Trump wants to debate Meghan Markle over her treatment of the Queen

Former US president has previously claimed Duchess of Sussex was ‘very disrespectful’ to the late Queen

Donald Trump has revealed he wants to go head-to-head with Meghan Markle for how she allegedly treated the late Queen Elizabeth II during her time in the British royal family.

Speaking to radio host Hugh Hewitt on The Hugh Hewitt Show on 6 September, the former US president claimed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were “disrespectful” to the Queen when they decided to step down from their roles as senior working royals in 2020.

“I didn’t like the way she dealt with the Queen,” he said. “They treated her with great disrespect and I didn’t like it.”

The 45th president previously met with Queen Elizabeth during his three-day state visit to the UK in June 2019. Trump claimed that he became very friendly with the Queen, who was 93 at the time, and took the opportunity to criticise his Democratic opponent, President Joe Biden.

“She was an incredible woman. She was so sharp, she was 100 per cent,” Trump said. “When you watch Biden, you say this is a different planet.”

The former president went on to say that he “disagrees so much” with what the Duke and Duchess of Sussex “are doing,” possibly in reference to the bombshell claims the couple has made about the royal family in Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare, and their six-part Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan.

“I think it’s not a good situation going on with the two of them, but I didn’t know that they don’t like me. Somebody mentioned it might be possible. They wouldn’t be the only ones,” Trump added. “If you want to set it up, let’s set it up. I’d love to debate her.”

This isn’t the first time Trump has expressed his negative opinions about Meghan Markle. Most recently, he reiterated that Markle was “very disrespectful” to the Queen during a GB News interview with Nigel Farage in May. "I think she [Meghan] has been very disrespectful to the Queen,” Trump said. “How can you be so disrespectful to the Queen?”

“She was incredible, for decades and decades she never made a mistake,” he continued. “I cannot think of a mistake she made, she was never controversial.”

Trump added: “She went through years and decades without controversy. You cannot be disrespectful to her and I think Meghan was very disrespectful to her, very disrespectful.”

He previously took aim at Meghan in an interview with Piers Morgan last year, in which he claimed that the mother of two is leading Prince Harry “by the nose”. During an appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored, Trump said that the royal couple’s marriage was a ticking time bomb, which will blow up when “Harry decides he’s had enough of being bossed around”.

The former president also said that Meghan might leave Harry “when she decides that she likes some other guy better”.

“I’m not a fan of Meghan, and I wasn’t from the beginning. Poor Harry is being led around by his nose. And I think he’s an embarrassment,” he was quoted as saying.

In December 2021, he had claimed that Meghan had been “disrespectful” to the royal family and insisted that her husband had been “used horribly”. He previously said he was “not a fan” of Meghan’s and wished Harry “a lot of luck” in another attack on the couple.

The duke and duchess stepped down from their duties as senior working royals in 2020, before relocating their family to Montecito, California. Since then, they have shared many details about their time in the royal family – from their tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, to their six-part Netflix docuseries, to Harry’s autobiography.

Following their decision to step back from royal duties, Trump said it was “sad” and that he felt bad for the Queen at the time. “I think it’s sad,” he told Fox News. “[The Queen] is a great woman. She’s never made a mistake… She’s had a flawless time.”

“I don’t want to get into the whole thing, but I just have such respect for the Queen," he continued, adding: “I don’t think this should be happening to her.”

This week marks the one-year anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s passing on 8 September 2022. Following her death, Trump claimed he and the late monarch “talked all night long” during his visit to the UK.

“We had a good chemistry,” Trump told Farage in May. “And then as you remember that evening there was a big celebration and I sat next to the Queen, and we just talked all night long. She was incredible. She was incredible to speak to and so sharp. Her mind was so sharp and just to be with her was something very special.”

In the days leading up to King Charles III’s coronation last May, Trump also told Farage that he was “surprised” Harry had secured an invitation to his father’s coronation.

“I was actually surprised that Harry was invited to be honest,” Trump said. “He said some terrible things… the book [Spare] was just… to me, it was horrible.”