Dickie Arbiter locked horns with Denise Welch on the set of Loose Women this Monday, May 6, as the panellist took a stand against the harsh criticism targeting Meghan Markle.

Meghan Markle has come under fire more than once throughout her time on Prince Harry ‘s arm and Denise Welch has had enough of the relentless backlash.

The Loose Women panellist was seething this Monday, May 6, when Dickie Arbiter, former press secretary to the late Queen Elizabeth II and to King Charles III before he was crowned last year, was in the studio to speak about the monarch’s cancer battle.

But while the conversation began smoothly, it inevitably took a turn when Dickie addressed the elephant in the room – can the monarch ever repair his strained relationship with his son, Prince Harry?

Royal fans will recall the latter snubbed life as a senior working royal alongside his wife Meghan for a fresh start across the Atlantic and the Duchess of Sussex has been more criticised than ever before since.

Denise Welch took a firm stand in favour of Meghan Markle and called out Dickie Arbiter on the set of Loose Women ( Image:ITV)

Meghan also faced a wave of criticism when she was first rumoured to be dating Prince Harry in 2016 and the couple have publicly condemned the negative media scrutiny they have both received, personally, as a couple and as parents for their two children, Archie and Lilibet.

For Denise, Meghan and Harry’s decision to leave Windsor and Frogmore Cottage behind was nothing short of logical and tensions emerged at lightning speed as she vehemently defended them – calling Dickie out for his own criticism of Meghan Markle.

“If I may say, do you not think there is a reason why Harry did such a thing?”, the 65-year-old initially asked, referring to the Duke’s decision to leave the UK for the US.

Denise then summarised the heartbreak surrounding King Charles III’s family, wounds first stemming from the monarch’s marriage with Lady Diana “when he was in love with Camilla.”

“It ruined a lot of Diana’s life”, Denise claimed. She then recalled how a young Prince Harry witnessed his mother’s death after a fatal car chase with paparazzi before he was forced to walk publicly behind her coffin and accept Queen Camilla as his stepmother.

“Then he has a wife who is completely and continually trashed by the media, including your good self”, Denise added while turning to Dickie, while some audience members began to applaud her. “I am just sick to death of the bashing that this woman gets (…) we continually berate this woman every day.”

When Dickie argued that the Sussexes have received criticism over their choice to leave the Royal Family, Denise furiously doubled down: “Why would they not walk out? Why would they want to spend their life in a country that hated them?”

Coleen Nolan quickly intervened to stop the situation from escalating, reminding the panellist that she hadn’t expected a “debate” to take place in the studio. But Denise continued to seethe as she added: “don’t have a guest on (…) I can say what I like!”

The segment left many ITV viewers with their jaws dropped as they swarmed over to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share their thoughts. “Well done Denise, you wiped the floor with Dickie. Thankyou for not being scared to be a voice for H@M”, one of them commented.

Another agreed: “Makes me laugh that people are saying Denise isn’t nice for standing up for Meghan and Harry, yet it’s fine for so many “nice” people to have s****** them off for the past 6+ yrs”, just as a third applauded the panellist for her strong stance: “Well said Denise, you are the voice of fairness and reason.”

However, one TV watcher predicted a reprimand was ahead for Denise due to Coleen’s intervention. “I think Denise is going to be getting a firm talking to when @loosewomen is off air! However if she is passionate about a subject why shut her down? I thought #LooseWomen promotes strong women and opinions?”