Throughout Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s early courtship, the Fits alum had a tall order forward of her as assembly her boyfriend’s household additionally meant assembly the royals.
“It was all very nice,” the Duke of Sussex recalled of Meghan’s first assembly with Queen Elizabeth II in October 2016.
Harry and the “Archetypes” podcast host started courting that July earlier than he drove her to the queen’s Royal Lodge in Windsor, England, for lunch. The twosome — who wed in Might 2018 — have been joined by Elizabeth, Prince Andrew, Sarah Ferguson, Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank.
Her Majesty — who died in September 2022 on the age of 96 — needed to ask the California native about her opinion of former President Donald Trump’s first political marketing campaign, Harry wrote in his 2023 memoir, Spare. Meghan, for her half, thought getting right into a political dialog was a “no-win sport,” and seemingly modified the topic to speak about her residence in Canada. (Meghan lived in Toronto whereas she filmed Fits.)
“Granny seemed happy. ‘Commonwealth. Good, high quality,’” the Invictus Video games cofounder recalled in his debut memoir, which hits cabinets in January 2023, earlier than noting that Elizabeth revealed her departure plans 20 minutes later. Because the queen took the Duke of York’s arm to go away the room, she apparently turned again to say goodbye to her visitors. “She locked eyes with Meg, gave a wave and a heat smile. ‘Bye,’” Harry wrote.
Whereas Meghan impressed the long-reigning monarch throughout their first lunch, she “freaked out” Harry’s older brother, Prince William, by giving him a hug after they met face-to-face, the Invictus Video games cofounder wrote in his guide.
“He recoiled. Willy didn’t hug many strangers. Whereas Meg hugged most strangers,” Harry claimed, revealing that the Duke of Cornwall and spouse Princess Kate had been “spiritual” viewers of Fits.
Meghan, for her half, beforehand recalled in Netflix’s 2022 docuseries Harry & Meghan that she met the Cambridges throughout an intimate Kensington Palace dinner.
“They came visiting for dinner, and I bear in mind I used to be in ripped denims and I used to be barefoot,” the Bench creator stated within the docuseries, which premiered in December 2022, earlier than claiming Kate was caught off guard by her greeting. “I used to be a hugger. I’ve at all times been a hugger. I didn’t notice that’s actually jarring for lots of Brits.”
She continued: “I assume I began to grasp in a short time that the formality on the skin carried via on the within, that there’s a forward-facing manner of being, and then you definately shut the door and also you go, ‘Oh, alright, OK, I can chill out now.’ However that formality carries over on each side, and that was shocking to me.”
Scroll beneath to learn Harry’s account of introducing Meghan to the royals:
Credit score: Shutterstock(3)
Prince Harry Reveals How Meghan Markle Met Every Member of the Royal Household: Queen Elizabeth II, Prince William and Extra
Throughout Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s early courtship, the Fits alum had a tall order forward of her as assembly her boyfriend’s household additionally meant assembly the royals.
“It was all very nice,” the Duke of Sussex recalled of Meghan’s first assembly with Queen Elizabeth II in October 2016.
Harry and the “Archetypes” podcast host started courting that July earlier than he drove her to the queen’s Royal Lodge in Windsor, England, for lunch. The twosome — who wed in Might 2018 — have been joined by Elizabeth, Prince Andrew, Sarah Ferguson, Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank.
Her Majesty — who died in September 2022 on the age of 96 — needed to ask the California native about her opinion of former President Donald Trump’s first political marketing campaign, Harry wrote in his 2023 memoir, Spare. Meghan, for her half, thought getting right into a political dialog was a “no-win sport,” and seemingly modified the topic to speak about her residence in Canada. (Meghan lived in Toronto whereas she filmed Fits.)
[jwplayer rd8YItd5-zhNYySv2]
“Granny seemed happy. ‘Commonwealth. Good, high quality,’” the Invictus Video games cofounder recalled in his debut memoir, which hits cabinets in January 2023, earlier than noting that Elizabeth revealed her departure plans 20 minutes later. Because the queen took the Duke of York’s arm to go away the room, she apparently turned again to say goodbye to her visitors. “She locked eyes with Meg, gave a wave and a heat smile. ‘Bye,’” Harry wrote.
Whereas Meghan impressed the long-reigning monarch throughout their first lunch, she “freaked out” Harry’s older brother, Prince William, by giving him a hug after they met face-to-face, the Invictus Video games cofounder wrote in his guide.
“He recoiled. Willy didn’t hug many strangers. Whereas Meg hugged most strangers,” Harry claimed, revealing that the Duke of Cornwall and spouse Princess Kate had been “spiritual” viewers of Fits.
Meghan, for her half, beforehand recalled in Netflix’s 2022 docuseries Harry & Meghan that she met the Cambridges throughout an intimate Kensington Palace dinner.
“They came visiting for dinner, and I bear in mind I used to be in ripped denims and I used to be barefoot,” the Bench creator stated within the docuseries, which premiered in December 2022, earlier than claiming Kate was caught off guard by her greeting. “I used to be a hugger. I’ve at all times been a hugger. I didn’t notice that’s actually jarring for lots of Brits.”
She continued: “I assume I began to grasp in a short time that the formality on the skin carried via on the within, that there’s a forward-facing manner of being, and then you definately shut the door and also you go, ‘Oh, alright, OK, I can chill out now.’ However that formality carries over on each side, and that was shocking to me.”
Scroll beneath to learn Harry’s account of introducing Meghan to the royals:
Credit score: Shutterstock
Queen Elizabeth II
Harry invited Meghan to fulfill his beloved grandmother after she returned residence from that morning’s church service. “Enjoyable, I like grandmas,” he recalled his now-wife saying.
Because the twosome greeted the queen, Harry seen that Meghan had dropped right into a “deep, flawless curtsy” and stated, “Your Majesty. Pleasure to fulfill you.”
Whereas Elizabeth was dressed for church, Harry and Meghan wore “shabby” denims, which the Spare creator admittedly regretted.
Credit score: Tim Rooke/Shutterstock
King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla
Harry wrote that he and “Meg” had rehearsed the best way to greet Charles and Camilla earlier than their official assembly. The previous actress had practiced curtsying to His Majesty and solely deliberate to provide him a kiss on the cheek if he leaned in first. Harry had additionally instructed Meghan to not curtsy to his stepmother per protocol, as an alternative providing both a cheek kiss or a handshake.
After the correct greetings, the British monarch — who ascended the throne in September 2022 after Elizabeth’s dying — requested Meghan if she was “the star of an American cleaning soap opera,” Harry recalled.
“She smiled. I smiled. I desperately needed to say, ‘Cleaning soap opera? No, that is our household, Pa,’” Harry quipped, earlier than the Northwestern College alum defined that Fits was a cable drama sequence about legal professionals that aired within the evenings. Charles reportedly replied, “Marvelous. How splendid.”
Credit score: Andrew Parsons/Shutterstock
Prince William and Princess Kate
Whereas Harry prepped Meghan to formally greet Elizabeth and his father in keeping with their titles, he noticed William and Kate as simply his brother “Willy” and his spouse “who beloved Fits.”
Following Harry’s instruction, Meghan gave William and Kate a pair of hugs, which notably caught the twosome off guard.
Credit score: Shutterstock
Sarah Ferguson
Ferguson’s youngest daughter, Eugenie, was the primary royal relative that Meghan met, alongside Brooksbank, after they visited the duo in Canada. The subsequent “logical” step was to introduce Meghan to the previous Duchess of York. The previous Tig blogger tried to curtsy to Ferguson outdoors the Royal Lodge in 2016. When it grew to become clear that she didn’t know the best way to carry out one, the Her Coronary heart for a Compass creator gave an impromptu tutorial. Meghan then flawlessly mimicked Ferguson’s actions, Harry penned in Spare.
Credit score: Tim Rooke/Shutterstock
Prince Andrew
After the queen’s hasty exit from their first assembly, Meghan requested Harry in regards to the assistant that had been “holding her purse” in the course of the meal. The duke then defined it was Andrew, Elizabeth and the late Prince Philip’s second son. “She undoubtedly hadn’t Googled us,” Harry wrote.