Sir Trevor McDonald has defended the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in a new article for Saga – and has said that Meghan ‘could have brought a new dimension to the monarchy’

Top former newsreader Sir Trevor McDonald has shared his thoughts on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and has claimed that Meghan Markle “never stood a chance” in the royal family.

Harry and Meghan famously quit royal life in January 2020, less than two years after their wedding. Since then they have made a series of public attacks on The Firm and are now all but estranged from the family.

Writing in Saga magazine, Sir Trevor claimed that Meghan could have brought “a new dimension to the monarchy”. “By having a different background, perhaps she could have changed how the Royal Family is perceived by those who had never before felt a strong connection,” he wrote.

“Yet it seems to me that precisely because of those differences, she never stood a chance of being accepted. To be blunt, she is a foreigner: an American, a divorcee, a former actress – and black. She was never given a chance to prove herself.”

Elsewhere in the article, Sir Trevor, 85, said: “To my mind, it is a great shame Prince Harry is no longer part of the working monarchy.” He noted that Harry’s presence would give the royals strength in numbers, noting that the past year has exposed how ‘slimmed down’ the monarchy has become, with both the King and Princess Kate taking time out for cancer treatment.

“From where we are today, it looks almost impossible that someone could persuade Harry and his family to come back to Britain,” he said, but added: “I sincerely hope it can be done one day; we cannot afford to lose someone so young, so full of energy and so imbued with the charitable instincts that are at the core of our Royal Family.”

While Sir Trevor has claimed Meghan ‘never stood a chance’ with the Firm, royal insiders have said she struggled with one major aspect of life within the House of Windsor.

In his new book, ‘Yes Ma’am’, royal author Tom Quinn cites a former member of the royal household who said that Meghan “hated” having to let people know her movements, and the timings of her comings and goings.

He quotes a former Kensington Palace staffer as saying: “Meghan quite rightly hated the fact that when she was in Nottingham Cottage, she had to agree well in advance what time she might leave for an appointment or an event and she had to make sure she didn’t leave at the same time as, or clash in any way with, a more senior royal leaving the palace.”

Another source – who is said to have worked for the late Queen Elizabeth – told Quinn that the hierarchical nature of the Royal Family meant that Meghan, alongside the other royals, had to work to support the monarch as the centre of the institution, rather than shining her own light – something that she “struggled” with. Outside the monarchy having your own path would be “fair enough” the source explained, but inside the institution things have to be “tightly controlled”.