PresidentDonald Trumpsaid Friday he didn’t really want to get into it but that he found the bombshell news thatMeghan MarkleandPrince Harrywould“step back”from the royal family “sad.”
Asked about his feelings on the royals, Trump uncharacteristically demurred,according to a preview clipfrom the interview.
“I don’t want to get into the whole thing but I find it — I just have such respect for the Queen,” he told Ingraham. “I don’t think this should be happening to her.”
“I think it’s sad, I do, I think it’s sad,” he said elsewhere in the interview.
DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/POOL/AFP via Getty
On Wednesday, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex sent the royals spinning — as well as the entire wider world of royal observers — with the announcement that they would be drastically changing their roles in the British monarchy.
Many questionsremain unansweredbut, essentially, Meghan, 38, and Harry, 35, plan tobecome “financially independent” royalswho split their time between the U.K. and North America while still carrying out some slimmed-down amount of official functions and charity work.
The couple has alsolaunched a new websitewith detailed questions and answers about their move.
“After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution,” the couple wrote on Instagram on Wednesday. “We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen. It is with your encouragement, particularly over the last few years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment.
Such an arrangement iswithout precedentin modern British history andthe timing of their decisionis said to have surprisedQueen Elizabethand others, though she andPrince Charleshad been insomewhat preliminary discussionswith Harry about his and Meghan’s desire to change their roles.
MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty; Samir Hussein/WireImage
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The president isa noted fan of the Queen, havinggushed overtheir time together during hisvisits to the U.K., but has had less kind things to say about Meghan.
Last year, he saidshe had been “nasty”for criticizing him during the 2016 presidential campaign, when she was an actress on the legal dramaSuits.
Meghan was not in attendance at either of President Trump’s U.K. visits last year: She was on maternity leave during the first and she and Harry were away for the holiday with their 8-month-old son,Archie, during the second.
President Trump’s full interview with Ingraham airs Friday at 10 p.m. (ET) on Fox News.
source: people.com
