'Succession' Actor Brian Cox Says Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are "Victims" of the "Moribund" Royal Institution

A couple of weeks ago, Succession actor Brian Cox ruffled feathers by appearing to criticize Meghan Markle and her entry into the Royal Family.

But now, Cox has set the record straight and claimed that his quotes were missing necessary context.

"I’m a bit angry about that because that whole thing has been taken out of context," he told Radio Times (via Page Six). "I actually have enormous sympathy for them."

Cox, who is Scottish, doesn't sound like the monarchy's biggest fan.

"They’re the product of an institution which is moribund and shouldn’t exist anymore," he said.

"But that’s a difficult situation where [Meghan] comes from, and it’s understandable that she sees something [appealing]—and it does look like a fairytale. But it was a fairytale that went horribly wrong.

"I think they’re victims."

Speaking to Haute Living in mid-March, Cox had said, "When you look at what’s happening with Meghan and Harry, you go, 'Well, Harry, there’s an innocence about.' And with her, too.

"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 sh*t we see as fantasy that could be our lives in our dreams. I’m a Cinderella person, you know."

In that interview as well, Cox expressed his distaste for the monarchy. "In my opinion, we shouldn’t have a monarchy," he said. "It’s not viable; it doesn’t make any sense. It’s tradition and all that, they say. I say, 'F**k it! Move on!'"

As you probably know by now, Harry and Meghan cited disillusionment with the Royal Firm as one of their main reasons for stepping down from their roles and choosing to live instead as private individuals in Southern California.

Since their relocation, they have spoken out many times about the ways they feel the Royal Family failed them—most notably in their Oprah interview, the Archetypes podcast, the Harry & Meghan Netflix docuseries, and Harry's memoir Spare.