President Donald Trump on Wednesday told reporters he was “happy” to see Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leaving the United States because he felt the couple had disrespected the royal family.
“I’m happy about it,” Trump said in the Oval Office to laughter after a reporter asked for his reaction to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex moving their family back to Britain.
“No, I was not a fan.”
The president added that he “had a very good relationship with the queen. Really good. I got to know her very well.”
He said he has also known King Charles III for a “long time” and had a “really good relationship” with the current monarch.
“He’s great, great guy,” the president said.
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“And I thought they treated the royal family with great disrespect,” Trump said. “I didn’t like it. I didn’t like the way they acted. I thought she was terribly disrespectful to the queen, to King Charles,” he said, referring to Markle.
“I don’t know, maybe I’m different. I wouldn’t have taken them back. Frankly, if I were the royal family, I wouldn’t have taken them back.”
The news broke last month that the duke and duchess planned to move their family back to the U.K. for an “extended stay” after leaving in 2020 and settling in California.
Their children — Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5, — are enrolled in British schools and are expected to begin classes in September. Harry and Markle plan to live at a private, non-royal residence outside London, although they have not disclosed the location. They will also keep their California home.
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The couple arrived at Birmingham International Airport last Wednesday.
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The Sussexes remain nonworking royals, and the move does not signal a formal return to royal duties.
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It isn’t the first time Trump has spoken critically of Meghan Markle. He called her “nasty” in 2019 after hearing she had once called him “divisive” before he was elected the first time.
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Harry also took a jab at Trump last December when he made an appearance on Stephen Colbert’s now-defunct show, joking about how Americans are “obsessed with royalty” and “elected a king.”
In February of last year, Trump dismissed the idea that he would consider deporting Harry, saying, “He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible.”
Fox News’ Gabriel Hays and Stephanie Giang-Paunon contributed to this report.
