Prince Philip was ‘reluctant to be charmed’ by Meghan Markle – and gave Prince Harry a cutting warning before their wedding

Stark had also felt ‘let down that Andrew accepted the situation instead of fighting for her,’ Lownie wrote.
The actress sought to evade the increasing public attention by travelling to Australia, Bali and India, but on her return to London in 1983, their 18-month whirlwind romance had lost its spark and the pair soon separated.
‘By then it was basically over… It wasn’t like a Hollywood movie, with a grand finale. In the end, we just ran out of energy. It had been strangled to death,’ Stark recalled.

Just three years later, Andrew wed Sarah Ferguson at London’s Westminster Abbey. The pair were given the titles of Duke and Duchess of York and had two children, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, but divorced in 1996.

More recently, the ex-prince was stripped of his royal titles by his brother, King Charles, amid the ensuing fallout of his scandalous relationship with prolific sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Yet few may recall the wealth of public interest that once surrounded his relationship with the American actress and the undeniable lessons the Royal Family’s then-eldest member learnt from its quick demise.