The Duchess of Sussex received the unlikely backing of the hard Left candidate for the next leader of the Labour Party today.

Rebecca Long Bailey said that Meghan has been the victim of sexism from her critics and said she wanted the royal to stay in the UK rather than live with Harry in Canada.

Her comments came as the high profile couples's decision to step back as senior Royals sent a shockwave through the Establishment.

The Queen has called senior members of the family to a high-stakes crisis summit at Sandringham on Monday amid the bitter fallout.

Salford and Eccles MP Ms Long Bailey, 40, the preferred candidate of Jeremy Corbyn's inner circle to succeed him when he steps down in April, told Sky's Ridge on Sunday that 'I don't want them to leave the UK.'

Her comments came as the high profile couples's decision to step back as senior Royals sent a shockwave through the Establishment

Rebecca Long Bailey said that Meghan has been the victim of sexism from her critics and said she wanted the royal to stay in the UK rather than live with Harry in Canada

Asked if the American actress had been the victim of sexism and racism she added: 'Sexism, I think certainly, you know, male counterparts don't receive the same level of hostility.

'I think the media has a job to make sure that it is balanced, it is looking at the facts, of course you know reports facts and attack where you can see that there are misdemeanors, wrongdoings or inaccuracies, but don't attack a woman for the sake of attacking a woman.'

Meanwhile fellow candidate Emily Thornberry said that the UK taxpayer should continue to pay for the couple's security costs because of the prince's military service.

The Queen arrived for a church service on the Sandringham estate this morning, ahead of crisis talks with other senior Royals expected tomorrow

Clive Lewis, a shadow Treasury minister who called last week for a referendum on the monarchy, suggested Meghan had been the victim of 'structural racism' in the media

Shadow foreign secretary Ms Thornberry told the BBC's Andrew Marr programme: 'I think the British taxpayer should pay for the security of harry and Meghan and their family, as they do with former ministers.

'Harry spent 20 years on the frontline in Afghanistan, through many tours of duty - he has done great service - just on the basis of that.

'I just hate to think what he must be thinking now, having used his instinct to try and defend our country, now he has his much-loved wife and his baby under the type of media scrutiny they are suffering. He must be really wanting to defend them.'

Fellow leadership candidate Clive Lewis also defended the duchess.

Mr Lewis, a shadow Treasury minister who called last week for a referendum on the monarchy, suggested she had been the victim of 'structural racism' in the media.

He told Ridge: 'We can see it with Meghan Markle and the way that she's been treated in the media.

'We know this is a reality of the 21st century still after 400 years of racism. You can't just overturn it overnight, it is something that we're going to have to work on.'

The Queen arrived for a church service on the Sandringham estate this morning.

Emily Thornberry said that the UK taxpayer should continue to pay for the couple's security costs because of the prince's military service

The head of state will be joined at her private Norfolk estate of Sandringham by the Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge for the crunch meeting tomorrow - where the 'next steps' will be decided.

It will be the first time the four will have met since the issue engulfed the royal family, and it is thought William will be travelling from his Kensington Palace apartment and Harry from Frogmore Cottage near Windsor Castle.

Charles was in Oman on Sunday to attend a condolence ceremony following the death Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said, and was expected to travel back to the UK in time for the talks at Sandringham.

Before them will be a range of options, and it is likely the royals will try to come to some agreement before the meeting ends to stop the immediate crisis causing lasting damage to the monarchy.