How Meghan Markle won over the Queen
Meghan hasn’t had the smoothest start to royal life — and now the Queen has given her strongest sign yet about how she feels about the troubled Duchess.
If there is one word you could confidently use to describe the Queen it is inscrutable. Her 66-year reign has been a master class in giving little if nothing away.
Her speeches are filled with platitudes and benign pleasantries. Her social media posts are written by someone else.
She does not weigh in on politics and despite loving the gee-gees with a vengeance, never places a bet so she is not seen to be taking a preference.
But sometimes, just sometimes, she does things that inadvertently are big pointers about how she truly feels. Case in point, what she genuinely thinks of her granddaughter-in-law Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
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While Meghan’s relationship with her sister-in-law Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, has come under the microscope in the past year (there have been reports of tears, tantrums and yep, even tiaras in a delightful instance of life imitating reality TV), from nearly word go, the former actor has had a stellar connection with the monarch.
From the moment Harry introduced his then-girlfriend to the Queen, the two women are said to have hit it off, their shared love of dogs easing things along.
During the Sussexes’ first joint interview, Harry revealed that Meghan won over a key demographic when she joined the royal family: Her Majesty’s beloved pooches.
Said Harry in 2017: “For 33 years, [I’ve been] barked at, and this one walks in, and absolutely nothing, just wagging tails.”
But there is so much more to the Elizabeth and Meghan connection.
First, only a month or so after Harry and Meghan said ‘I do’ in 2018, Her Majesty bestowed on Meghan a doozy of an honour — accompanying her on a solo engagement to Cheshire replete with an overnight stay on the royal train, a regal treat that Kate has never gotten (nor have Wills or Harry for that matter).
Once there, though Meghan might have breached protocol by not wearing a hat, which is a must for daytime events when appearing alongside the Commander of the Armed Forces and Defender of the Faith, she achieved the near impossible: She made the Queen laugh heartily in public.
Want even more proof? When Meghan arrived on that day alongside the monarch, she was wearing a pair of pearl earrings the Queen had recently given her as a gift.
Come November and the Queen gave us another big indication that she is a Meghan fan. During Remembrance Day events in London, it was Meghan who was tasked with ‘looking after’ Elke Budenbender, wife of the German president, while more senior royal women took their place on a separate balcony. That’s a big tick on her six-month performance review.
Perhaps the biggest sign, until now, came in January when it was announced that Her Majesty was handing her royal patronages of the National Theatre, and of the Association of Commonwealth Universities to the former actor. While on some level this might sound like the 93-year-old lumping some of her exhaustive workload on the family’s newest staff member, this was a huge indication of the esteem with which she holds Meghan.
It was a significant sign that her Majesty puts serious store in Meghan’s ability to assume her role in these prestigious organisations and to acquit herself with aplomb.
Soon, Meghan will get to enjoy a lovely treat from Her Majesty, something she only bestows on those she genuinely values.
On August 4, the new mum will turn 38 and she will be in Balmoral and according to a number of reports, the great-grandmother will be hosting an afternoon celebration for Meghan with the castle’s pastry team set to rustle up a cake.
While a slice of Victoria sponge in remote Scotland, wedged between a newborn and a nonagenarian might sound about as exciting as being forced to listen to Princess Michael of Kent read aloud from her latest bodice-ripper, this is a huge deal.
Balmoral is widely held to be the Queen’s favourite home and her summer holidays there are treasured family time for the monarch. This is the home where she goes to truly relax and to be surrounded by the people she cares about the most.
Not only has she asked the Sussexes to spend time with her at Balmoral but will be giving them their own wing for the duration of their stay, so no port-a-cots and being forced to all wedge into one draughty spare bedroom.
Writing in Vanity Fair, royal biographer Katie Nicholl this week revealed that, according to a royal source, “The Queen has been astonished and very impressed by Meghan’s work drive.”
Because if there is one thing that the Queen values, above a good thoroughbred and a well-made martini, it is a person who doesn’t mind putting their back into it and getting stuck in.
Work ethic is something of extreme importance to Her Majesty so no matter what other slightly questionable habits Meghan might have, like writing on bananas and clutching Harry with two hands every time they are out in public, she and the Queen share an intrinsic belief in the value of the daily grind.
And that means Meghan will soon get to have her cake — and eat it too, alongside the Queen.
Daniela Elser is a royal expert and freelance writer with 20 years’ experience who has written for some of Australia’s best print and digital media brands | Continue the conversation @DanielaElser
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