The passing of Queen Elizabeth II last year marked the end of an era for the royal family. She was the world’s longest-serving monarch, working with no fewer than 15 Prime Ministers during her 70-year reign. She was mourned around the world, and on the day she died at Balmoral, her closest family gathered.
Despite the fact that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were in the UK at the time, she was nowhere to be found.Harry arrived after his family members and did not got to say his final farewell to his beloved grandmother. He learned about the queen’s death as soon as the jet touched down in Scotland.
Meghan and Kate had their first meeting in years during the funeral. Their connection had been shattered by Meghan’s comments about the royals, and it’s likely that the two didn’t speak at the funeral arrangement. When the queen died, they may have met at Balmoral. However, one idea holds that Meghan did not go because of Kate.
The royal family, as well as the public, believed that Harry and Meghan’s marriage in 2018 marked the beginning of a long and prosperous life together. The two were destined to become excellent working royals, gaining more recognition in the US as a result of Meghan Markle.
The newlyweds enjoyed a positive public reception, and the royals—especially Queen Elizabeth—were overjoyed. And once Meghan met the Queen’s Corgis, things only got better because she has always loved dogs.
The royals have liked Meghan ever since they started dating. Even the royal dogs appeared to be in favour of the union when Queen Elizabeth offered her blessing.
The Duchess said that the queen’s dogs were “just laying on my feet during tea” in their first joint interview, which was conducted only hours after Harry and Meghan announced their engagement. It had a delicious flavour.
Harry then chimed in: “I’ve spent the last 33 years being barked at – this one walks in, absolutely nothing.”
Prior to being engaged in 2017, Harry and Meghan dated for a while before getting married in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, the following year. There were numerous celebrations, as there often are at weddings. But there was also a lot of turmoil around Harry and Meghan’s wedding, which resulted in tears.
Meghan apparently had issues with the royal family, despite the happiness of her marriage. She reportedly didn’t feel welcomed by everyone, but Queen Elizabeth made her feel more at ease.
Of course, introducing his then-girlfriend Meghan to the queen was a big step for Harry. Not only was she the queen, but he also saw of Meghan as his true love, therefore everything had to go well with the monarch.
In 2018, Harry brought Meghan to Balmoral Castle to visit Queen Elizabeth, just before the couple revealed their engagement.
“He wanted to introduce Meghan to the queen. It went well,” a source told US Magazine at the time. “It’ll no doubt be the first of many encounters.”
The source was accurate, too. It was the first of many meetings, and Meghan’s connection with Queen Elizabeth grew after the pair got married.
In June 2018, after Meghan joined the queen on a solo appearance, a source told US Weekly, “[Her Majesty] has a brilliant sense of humor. That’s one of the first things that brought her and Meghan closer. It’s that warm side of her that has made Meghan feel so at ease.”
Meghan praised the queen and how she looked after the former Suits star during their initial engagement in a 2021 tell-all interview with CBS.
For their first official engagement together, Queen Elizabeth and the Duchess visited Cheshire, where they inaugurated a bridge and Chester’s Storyhouse Theatre. Additionally, they joined guests of the city council for lunch.
Surprisingly, Meghan revealed that the queen was more relaxed than people might think.
“We were in the car going between engagements. And she has a blanket that sits across her knees for warmth, and it was chilly,” Meghan recalled. “She was like, ‘Meghan, come on,’ and put it over my knees as well. And it made me think of my grandmother, where she’s always been warm and inviting and really welcoming.”
Meghan Markle and Queen Elizabeth forged a strong relationship. The queen was concerned when they started dating, despite the fact that she believed the actress was great.
British broadcaster Gyles Brandreth said the queen thought Harry was “perhaps a little over-in-love” with his new bride.
“She liked Meghan and told lots of people”
On the other side, Brandreth claims in the memoir Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait that the queen was “delighted” that Harry and Meghan were getting married.
“This was as far as she came – to my knowledge at least – to ever uttering a word against the new Duchess of Sussex,” the British broadcaster wrote.
“She liked Meghan and told lots of people so. And she did everything she could to make her future granddaughter-in-law feel welcome,” he added, according to an excerpt of the book.
Meghan Markle and Queen Elizabeth frequently travelled on official duties together. The strong relationship the two had with Harry’s grandmother ended when they made the decision to quit the royal family and went all-in during the Oprah interview (during which they accused The Firm of numerous things). Instead, they fled the nation for Canada and then the US.
When Harry and Meghan visited the UK, Lilibet, the queen’s great-granddaughter, had her first birthday. However, it is also claimed that the queen and Meghan’s friendship briefly soured as a result of how they outed the royal family.
At her Scottish summer home of Balmoral, Queen Elizabeth passed dead on September 8, 2022. The only people who reach Balmoral before the queen passed away were then-Prince Charles and Princess Anne, who was a part of her dying desire. Kate Middleton did not go with Prince William; instead, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward, and Sophie Wessex did.
As an alternative, she stayed in London to pick up Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis from school and was ready to break the news to them. What prevented Meghan Markle from going to Balmoral after Queen Elizabeth passed away
Harry had to travel alone in the meantime. Meghan, however, was not welcome. Harry wrote about the awful moments he learned of the queen’s dying in his book, as well as what his father warned him about Meghan being unwelcome.
“When the plane started to descend, I saw my mobile phone light up. It was a message from Meg, ‘Call me as soon as you read this.’ I checked the BBC webpage. My grandmother had died. My father was the King. I put on a black tie. stepped off the plane into heavy drizzle.”
Harry continued, “Then my father called again. He told me I was welcome at Balmoral, but… without her. He started to explain his reasons, but they didn’t make any sense at all, and it was disrespectful as well. I did not tolerate it from him. ‘Don’t even think about talking about my wife like that.’ Repentant, he said, stammering, that he simply didn’t want the place to be full of people.”
“‘Nobody’s wife was going to go, not even Kate,’ he told me, ‘so Meg shouldn’t either,’” he concluded.
Although Harry insisted that Meghan was not invited, there is another explanation for why she didn’t go to Balmoral. Meghan was initially scheduled to accompany Harry to Balmoral. At 2:00 PM on the day the queen passed away, a spokeswoman for the pair confirmed it. The long-reigning monarch passed away an hour and ten minutes later.
At 3:12, a photo of Kate Middleton bringing up the kids from Lambrook School in a car appeared online. Meghan then made the decision to alter her original plans. Kate was allegedly the “reason” Meghan didn’t go to Balmoral, according to a royal analyst.
Author of the contentious biography Finding Freedom, Omid Scobie, tweeted that Meghan had altered her plans. She stayed at home “like the Duchess of Cambridge.” Kate, it seems, was the “reason” Meghan chose not to go. The future Princess of Wales was the reason the Duchess “changed her mind.”
Just a few weeks later, at the funeral, Meghan Markle had the opportunity to bid the queen her last farewell. She received harsh criticism, though, for how she behaved on the sad day when Queen Elizabeth was put to rest at Windsor.
In an interview with Variety shortly after the queen’s death, Meghan Markle opened up about how she was mourning the late monarch.
She stated there had been an “outpouring of love and support,” and that she was “grateful” to have supported her husband during the difficult time.
“What’s so beautiful is to look at the legacy that his grandmother was able to leave on so many fronts. Certainly, in terms of female leadership, she is the most shining example of what that looks like. I feel deep gratitude to have been able to spend time with her and get to know her. It’s been a complicated time, but my husband, ever the optimist, said, ‘Now she’s reunited with her husband,’” Meghan said.
“I’ve reflected on that first official engagement that I had with her, how special that felt. I feel fortunate. And I continue to be proud to have had a nice warmth with the matriarch of the family.”
If you enjoy reading about the royal family and the late Queen Elizabeth, you may find this piece on the Queen’s last public appearance before her death – and why she wept – to be interesting.
