A filmmaker with ties to the royal family has claimed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle risk fading into obscurity – in a similar fashion to Edward and Mrs Simpson.
Nick Bullen, CEO of True Royalty TV, drew comparisons between Prince Harry and his great-great uncle Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne in 1936 and wrote a royal tell-all memoir years later.
Prince Harry is set to release his own book lifting the lid on his life in the royal family next year.
Bullen told Fox News he believed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex could end up being ‘bits players’ and ‘awkward guests’ if they continue to alienate themselves from Prince Harry’s family.
Royal filmmaker Nick Bullen said Prince Harry and Meghan Markle could fade into ‘obscurity’ like his great-great uncle Edward VIII and his wife Wallis Simpson did (pictured on their wedding day in 1937)
Global power players? Or ‘awkward guests’? Bullen said Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were of ‘high value’ right now, but could see their shine fade in the next decade (pictured during their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2020)
Edward, the brother of King VI and uncle of the Queen, gave up his title – and the throne – to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson. After the abdication crisis, the pair moved to France, where they remained until their death.
Award-winning documentary maker Bullen was speaking ahead of the release of one of his programmes exploring the similarities between Harry and Edward VIII.
He said the fact Edward and Wallis Simpson fell out of favour offered a stark warning to Harry and Meghan.
‘It may seem far from now, but it will happen. What will happen to Harry and Meghan ten years from now? Will they be the same stars they are now? Some historians have suggested that this is unlikely,’ he said.
He added the big lesson from his documentary was that Edward and Wallis ‘faded into obscurity’, eventually turning into ‘bit players’ and ‘awkward guests’ at dinner parties in New York.
And while Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are high-value commodities in the showbiz world now, the filmmaker suggested it might not always be the case.
‘How long will Harry and [his wife] Meghan Markle’s value stay at such a high level?’ he said.
All eyes have been on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle since their decision in 2020 to step down as senior royal and move to Canada, and then Montecito in California.
Bullen said the couple went from A-lister to ‘awkward guests’ after they settled into marital life following Edward VIII’s royal exit (pictured in Miami in 1951)
All eyes have been on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle since their decision in 2020 to step down as senior royal and move to Canada, and then Montecito in California (Pictured in March last year at the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey)
CEO of True Royalty TV, Nick Bullen, pictured, said Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson’ story should be a cautionary tell for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
Their bombshell interview with Oprah WInfrey in March 2021, their lucrative deal with Netflix and their respective book deals have kept the couple in the public eye.
Prince Harry announced he would be publishing his memoirs via Penguin Random House in 2022, writing ‘as the man [he] had become’ rather than the ‘prince he was born.’
Experts were quick to draw parallels between Harry’s foray into the literary world and his great-great uncle, who penned A King’s Story in 1951.
Just like Prince Harry, Edward VIII published his memoirs, pictured, in 1951, six months before King George VI died
Bullen said he expected Harry, who still has a ‘major impact’ on the royal family, would be critical of the Firm in his biography, which was bound to be scandalous.
But the documentary maker tempered his remarks by saying that while Edward VIII liked to say he still wanted to be king, he was actually at ease with his abdication and the consequences it brought on his status.
Bullen said he didn’t think Edward VIII ever regretted forsaking the throne in favour of marrying Simpson.
Described by the Daily Mail at the time as a work that was ‘unique in the history of literature’, the former King Edward VIII’s autobiography was published in September 1951, just six months before his brother King George VI’s death.
In his ghost-written book, A King’s Story: The Memoirs of HRH the Duke of Windsor, Edward spoke of how, in believing that his ‘birth and title’ should not ‘set me apart from other people’, he felt as though he was in ‘unconscious rebellion against my position’.
The closing words of the tome centred around his decision to give up the throne so he could marry Ms Simpson.
He spoke of how ‘love had triumphed over politics’ and that although it proved to be his ‘fate’ to ‘sacrifice my cherished British heritage’, he drew comfort that the decision had ‘long since sanctified a true and faithful union’.
Royal historian Robert Jobson told MailOnline that the work was ‘much more important’ than the memoir which Prince Harry is set to publish next year – because as an ex-King, the Duke ‘had more gravitas’ than the Duke of Sussex.
Harry revealed via publisher Penguin Random House yesterday that he was writing his book ‘not as the prince I was born but as the man I have become’.
Divided: The Duke of Sussex, left, and the Duke of Cambridge, right at the unveiling of a new Princess Diana statue in the gardens at Kensington Palace on July 1 2021
The work is expected to delve further into the breakdown in his relationship with his family and brother Prince William, which contributed to his and his wife Meghan Markle’s decision to give up their royal duties and move to California at the start of last year.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams said the Duke of Sussex, 36, grew up knowing he would have ‘no defined role’ within the family which led to him resenting not being taken seriously – despite all his military and charity work.
He added that the royal’s marriage to Meghan Markle ‘undoubtedly changed him’ but his rivalry with his brother long outdates his relationship with his wife.
Speaking to Entertainment Daily, Richard said: ‘Many think that the fact that William grew up knowing he would one day be king and Harry had no defined role, led to rivalry between brothers who were considered inseparable.
‘Harry’s reputation was as the royal wild child for years, William’s image was far more serious however he behaved. Some say Harry resented not being taken seriously, despite his military service and charitable work .
‘Harry now believes he was trapped as a member of the royal family and that William currently is but doesn’t know it.
He added that the long-reported rift between the brothers was serious and that Harry’s marriage to Meghan ‘unquestionably changed him.’
‘The rift between them, long reported and first confirmed in the ITV documentary about their South Africa trip, is public and serious. It was his marriage to Meghan which unquestionably changed him.’
He added that the ‘Fab Four’ idea – that saw Harry and Megan work with Prince William and Kate Middleton was a ‘disaster’.
The brothers have been separated by a rift that began in March 2019 when William reportedly threw Harry and Meghan out of Kensington Palace over the alleged bullying of staff, with the Sussexes breaking up their joint foundation and setting up a new office at Buckingham Palace.
The claims emerged in Robert Lacey’s book Battle of Brothers, published before Harry and Meghan went on Oprah to accuse the Royal Family of racism and claim they were abandoned when the Duchess of Sussex was suicidal and six months pregnant.
Harry first publicly said his brother and father were ‘trapped’ by the institution of monarchy, and that feels ‘really let down’ by his father Charles.
In a series of astonishing claims, Harry revealed the Prince of Wales cut off contact with him in the wake of his decision to step away from The Firm.
He told how, during his time in Canada, his father refused to answer his calls as tensions within the family rose and their relationship soured.
The royal brothers recently reunited for the unveiling of a statue of their late mother Princess Diana to mark what would have been her 60th birthday.