The late Prince Philip would have turned 105 today, June 10th. To mark Philip’s birthday, the Mail decided to write a story about how much Philip despised the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. You cannot make this up!! It’s not like Philip had a long-ass history of saying racist and extremely insensitive things, you know? They could have done a greatest-hits of Philip’s “gaffes.” Or they could have even written about his mercurial nature, his fierce intelligence, or all of the charitable work he did. But no. Every single dead royal must be exhumed just so they can drag Harry and Meghan.
Prince Philip ‘strongly disapproved’ of the Duchess of Sussex and how she, together with the Duke of Sussex, ‘blindsided the Queen and plunged the monarchy into crisis,’ a royal expert has claimed. The late Duke of Edinburgh, who would’ve celebrated his 105th birthday on Wednesday, is remembered for many things: being the longest-serving royal spouse in British history, his blunt wit, and philanthropy included. And while he went on to share close, treasured bonds with various members of the Royal Family, Meghan Markle, 44, was not one of them, according to royal biographer Richard Fitzwilliams.
Fitzwilliams said: ‘Queen Elizabeth and her “strength and stay”, Prince Philip, were one of the most remarkable couples in royal history. Prince Philip strongly disapproved of the way Harry and Meghan stepped down from royal duties, blindsiding the Queen and plunging the monarchy into crisis. He was an outsider who had made a difference and helped shape the future by handling the problems of his ill-defined job constructively. He clearly regretted both the speed of this decision and also its implications for the future.’
‘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”.’
‘Harry and Meghan’s wedding was a unique one for the Royal Family. It contained a lengthy, revivalist sermon, Hollywood A-listers, a series of dramas involving her father and backstage tensions that would later surface. The Duke was recovering from a hip operation and would have been in considerable pain, with a fractured rib as well. Small wonder he reportedly said to the Queen “Thank f**k that’s over”. It meant he could relax.’
‘On Saturday March 9, 2021, the Sussexes two-hour special with Oprah was to air. On February 17, when it was already scheduled, Prince Philip was admitted to the hospital for an infection and a pre-existing heart condition. The interview had huge advertising revenues attached, and the build-up had been phenomenal. However, owing to the Duke’s illness, it would have only been respectful to postpone it. It was small consolation that Meghan’s friend, Gayle King from CBS, said the Sussexes had planned to postpone it if Philip had actually died.’
A friend of the Sussexes told the Daily Mail at the time that the Royal Family were using Philip’s health, and the fact that he had recently undergone heart surgery, as an excuse to keep the Sussexes ‘muzzled’. A friend of the Sussexes said: ‘Even if Meghan had the choice to postpone the Oprah special she said she wouldn’t because it has absolutely nothing to do with Prince Philip and that this is just an excuse by the palace to keep her muzzled.’
Fitzwilliams continued: ‘Prince Philip never recovered. He died aged 99 in April that year. The content and legacy of this interview, which the Queen, while grieving, had to cope with, are among the causes of the bitter rift between the Royal Family and the Sussexes. It was therefore just as well that Harry was alone at his funeral. Meghan was heavily pregnant and, we were told, did not fly on medical advice. Yet controversy continued as the details of their wreath were released to the media via a press release from their PR. It seemed like a public relations opportunity that was totally inappropriate on such an occasion and unsurprisingly it was heavily criticised at the time.’
Fitzwilliams added: ‘The Duke was famously idiosyncratic and might well have seemed somewhat daunting to someone of Meghan’s temperament. However, he was supremely loyal to the Queen and the institution of monarchy and Meghan, as the Royal Family discovered, was supremely ambitious. The Duke may well, as reported, have cautioned Harry, saying “one steps out with actresses, one does not marry them”. That will not have been appreciated, nor will his alleged comparisons of Meghan with Wallis Simpson, wife of the Duke of Windsor, as the abdication still haunts the Royal Family. Harry was fond of his grandfather, but there were limits to his loyalty.’
Meghan actually spoke about how much she enjoyed talking to Philip during Christmas 2017, and Harry spoke repeatedly about how he kept in touch with his grandparents and even Zoomed with Philip. It clearly meant a lot to both Meghan and Harry that they were able to take a photo with QEII and Philip just days after welcoming Archie too. Basically, this is yet more royal revisionism, and they’ve spent years trying to make it sound like QEII and Philip were totally at odds with the Sussexes. Doubtful. In Philip’s case, I think he was probably pretty out of it in his final years, but whatever. I actually forgot about the wreath drama. God, that was funny. I remember when Meghan did that too, and we knew why as well – because if she hadn’t made such a big deal about the wreath, they would have said that Meghan rudely said and did nothing about Philip’s funeral.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Chris Allerton for Sussex Royal.
