Trump says he is happy Harry and Meghan left US, calls them disrespectful

Trump said he was "happy" Prince Harry and his family had left the US, accusing Harry and Meghan of treating the royal family with "great disrespect."

In Short

• Trump criticises Meghan's behaviour as 'terribly disrespectful'
• Harry and Meghan stepped down from royal duties in 2020
• Couple plans to stay in Britain, children to attend school there

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he was “happy” Prince Harry and his family had left the United States and relocated to Britain, adding that he had not been a fan of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

“I am happy about it. I was not a fan,” Trump said in the Oval Office when asked about Harry and Meghan’s recent decision to leave California after six years.

The family returned to Britain at the end of August. Harry and Meghan stepped down from official royal duties in 2020 when they moved to the United States.

Trump said he believed the couple had treated the royal family with “great disrespect” and said he did not like their actions.

“I thought they treated the royal family with great disrespect. I didn't like it,” Trump said, while mentioning his “good relationship” with the late Queen Elizabeth and her successor, King Charles, who is undergoing treatment for cancer.

The US president specifically criticised Meghan, saying, “I didn't like the way she acted. I thought she was terribly disrespectful.”

After Harry and Meghan moved to the US, Harry accused the royal family of neglect during an interview with Oprah. Meghan, whose mother is Black and father is white, said that while she was pregnant with her son, there were “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born” within the royal family.

Harry’s older brother, Prince William, defended the family after the accusation and said, “We're not racist.”

Harry also cited press scrutiny and the government’s failure to provide security for his family as reasons for moving to California.

Now back in Britain, Harry and Meghan are expected to remain non-working royals.

A person close to the couple said last month that the family planned to move somewhere outside London for an extended period with their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, who will go to school in Britain.

It remains unclear what changed for the couple, but Harry has said he wants his children to spend time in Britain.

“If I were the royal family, I would not have taken them back,” Trump added on Wednesday.

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