The late Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, reportedly had a rather cutting nickname for Meghan Markle, which he never used in her presence, a Royal expert has claimed. Prince Philip, who passed away in 2021, is said to have been “wary” of the former actress from ‘Suits’ and saw parallels with Wallis Simpson, the American divorcee who married into the Royal family as the wife of Prince Edward.

The comparison between Meghan and Wallis Simpson has been drawn before, but it’s alleged that Philip took it further by coining a nickname for Meghan, though he never addressed her by it directly. Royal commentator and author Ingrid Seward has stated that Philip noticed “similarities” between Meghan and the late Duchess of Windsor, Wallis Simpson, and gave Meghan a moniker that linked the two.

During an interview with GB News, Seward remarked: “I think Prince Philip was very canny about people and he didn’t always see the bad in them, he tried to see the good in them. I think he just couldn’t get away from the fact [of the] similarities between Meghan and Harry and Edward and Mrs Simpson.”, reports the Mirror.

She continued: “There are so many similarities which is why he used to call her The Duchess of Windsor, I mean not to her face. We used to call her dow – DoW [the abbreviation for Duchess of Windsor].”

In her revealing book ‘My Mother and I’, Seward penned that the late Duke of Edinburgh was “wary” of Meghan Markle, noting: “One of the few wary of succumbing to (Meghan’s) charm offensive… was Prince Philip. From the moment he detected her apparent similarity to Wallis, he referred to her as DoW.”

She further disclosed that Prince Philip had tagged Meghan as ‘disruptive’ within the Royal establishment, while his spouse, the late Queen Elizabeth II, remained hopeful, harbouring “high hopes” for the Duchess.

Since their high-profile departure from Royal life in 2020, Meghan and Harry have set up home in California, where they live with their two children. Although Harry is slated to return to the UK next month to mark a decade of the Invictus Games, it is believed Meghan will remain stateside due to safety worries and a desire to avoid ‘drama’ on British soil.

Meghan’s visits to the UK have been sparse since the couple relinquished their Royal roles in 2020, attending only significant events such as Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral last year. Notably, she was absent from King Charles III’s coronation, an event Harry attended solo.