When Prince Harry announced his engagement to Meghan Markle, his grandfather, Prince Philip, reportedly offered a pointed piece of advice.
Harry and Meghan revealed their engagement in November 2017, a little over a year after their relationship became public. According to the Daily Mail, historian Andrew Lownie recounts in his biography Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York that Philip reacted cautiously to the news. Lownie writes that the Duke of Edinburgh warned Harry with a blunt line: “One steps out with actresses, one doesn’t marry them.”
The remark was previously reported by The Sunday Times in 2019, which characterized it as the sort of sharp, dry observation Philip was known for.
Philip, who died in 2021 at age 99, wasn’t the only royal said to have concerns about the speed and intensity of the relationship. In 2019, a source close to the family said Prince William urged his younger brother to slow down, believing the romance was moving too fast. The caution reportedly left Harry upset.
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Harry later addressed the subject in his 2023 memoir, Spare. He described tension between the brothers and said William had criticized Meghan, calling her “difficult,” “rude,” and “abrasive.” Harry wrote that he pushed back, saying William was repeating negative media portrayals. While recounting the conflict, Harry also clarified that William hadn’t tried to stop the wedding outright.
In an interview tied to the book, Harry told ITV News’ Tom Bradby that his brother never attempted to dissuade him from marrying Meghan. Instead, he said William raised early concerns about how hard royal life would be for him.
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Harry added that he didn’t fully understand what William meant at the time, though he later wondered if his brother had anticipated the intensity of the British press reaction. In the same interview, Harry described feeling overwhelmed during a heated exchange, and later said he believed William was directing his frustration toward Meghan.
Harry and Meghan, who met in early 2016, married in May 2018. They stepped back from their official royal roles in 2021 and now live in Montecito, California, with their two children, Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4.
