Expert reveals what the late Queen really thought of Meghan Markle

Queen Elizabeth II, who died at Balmoral Castle, Aberdeenshire, in 2022, warmly welcomed Meghan Markle into the Royal family after the actress began dating Prince Harry

The late Queen believed Meghan Markle would be "a breath of fresh air" and "a great asset to the Monarchy," a royal expert says.

Prince Harry and Meghan named their daughter Lilibet as a tribute to her paternal great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, who warmly welcomed Meghan into the family after she met Harry.

Meghan was allowed to join Harry at Sandringham for Christmas 2017, five months before the couple tied the knot at St George's Chapel. This was an unprecedented move by the Queen as, in the past, other women who had married into the Windsors, such as Kate Middleton and Sophie Rhys-Jones, had to wait until after their weddings to be invited for Christmas.

And Richard Eden, a royal reporter, wrote on Thursday: "Courtiers say the Queen believed that Meghan – a divorced, mixed-race American actress – would be a breath of fresh air and a great asset to the Monarchy.

"The Queen fast-tracked her entry into the Royal Family, inviting Meghan to join her at a service to mark Commonwealth Day – her first official engagement with the Queen – two months before the wedding. It was another clear indication that Her Majesty valued Meghan and wanted her to be seen as a part of the family without delay."

But less than two years after exchanging vows, Meghan and Harry announced their intention to leave the UK for a new life in the US - and end their royal duties as a result. The bombshell shocked fans across the world and began a sequence of events which has presented the Royal family with significant challenges.

And Mr Eden says these may be even more deep-rooted as Meghan's behaviour in the build-up to the May 2018 wedding allegedly concerned the Queen. Writing for the Daily Mail, he added: "First, she (the Queen) was said to be surprised that the new arrival rejected her suggestion that Prince Edward's wife, Sophie, offer her guidance on joining "The Firm".

"Her Majesty was also taken aback at the divorcee's choice of a white bridal gown for what was her second wedding - but it was Meghan's attitude towards her headwear that gave the Queen more serious cause for concern.

"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 front of her, her devoted dresser Angela Kelly and a royal jewellery expert in her private dressing room.

"Something later went badly wrong, however, when Meghan tried to arrange a fitting with Kelly, who, it seems, did not like the manner in which she was being treated by the bride and groom."

Harry denied in his memoirs, Spare, he angrily told Kelly, "What Meghan wants, Meghan gets." He did, however, admit they had been exasperated by the dresser, who "fixed me with a look that made me shiver".

Since quitting from the Royal family, Meghan attacked "The Firm" in her and Harry's Netlfix docuseries, by appearing to mock the deep curtsy she had performed in front of the Queen at their first meeting. Mr Eden continued: "How sad that the Queen's genuine efforts to welcome Meghan during her final years, when she was in failing health, were thrown back in her face."

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s new Netflix series will show the "grit behind the glamour," the Duke says. Polo will become the fourth documentary series produced by the Sussexes’ Archewell Productions for Netflix, following Harry & Meghan, Live to Lead and Heart of Invictus