Meghan was compared to Wallis Simpson by a senior royal…difficult, hates sister-in-law & wants to be star, expert says

Prince Philip is said to have given Meghan a nickname soon after they met

MEGHAN Markle was compared to Wallis Simpson by a senior royal because she hates her sister-in-law and wants to be a star, an expert has said.

Prince Philip allegedly drew comparisons between the Duchess of Sussex and the American socialite wife of King Edward VIII.

Meghan pictured during the bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey
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Meghan pictured during the bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey

American socialite Wallis Simpson married King Edward after his abdication
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American socialite Wallis Simpson married King Edward after his abdicationCredit: Getty – Contributor

Meghan at the unveiling of the Labalaba Statue in Fiji in 2018
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Meghan at the unveiling of the Labalaba Statue in Fiji in 2018Credit: Getty

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor arriving in Britain as guests of the Queen for the first time after his abdication
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The Duke and Duchess of Windsor arriving in Britain as guests of the Queen for the first time after his abdicationCredit: Corbis

Prince Harry and Meghan attending a polo fundraiser event in Lagos, Nigeria last week
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Prince Harry and Meghan attending a polo fundraiser event in Lagos, Nigeria last weekCredit: Reuters
Philip is said to have nicknamed Meghan “D.O.W” in a nod to Wallis’ Duchess of Windsor title after she wed Edward in 1937.

Their relationship ultimately led to Edward’s abdication a year earlier, plunging the Royal Family into chaos.

Speaking to The Sun’s Royal Exclusive show, Historian Gareth Russell revealed why such comparisons have been made between the two.

He described how Wallis “loathed her sister-in-law” and “wanted to be the star of the monarchy”.

The author added: “Allegedly Prince Philip made the comparison [with Meghan] and he had met Wallace.

“One of the things that the Duke and Duchess of Windsor Edward and Wallis did in the 1930s, 40s and 50s is these very controversial quasi-Royal tours, not royal tours.

“They were wined and dined, did a couple of things in America like the Sussexes, they did have tours that aren’t tours that rubbed the Royal Family up the wrong way.

“I think Wallis Simpson has two kinds of personalities depending on which author you’re listening to and in many ways they are the same as we ascribe to Meghan.

“Wallis is either presented as someone who was ambitious, loathed her sister-in-law, wanted to be the star player in the monarchy, was very, very difficult to work for and essentially moved Edward away from being a working member of the royal family.”

It comes after royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith earlier this year described how the duchess shares the same “narciss­istic and controlling” qualities as Wallis.

Meghan Markle: From Royalty to Politics?
Viewers also drew comparisons between the two following the Sussexes bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021.

Royal author Ingrid Seward wrote how Philip was “one of the few wary of succumbing to Meghan’s charm offensive” and “detected similarities to Wallis” soon after she met Harry.

Gareth, though, also pointed to the alternative view of Wallis as wanting to “remould” her own life.

He said: “Essentially she was someone who dared to remould life on her own terms and take the steps she wanted to live as a relation of the Windsors, but she did not necessarily want to feel shackled by that.

“The best evidence we have, decades after the abdication crisis, are letters from 1936 where Wallis tells people she is very close to that she feels Edward always wanted to get out of the monarchy and that she is being used as the get out ticket.

“Meghan in some ways has been slotted into those two personality types depending on which team you fall on.

“I tend to think culturally she has been made very similar to Wallis Simpson but I don’t think I buy that they are that similar as personality types.”

 

Edward VIII said in his final broadcast as King that he couldn’t carry on his duty without the woman he loved at his side as his Queen.

The Sussexes decision to step down as working royals and move to Montecito, California, has been compared to Edward’s abdication.

Who was Wallis Simpson?

WALLIS Simpson will forever be known as the woman who rocked the Royals and plunged the monarchy into crisis.

Her marriage to King Edward VIII in 1937 meant he became the first-ever monarch to abdicate, changing the path of history – and eventually leading to Queen Elizabeth II ascending to the throne.

The situation between Meghan Markle and Prince Harry is being compared to Wallis Simpson and Kind Edward VIII, as both men abandoned their Royal duties and titles for love.

Wallis was married twice before tying the knot with Prince Edward.

Their relationship allegedly started in 1934, but Edward – then a prince – denied this to his dad King George V.

On January 20, 1936, George V died and Edward ascended the throne.

Fears were beginning to grow that the new king planned to marry Wallis as the Church of England felt Edward could not marry a divorced woman with two living ex-husbands.

Brits were also reluctant to accept an American as a queen – prompting Wallis to flee to France to avoid the heavy press coverage.

Edward was told he could not keep the throne and marry Wallis, so he sent shockwaves across the world when he decided to abdicate.

The pair married on June 3, 1937, at the Château de Candé but no members of Edward’s family attended.

They became Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

A portrait of the Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor
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A portrait of the Wallis Simpson, Duchess of WindsorCredit: Getty – Contributor

Prince Philip compared Meghan to Wallis
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Prince Philip compared Meghan to Wallis