US President Donald Trump has said he is glad Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left the United States, adding that he would not have welcomed the couple back if he were a member of the British royal family.
Trump made the comments on Wednesday while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, about a week after Harry and his American wife returned to Britain from their home in Montecito, California.
“I’m happy about it. I was not a fan,” Trump told reporters.
The US president said he believed Harry and Meghan had treated the British royal family with “great disrespect”, particularly the late Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III.
“I thought they treated the royal family with great disrespect. I didn’t like it. I didn’t like the way she acted. I thought she was terribly disrespectful to the Queen, to King Charles,” Trump said.
Harry and Meghan have now settled back in Britain, six years after leaving the country for the United States amid tensions surrounding their criticisms of the royal family.
Harry appears to have improved his relationship with his father, King Charles III, who is undergoing treatment for cancer, during his more recent visits to the UK.
However, Harry reportedly remains estranged from his elder brother and heir to the throne, Prince William, as well as William’s wife, Catherine.
Trump, who has previously criticised Meghan on several occasions, said he would not have been as willing to forgive the couple if he had been part of the royal family.
“Maybe I’m different. I wouldn’t have taken him back, right? If I were the royal family, I would not have taken them back,” Trump said.
His latest comments add to his previous public criticism of Meghan and his views on the couple’s decision to step away from royal duties and move to the United States.
