Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have been slammed as being respectively “very narcissistic, very controlling, very dominating” and “weak” by an American author.
Sally Bedell Smith has written a book which examines King George VI’s role in the monarchy following the abdication of his older brother Edward VIII, and compared the relationship between Edward and Wallis Simpson, later known as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, to the one between Harry and Meghan.
She claimed that the Duchess of Sussex has “changed the dynamic” between Harry and Prince William, and that the heir to the thone would have felt a sense of “betrayal”.
Speaking at the Oxford Literary Festival, Ms Bedell Smith acknowledged there were differences in the situation, but explained: “An American woman came into the picture and changed the dynamic of the whole thing.”
In 1936 Edward VIII abdicated the throne so he could marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson, with the pair living together in exile in France for the remainder of their lives.
According to The Telegraph the author said: “It is different. Harry was never going to be King. But I think there are similar feelings of betrayal that have resulted in William in particular being furious with his brother – with good reason.
“In some respects, Meghan and the Duchess of Windsor have similar qualities: very narcissistic, very controlling, very dominating.
“And if you read [the Duke of Windsor’s] letters, you can see how weak he was and how much he needed a domineering woman, and it feels as if Harry is somewhat the same way.”
In her new book George VI and Elizabeth: the Marriage That Saved the Monarchy, the royal biographer details how the abdication of Edward VIII actually saved the country from an “irresponsible King”.
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth led Britain through the Second World War and he remained monarch until his death in 1952, when his heir Elizabeth was just 25 years old.
Speaking about Edward and George, Ms Bedell Smith said that after a “difficult childhood” the two royal brothers in fact became “very close”.
