The Duke and Duchess of Sussex named their daughter Lilibet in tribute to her paternal great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. But what did the late Queen really think of Meghan Markle?
That’s what I’ve been looking for for the next edition of my YouTube television series, Reading The Royals. And that investigation has raised some troubling questions about Prince Harry and Meghan’s behavior.
There is no doubt that the Queen warmly welcomed the American actress into the royal family.
The first clear evidence of this came some time before Meghan and King Charles’ youngest son exchanged their vows at St. George’s Chapel in 2018.
While other women who had married in the Windsors, such as Kate Middleton and Sophie Rhys-Jones, had to wait until after their wedding to be invited to spend Christmas at Sandringham, Meghan was allowed to join Harry in 2017, five months before the big wedding. day. It was an unprecedented and very personal gesture from the Queen.
There was also a reference to “new members” of the family in the Queen’s Christmas broadcast that year, which was widely seen as another nod to Meghan, as well as the expected arrival of Prince William and Catherine’s third child, Louis. following April.
The Californian clearly felt at home during the royal retreat in Norfolk, later saying on her Netflix series Harry & Meghan: ‘I remember so vividly the first Christmas at Sandringham, when I called my mum, and she said, ‘How are you ?’ and I said, “Oh my god, it’s amazing.” It’s like a big family, like I always wanted. And there was just a constant movement, energy and fun.”
Courtiers say the queen believed Meghan – a divorced mixed-race American actress – would be a breath of fresh air and a great asset to the monarchy.
There’s no doubt that the late Queen welcomed Meghan Markle to the royal family. The American actress is pictured on her first engagement, visiting Chester with Her Majesty in June 2018
Courtiers say the queen believed Meghan would be a breath of fresh air and an asset to the monarchy. She is pictured with Harry and Meghan a month after their wedding in 2018
The queen accelerated her entry into the royal family, inviting Meghan to attend a service with her to mark Commonwealth Day – her first official engagement to the queen – two months before the wedding. It was another clear indication that Her Majesty valued Meghan and wanted her to be immediately seen as part of the family.
However, as the couple prepared for their wedding, the Queen became concerned about Meghan’s behavior and approach.
Firstly, she is said to be surprised that the newcomer rejected her suggestion that Prince Edward’s wife, Sophie, advise her on joining ‘The Firm’.
Her Majesty was also surprised by the divorcee’s choice of a white wedding dress for her second wedding, but it was Meghan’s attitude to her headpiece that caused the Queen more serious concerns.
She had offered Meghan access to her collection of tiaras and, during what Harry later described as an “extraordinary morning”, allowed her to try them on in the presence of her, her devoted dresser Angela Kelly and a royal jewelery expert in her private dressing room. .
However, something later went seriously wrong when Meghan tried to arrange an appointment with Kelly, who apparently did not appreciate the way she was treated by the bride and groom.
Meghan may have been used to ordering underlings around during a television taping, but may not have been used to dealing with someone like Kelly, who – while a servant – was also a confidante and friend of the Queen.
Harry denied in his memoir, Spare, that he angrily told Kelly, “What Meghan wants, Meghan gets.” However, he admitted that they were annoyed by the dresser, who “fixed me with a look that made me shudder.”
Elizabeth II was surprised when the divorcee chose a white wedding dress for her second wedding at St. George’s Chapel.
How sad that the Queen’s sincere efforts to welcome Meghan during her final years, when her health was failing, were thrown back in her face
He added: ‘I could read a clear warning on her face. This isn’t over yet.’
Despite all the pre-wedding tensions and perhaps growing anxiety about Harry’s choice of bride, the queen made Meghan feel welcome in the royal fold.
She gave her the title Duchess of Sussex and invited her granddaughter to accompany her on a solo visit to Chester just weeks after the wedding, prompting Meghan to tell Oprah Winfrey in 2021: “For example, the Queen has always been great for me.’
Other thoughtful gestures from Her Majesty included giving Meghan a role as royal patron of the National Theater and giving her important positions within the Commonwealth. Meghan was appointed vice-president of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust in 2018.
How has Meghan repaid that generosity and kindness? By announcing in January 2020 via a statement on the Sussexes’ Instagram page that they would be stepping back as senior working royals.
Meghan then attacked the royal family in the most damaging way possible in that interview with Oprah and later, in one of the most chilling moments in her and Harry’s Netlfix ‘docu-series’, appeared to mock the deep bow she had made in the presence of the Queen during their first meeting.
I’ve spoken to staff who worked at the Palace when the Sussexes were still working as royals, and some of them have told me that they got the impression from the start that Meghan might not have wanted to make a success of her life in Britain.
She seemed to be actively looking for reasons to be unhappy or angry, encouraging Harry’s long-standing bitterness at being the ‘spare’ and not the heir, the courtiers claim.
How sad that the Queen’s sincere efforts to welcome Meghan during her final years, when her health was failing, were thrown back in her face.
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