Lady Victoria Hervey says Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s courtship was ‘way too short’

Lady Victoria Hervey has claimed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s courtship was ‘way too short’ and she ‘doesn’t see their marriage lasting’.

The British socialite, 44, who is a former love interest of Prince Andrew and now lives in Los Angeles, said she predicted the Duchess of Sussex, 39, would end up ‘wanting to be in America’.

Harry is believed to have met Meghan on a blind date in July 2016; according to Finding Freedom, the biography written by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, they became secretly engaged just over a year later in August 2017, three months before announcing it officially that November. They wed in May 2018. 

The book also claimed Harry took offence when Prince William told him to ‘take as much time as you need to get to know this girl’ – a comment that allegedly sparked the rift between the brothers.

Speaking to Closer magazine, Lady Victoria – the daughter of the 6th Marquess of Bristol – said: ‘I think Harry and Meghan’s courtship was way too short. I just don’t see it lasting.

Lady Victoria Hervey has claimed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s courtship was ‘way too short’ and she ‘doesn’t see their marriage lasting’

‘I remember just before their wedding, I thought, “They’ll get married, have a few kids… And she will end up wanting to be in America”.’ 

Lady Victoria, who was a close friend of Prince Charles’ late goddaughter Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, added that she doesn’t believe the Sussexes spent enough time together in England.

‘They were always travelling somewhere. They moved too fast,’ she said. ‘That’s why Kate Middleton and Prince William’s relationship is so successful – they were together for such a long time before getting married.’

She also branded Harry and Meghan’s Oprah interview ‘distasteful’ given it was broadcast while the late Prince Philip, who died in April aged 99, was in hospital. 

Harry is believed to have met Meghan on a blind date in July 2016; according to Finding Freedom, the biography written by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, they became secretly engaged in August 2017, three months before announcing it officially that November (pictured)

Harry is believed to have met Meghan on a blind date in July 2016; according to Finding Freedom, the biography written by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, they became secretly engaged in August 2017, three months before announcing it officially that November (pictured)

Speaking about the Sussexes’ explosive sit-down with the US chat show host in March, which sent shockwaves through the Royal Family when they accused the Firm of institutional racism, alleging one member of the family questioned what colour their son Archie’s skin would be, Lady Victoria said she thought it was ‘distasteful’.

‘The way it was done, with Prince Philip in the hospital, literally about to die. I thought it was pretty unreal,’ she claimed.

While she claimed Harry has become the ‘black sheep’ of the Royal Family now, she said it’s her belief the Firm would welcome him back should he decide to return to the UK. 

Lady Victoria, who worked as a model, is believed to have gone on a date with Prince Andrew in 1999; while romance failed to blossom, she became part of his inner circle of friends and was invited to dinner in London with him, Donald Trump and Bill Clinton in 2000. 

Lady Victoria, who worked as a model, is believed to have gone on a date with Prince Andrew in 1999 and became part of his circle of friends (pictured together in January 2002)

Lady Victoria, who worked as a model, is believed to have gone on a date with Prince Andrew in 1999 and became part of his circle of friends (pictured together in January 2002)

Speaking to The Mirror in 2019, she said billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein was also there, and Lady Victoria said he seemed ‘very charming’. 

She claimed she was contacted by Ghislaine Maxwell afterwards who set her up in one of Epstein’s New York apartments, where she suspects she was spied on and she left after a week.

‘After reading about everything that went on, I’m shocked,’ she told the publication. ‘It’s horrifying. It could have been me – but maybe I was too old. It is a scary thought.

‘I remember feeling like there were cameras in the room spying on me, that I was being watched. I just felt it in my gut. It didn’t feel right.’

Prince Andrew strongly denies any wrongdoing and has insisted he was unaware of Epstein’s crimes.