When it comes to families, every happy occasion is celebrated together. As a child, one of the first things you do after something exciting happens in your life is to tell your parents and grandparents about it. And, the clan is elated with happiness and well-wishes for you and your life.
With Prince Harry, the opposite was the case. When the Duke of Sussex announced his engagement to actress Meghan Markle, his grandfather, Prince Philip issued him a blunt warning.
The shocking engagement
The Duke and Duchess announced their engagement in November 2017, a little over a year after the news of their romance went public.
According to a Daily Mail report, citing historian Andrew Lownie's biography of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, Prince Philip, the husband of late Queen Elizabeth II, reacted to the news with reluctance about Meghan, 44, entering the royal fold.
In the 2025 book, Lownie wrote that upon learning of their plans to wed, Prince Philip warned: "One steps out with actresses, one doesn't marry them."
The prince's caution to Harry, 41, was first reported by
The Sunday Times in 2019.“Idle dinner party gossip, perhaps, although it does sound like a Prince Philip bon mot,” the outlet stated at the time.
Not just Prince Philip
Harry and Meghan's relationship has created much buzz ever since they were spotted together. From the British media to the citizens, many expressed their thoughts on the relationship, some positive, more negative.
However, it seems the sparks were also flying high inside the palace halls. The Duke of Edinburgh, who died in 2021, wasn't the only one unimpressed by the couple's engagement.
In 2019, a source told PEOPLE that Prince William also cautioned his younger brother that things were moving too quickly, leaving him angry and hurt. William himself dated his college sweetheart, Kate Middleton for eight years before tying the knot in a royal wedding in 2011.
In his 2023 memoir, 'Spare', Harry wrote that William insulted Meghan in an incident after they had been married, later clarifying that William never dissuaded him from marrying her.
The Duke and Duchess tied the knot in 2018 and stepped back from their royal titles in 2020. They now reside in Montecito, California with their two children, Prince Archie, 6 and Prince Lilibet, 4.
Start a Conversation
Post comment