Who Did Prince Philip Once Compare Meghan Markle To?

Prince Philip, if he was anything, was a clearly devoted man to both his wife, Queen Elizabeth, and his duty to the monarchy. Soon after Philip's death in April, The Washington Post noted that the devotion he had to his marriage and the crown was part of the reason why Queen Elizabeth has been so successful in her reign. The royal couple first met when Philip was 18 and Elizabeth was just 13. When the queen turned 90, she said (via the Mirror), "He has, quite simply, been my strength and my stay all these years."

Seeing how Prince Philip took his role as a supporting member of the monarchy so seriously, it shouldn't come as a surprise that he was left rather perplexed over Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's decision to pull the plug on their working relationship with the royal family. And while Philip reportedly refused to get involved in the Megxit negotiations, as detailed by Page Six, he did allegedly think that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's interview with Oprah Winfrey was "madness," and that "no good would come out of it." With that said, Philip must have seen the future quite clearly when he made this comparison to his grandson's wife.

Prince Philip reportedly once compared Meghan Markle to Wallis Simpson — another American divorcee whose relationship with a member of the royal family upset many. As fans will recall, Simpson married King Edward VIII, who was willing to give up everything — along with the throne — to be with her, as detailed by People. King Edward chose to abdicate, as British law barred him from marrying Simpson because she was a divorcee. 

And while that clearly isn't the case between Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, Prince Philip saw enough similarities between the Duchess of Sussex and Simpson that he couldn't help but see history repeating itself, for better or for worse. In her book, "Prince Philip Revealed," royal expert Ingrid Seward wrote, "For Philip, whose entire existence has been based on a devotion to duty, it appeared that his grandson had abdicated his for the sake of his marriage to an American divorcee in much the same way as Edward VIII gave up his crown to marry Wallis Simpson in 1936."

But that wasn't all Prince Philip had to say about Harry and Meghan's relationship. According to The Sun, he allegedly once told Harry, "One steps out with actresses, one doesn't marry them." However, things seemed to be copacetic enough once Harry and Meghan married and had baby Archie — as Philip was one of the first royals to meet his great-grandson.