Camilla Jessen
Prince Philip’s blunt warning after Harry’s engagement to Meghan revealed in new royal biography.
A newly resurfaced account claims Prince Philip offered a piece of advice when Prince Harry told him he intended to marry Meghan Markle.
The remarks appear in historian Andrew Lownie’s book Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, cited by the Daily Mail.
Philip’s reaction
According to Lownie, Prince Philip cautioned Harry with a pointed line: “One steps out with actresses, one doesn’t marry them.”
The comment, first reported by The Sunday Times in 2019, was described by the outlet as resembling Philip’s well-known brand of blunt humor.
Philip, who died in 2021 at age 99, was said to have reacted with reluctance to Meghan’s entry into the royal fold.
His warning came after Harry and Meghan went public with their engagement a little over a year after their relationship became known.
William’s early concerns
Prince William also reportedly harbored reservations about the speed of the relationship.
In 2019, a source told PEOPLE that William, who dated Kate Middleton for nearly eight years before their wedding, advised Harry that things were moving too quickly, leaving the younger prince upset.
Harry later revisited these moments in his 2023 memoir Spare.
He acknowledged that William never attempted to stop the marriage but “aired some concerns, very early on,” warning his brother that life ahead would be “really hard.”
In an ITV interview about the book, Harry said he still does not fully understand what William was referring to. He added that his brother may have anticipated the intense reaction from Britain’s tabloid press.
Later tensions
In Spare, Harry also described a 2019 confrontation that he said turned physical after William referred to Meghan as “difficult,” “rude” and “abrasive.”
Harry wrote that he accused his brother of “parrot[ing] the press narrative” about his wife.
He told ITV’s Tom Bradby he saw a “red mist” in William during the argument and later told 60 Minutes he felt his brother was “coming for my wife.”
Harry and Meghan married in May 2018 and stepped back from royal duties in 2021. They now live in Montecito, California, with their children, Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4.
Sources: Daily Mail, The Sunday Times, PEOPLE, ITV, 60 Minutes
