Top News

The late Prince Philip would reportedly refer to his grandson's wife, Meghan Markle, with a simple two-word nickname, according to a royal historian. In Hugo Vickers' book, 'Queen Elizabeth II: A Personal History', it is written that Prince Philip simply called Meghan Markle "the American" before her marriage to Prince Harry.

Prince Philip, who passed away in April 2021, just two months before his 100th birthday, had also previously drawn comparisons between Meghan and another divisive royal figure from an earlier era, dubbing her 'DoW', his shorthand for 'Duchess of Windsor', in reference to Wallis Simpson.

Previously speaking on GB News, royal expert Ingrid Seward suggested that Philip believed Meghan had an "uncanny" likeness to Wallis, whose relationship with King Edward VIII triggered one of the most seismic upheavals in royal history.

Ms Seward added: "He wasn't simply referring to the fact that both were pencil-slim, dark-haired and glamorous American divorcees."

She added: "I think Prince Philip was very canny about people and he didn't always see the bad in them, he tried to see the good in them.

I think he just couldn't get away from the fact [of the] similarities between Meghan and Harry and Edward and Mrs Simpson.

"There are so many similarities, which is why he used to call her The Duchess of Windsor, I mean not to her face."

Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, died at Windsor Castle on April 9, 2021. He lived to nearly 100, continuing to enjoy carriage driving, a passion he took up after doctors told him his polo days were over.

Vickers also writes how the loss for Queen Elizabeth II was especially difficult. After 73 years of marriage, she was not present at his final moment.

"As so often happened in life, he left without saying goodbye," Vickers writes, reinforcing the enduring image of Prince Philip as a strong-willed, independent, and deeply practical man.