Prince Philip is ‘very disappointed’ by Meghan Markle’s failure to ‘support the monarchy’

Prince Philip is ‘very, very disappointed’ by Meghan Markle’s failure to ‘support the monarchy’ and her husband, a royal expert has claimed.

The Duke of Edinburgh, 99, who gave up his naval career to support the Queen, 94, when she ascended the throne in 1952, was ‘irritated’ when the Duchess of Sussex, 39, failed to do the same, according to Ingrid Seward.

Speaking to Sky News, the royal biographer said the elderly prince couldn’t understand why the former actress didn’t follow his example when she married Prince Harry, 36, in May 2018.

‘I think he’s very, very disappointed because I think he feels he gave up his naval career in order to stand by the Queen and help the monarchy,’ she said.

‘And why can’t Meghan just give up her acting career, support her husband and support the monarchy?

‘As he used to say to Diana, this is not a popularity contest, this is all of us working together.

‘He just cannot understand why she couldn’t support Harry and help him rather than wanting to have her voice.’ 

Ms Steward said Prince Philip didn’t want to be a part of the talks about the Sussexes’ future outside of the monarchy, which were held at Sandringham in January.

The Queen summoned Prince Charles and Prince William to the Norfolk estate for an emergency summit after Harry and Meghan announced their intention to go it alone and become financially independent. 

Ms Steward went on to claim the Duke of Edinburgh doesn’t wish to get involved anymore since Prince Harry and Meghan officially stepped back from the Royal Family in March this year. 

‘Of course, it irritates him hugely. And when they had the Sandringham Summit, Prince Philip was seen leaving the house very swiftly before they all arrived,’ she observed.

‘He simply doesn’t want to get involved anymore.’ 

Earlier this month Ms Steward discussed Prince Philip’s overwhelming sense of duty in a piece for the Mail on Sunday.

She said it ‘grieves’ him that many younger members of the Royal Family ‘do not appear to share his values’. 

‘He has struggled greatly, for example, with what he sees as his grandson Harry’s dereliction of duty, giving up his homeland and everything he cared about for a life of self-centred celebrity in North America,’ Ms Steward wrote.

‘He has found it hard to understand exactly what it was that made his grandson’s life so unbearable. As far as Philip was concerned, Harry and Meghan had everything going for them: a beautiful home, a healthy son, and a unique opportunity to make a global impact with their charity work.

‘For a man whose entire existence has been based on a dedication to doing the right thing, it appeared that his grandson had abdicated his responsibilities for the sake of his marriage to an American divorcee in much the same way as Edward VIII gave up his crown to marry Wallis Simpson in 1937.’

On Monday it was reported Harry and Meghan could create a Netflix documentary with sensational home footage recorded during their departure from the Firm.

The couple signed a deal thought to be worth around $100 million (£77.9million) with the US streaming giant earlier this month. 

Yesterday, speaking at the Fortune’s Most Powerful Women summit, Meghan said she pays no mind to public ‘flattery or criticism’ about her and hit out at the media for ‘misinterpreting’ remarks she has made in order to make them sound more ‘controversial’ or ‘inflammatory’.