MEGHAN Markle was compared to Wallis Simpson by a senior royal because she hates her sister-in-law and wants to be a star, an expert has said.
Prince Philip allegedly drew comparisons between the Duchess of Sussex and the American socialite wife of King Edward VIII.
7Meghan pictured during the bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey
7American socialite Wallis Simpson married King Edward after his abdicationCredit: Getty – Contributor
7Meghan at the unveiling of the Labalaba Statue in Fiji in 2018Credit: Getty
7The Duke and Duchess of Windsor arriving in Britain as guests of the Queen for the first time after his abdicationCredit: Corbis
7Prince Harry and Meghan attending a polo fundraiser event in Lagos, Nigeria last weekCredit: Reuters
Philip is said to have nicknamed Meghan “D.O.W” in a nod to Wallis’ Duchess of Windsor title after she wed Edward in 1937.
Their relationship ultimately led to Edward’s abdication a year earlier, plunging the Royal Family into chaos.
Speaking to The Sun’s Royal Exclusive show, Historian Gareth Russell revealed why such comparisons have been made between the two.
He described how Wallis “loathed her sister-in-law” and “wanted to be the star of the monarchy”.
The author added: “Allegedly Prince Philip made the comparison [with Meghan] and he had met Wallace.
“One of the things that the Duke and Duchess of Windsor Edward and Wallis did in the 1930s, 40s and 50s is these very controversial quasi-Royal tours, not royal tours.
“They were wined and dined, did a couple of things in America like the Sussexes, they did have tours that aren’t tours that rubbed the Royal Family up the wrong way.
“I think Wallis Simpson has two kinds of personalities depending on which author you’re listening to and in many ways they are the same as we ascribe to Meghan.
“Wallis is either presented as someone who was ambitious, loathed her sister-in-law, wanted to be the star player in the monarchy, was very, very difficult to work for and essentially moved Edward away from being a working member of the royal family.”
It comes after royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith earlier this year described how the duchess shares the same “narcissistic and controlling” qualities as Wallis.
Meghan Markle: From Royalty to Politics?
Viewers also drew comparisons between the two following the Sussexes bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021.
Royal author Ingrid Seward wrote how Philip was “one of the few wary of succumbing to Meghan’s charm offensive” and “detected similarities to Wallis” soon after she met Harry.
Gareth, though, also pointed to the alternative view of Wallis as wanting to “remould” her own life.
He said: “Essentially she was someone who dared to remould life on her own terms and take the steps she wanted to live as a relation of the Windsors, but she did not necessarily want to feel shackled by that.
“The best evidence we have, decades after the abdication crisis, are letters from 1936 where Wallis tells people she is very close to that she feels Edward always wanted to get out of the monarchy and that she is being used as the get out ticket.
“Meghan in some ways has been slotted into those two personality types depending on which team you fall on.
“I tend to think culturally she has been made very similar to Wallis Simpson but I don’t think I buy that they are that similar as personality types.”
Edward VIII said in his final broadcast as King that he couldn’t carry on his duty without the woman he loved at his side as his Queen.
The Sussexes decision to step down as working royals and move to Montecito, California, has been compared to Edward’s abdication.