Brian Cox feels Meghan Markle knew what she was getting herself into when she married into the royal family. The “Succession” star weighed in on Markle and Prince Harry’s ongoing drama with the British royal family in an interview with Haute Living New York published Wednesday, as well as his stance that the monarchy should be abolished.
He added that when Markle married Prince Harry in 2018, she “clearly” had “an ambition” to join the royals and was well aware she was entering an institution.
“I find that it’s really just so sad that we don’t acknowledge our own humanity enough. We don’t acknowledge what we’ve been through on behalf of a family — a ruling family. And that’s why, when you look at what’s happening with Meghan and Harry … you go, ‘Well, Harry, there’s an innocence about.’ And with her, too,” Cox said.
He continued, “But you can’t go into a system where somebody’s already been trained to behave in a certain kind of way and then just expect them to cut themselves off. I mean, she knew what she was getting into, and there’s an ambition there clearly as well — the childhood dreams of marrying Prince Charming and all that s–t we see as the fantasy that could be our lives in our dreams. I’m a Cinderella person, you know.”
Later in the conversation, the Emmy winner stated that the United Kingdom should “move on” from the royals. “In my opinion, we shouldn’t have a monarchy,” he explained. “It’s not viable; it doesn’t make any sense. I say, ‘F–k it! Move on!'”
It wasn’t the 76-year-old Scottish actor’s first time spoke out against the monarchy. When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced their retirement from royal duties in 2020, Cox thanked Queen Elizabeth II but expressed his objection to the institution continuing after her death.
“I think the Queen is an amazing woman, and what she has done is incredible,” he told Evening Standard. “But when she’s gone, the whole bloody shooting match should go, I really think so. We won’t end this feudal hold on our culture and system until then.'”
In September 2022, Queen Elizabeth II died at the age of 96. Her eldest son, Charles, ascended to the British crown instantly. Cox has already spoken out about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s exit from the firm. Late last year, he told “Good Morning Britain” that something “clearly traumatic went on for the pair of them,” and he looked sure that the Sussexes were telling the truth about their lives as members of the British royal family. “I don’t think they made it up, I don’t think it’s false. I think it’s true and should’ve been rectified, and it hasn’t,” he said.