A royal biographer has revealed the brutal nickname Prince Philip gave Meghan Markle, detailing the Duke’s feelings for his granddaughter-in-law. Ingrid Seward, the author of My Mother and I, made the revelation as she discussed Prince Harry’s wedding proposal to the former Suits actress.
The couple got engaged in November 2017, but would have done so sooner, had the Duke of Sussex not had to seek his grandmother’s permission to pop the question. Seward describes how Harry took his chance to pose the question to the Queen during a shooting day at Sandringham. She wrote: “Neither Charles nor Prince Philip was present when, in the middle of a windswept Norfolk field, Harry asked his grandmother for permission to marry Meghan.” The late Queen’s response of “Well, then, I suppose I have to say yes,” could be perceived as a reluctant yes, but the author details how the world’s longest reigning monarch was fond of the American.
Lady Elizabeth, one of the Queen’s closest confidantes, believed the Queen had “high hopes for what Meghan and Harry might be able to do, especially for the youth of the Commonwealth.”
Seward adds that this fondness caused the monarch to continue to champion Meghan, despite her husband the Duke of Edinburgh reportedly having misgivings.
According to the author, the late Prince Phillip was “wary” of Meghan’s charm and remarked how she reminded him of Wallis Simpson, the American socialite at the centre of the Queen’s uncle King Edward VIII decision to abdicate.
As a result, it is claimed Phillip gave Meghan the nickname ‘DOW’ – Duchess of Windsor.
Meghan, like Simpson, had previously been married, having wed Hollywood producer Trevor Engelson in 2011.
Despite the Queen’s fondness for Harry’s future wife, the book details how she was left unimpressed by Meghan’s choice of bridalwear.
According to Seward, who quotes Lady Elizabeth, the late Queen believed that the American’s dress was “too white”, given that she had already been married.
Seward noted: “In the monarch’s view, it was not appropriate for a divorcee getting remarried in church to look quite so flamboyantly virginal.”
The Queen also questioned her decision to wear a veil “given it was to be her second marriage”.
Queen Camilla, who had previously been married to Andrew Parker Bowles between 1973 and 1995, opted against wearing a veil when marrying Charles in 2005.
