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OUT IN THE COLD
Prince Harry hangs around like a bad smell – he’s like Edward VIII, no one wants him, blasts royal historian
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PRINCE Harry hangs around like a bad smell and is similar to Edward VIII, a royal expert has claimed.
The Duke of Sussex's great-granduncle abdicated after just 325 days as King to wed socialite Wallis Simpson.
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And historian Gareth Russell reckons Harry, who left The Firm for California in January 2020 with American wife Meghan Markle, is showing similar signs.
Speaking on The Sun's Royal Exclusive show with Matt Wilkinson, Gareth drew comparisons between Edward VIII and Harry's visit to King Charles following his cancer diagnosis.
He said: "I would compare Prince Harry to Edward VIII.
"Edward VIII would come back sometimes for major events like his brother's death in 1952 and other times for shorter visits.
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"His estranged sister-in-law who became the Queen mother said you had to be careful where you hosted him.
"They would pick places where the royals had an 'out' that they could leave at a certain point.
"Otherwise the Queen mother's concern was that Edward VIII would hang around like a bad smell and inevitably ask for an increase in his allowance."
Gareth also said Meghan was compared to Wallis by a senior royal because she hates her sister-in-law and wants to be a star.
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Prince Philip allegedly drew comparisons between the Duchess of Sussex and the American socialite wife of King Edward VIII.
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.
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Their relationship ultimately led to Edward's abdication a year earlier, plunging the Royal Family into chaos.
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."
Why did Edward VIII abdicate?
AMERICAN divorcee Wallis Simpson will forever be known as the woman who rocked the Royal Family and plunged the monarchy into crisis when Prince Edward married her in 1937.
Their relationship allegedly started in 1934, but Edward – then a prince – denied this to his dad King George V.
On January 20, 1936, George V died and Edward ascended the throne.
Fears were beginning to grow that the new king planned to marry Wallis - something the Church of England condemned on the grounds that she was a divorced woman with two living ex-husbands.
Brits were also reluctant to accept an American as a queen – prompting Wallis to flee to France to avoid the heavy press coverage.
Edward was told he could not keep the throne and marry Wallis and sent shockwaves across the world when in December 1936 he decided to abdicate the throne.
As a result, his stammering younger brother "Bertie", the current Queen's father, became George VI.
In his announcement, Edward made a BBC broadcast saying he could not do the job of the king "without the help and support of the woman I love".
Gareth also says he believes "an alternative royal family is emerging".
He said: "To all intents and purposes that is a real possibility.
"The problem for the Sussexes is that once you start doing anything like that, people become a lot more critical of what you do outside that - like commercial endeavours or quasi-royal tours.
"People will put them under more of a microscope because they're calling it 'The Office of Harry and Meghan'.
"It's interesting. I wonder is it part of a plan to pivot from some harsh headlines they've had in the last year or two?
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"Is it maybe a slightly more social conservative direction and have themselves as royals in exile for want of a better word?
"I wonder is that them acting on advice that people don't want to hear them criticising the royal family."
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MEGXIT TERMS
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry announced on January 8, 2020, they would be stepping down as 'senior' members of the Royal Family.
On January 18 it was announced that Harry and Meghan would “no longer be working members of Britain’s Royal Family”, and would not use their “Royal Highness” titles.
A Palace spokeswoman said the couple would no longer receive public money and that they would repay the £2.4million cost of refurbishing their cottage — Frogmore — in Windsor, Berks.
The following day, Harry said in a heartfelt speech: “Our hope was to continue serving the Queen, the Commonwealth, and my military associations without public funding. Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible.”
The Duke of Sussex said he had found the “love and happiness I had hoped for all my life” with Meghan.