WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Wednesday he was "happy" that Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, had left the United States for Britain, and he said that if he were in the royal family he would not have taken them back.

The remarks, made in the Oval Office after a meeting with travel executives, were Trump's first public comments on the couple since they arrived in England in late August with their children after six years in California.

"I'm happy about it. I was not a fan," Trump told reporters when asked about the move.

He praised his relationships with the late Queen Elizabeth II and with King Charles III, then turned to the Sussexes' break with the monarchy.

"I had a very good relationship with the Queen. Really good. I got to know her very well. A really good relationship with King Charles. I knew him as Prince Charles and King Charles. I've known him for a long time. He's a great, great guy," Trump said. "And I thought they treated the royal family with great disrespect. I didn't like it."

He singled out Meghan. "I didn't like the way she acted. I thought she was terribly disrespectful to the Queen, to King Charles," he said. "I don't know. Maybe I'm different. I wouldn't have taken them back. Frankly, if I were the royal family, I would not have taken them back."

Neither Buckingham Palace nor representatives for Harry and Meghan issued an immediate public response to the president's comments.

**A return framed as private, not official**

Harry, 41, and Meghan, 45, landed in Britain on Aug. 26 with Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, after reports that they intended to spend an extended period in the United Kingdom so the children could start school there in September.

A spokesperson for the couple said they were not returning as working members of the royal family. "On the heels of a wonderful trip with family and friends this summer, Harry and Meghan have decided to spend an extended period in the U.K. this autumn,"........

© International Business Times