer, Ingrid Seward.
Philip, who died in 2021 at age 99 , allegedly called Markle the “Duchess of Windsor” — a stinging reference to the title held by the much-maligned American socialite Wallis Simpson.
Simpson, a US divorcée, married Edward VIII in 1937 after he abdicated the British throne in a cloud of controversy.
Philip thought it “uncanny” how much Markle reminded him of Simpson, Seward claims in her new tome, “My Mother And I.”
“He wasn’t simply referring to the fact that both were pencil-slim, dark-haired and glamorous American divorcées,” she writes.
Like Simpson, Markle was also a divorced woman before she met Prince Harry in 2016.
The former actress was married to film producer Trevor Engelson from 2011 until their split in 2014.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle took a step back from the royal family in January 2020.
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According to Seward’s book, Queen Elizabeth was initially far nicer about Markle.
She allegedly “approved” of the actress after being introduced to her by Harry in 2017.
However, she did believe that the wedding dress worn by the “Suits” star at her 2018 wedding was “too white” because she had already been married once before.
Wallis Simpson was the longtime wife of Edward VIII, who abdicated the British throne in 1936.
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Meghan and Harry decided to take a step back as senior members of the royal family in January 2020 and they subsequently moved across the pond to Montecito, Calif.
Their choice to leave England was reminiscent of Edward VIII’s decision to abdicate the British throne and flee to France with Simpson after they fell in love.
Royal expert Hugo Vickers noted in 2022 that Harry is also more like Edward VIII than he might realize.
Harry and Edward each “radiated the same sadness after cutting their links with the royal family,” Vickers said at the Henley Literary Festival at the time.
He said that one could tell how Harry and Edward were feeling by “looking into their eyes.”