By Editor Richard Eden
EXCLUSIVETruth about Queen and Meghan Markle, exposed by my extensive research. RICHARD EDEN’S sources raised upsetting questions about her and Harry’s behaviour. Now he lays bare most disturbing comment of all
Read more: What the Queen REALLY thought of Meghan. My extensive research and Palace sources have unearthed troubling new questions about her
By RICHARD EDEN
Published: 12:39 BST, 1 July 2025 | Updated: 13:14 BST, 1 July 2025
When I wrote a Daily Mail column last November about what the late Queen Elizabeth really thought of Meghan Markle, I was deluged with abuse from the âSussex squadâ, the collective noun proudly used by the Duke and Duchess of Sussexâs most devoted supporters.
They accused me of slandering the American former actress who, they claimed, had enjoyed a warm relationship with the grandmother of her husband, Prince Harry.
I wrote the column based on extensive research undertaken for an edition of my YouTube video series, Reading The Royals, which had raised some troubling questions about the Sussexesâ behaviour.
And so I was not surprised to read this week that the Queen had shared her concerns about Meghan with her first cousin, Lady Elizabeth Anson, who was one of her closest confidantes.
I saw signs of the Queenâs deep affection for her friend at a number of London events organised by Lady Elizabeth, a successful party planner.
Iâll never forget one party, at the Goring Hotel, the Belgravia hotel a stoneâs throw from Buckingham Palace where Catherine Middleton and her family stayed before she married Prince William at Westminster Abbey in 2011.
The Queen was rumoured to be due to attend this particular party but I was sceptical because I knew that she was going to a preview of the Chelsea Flower Show earlier that day.
This was in her later years, and I presumed that the last thing the Queen would want to do after a few hours inspecting the vast flower show in west London would be to go to a party.
Meghan on her first official engagement, a visit to Chester with the Queen in June 2018
How wrong I was. So devoted to her friend and cousin was the Queen that not only did she pop in to Lady Elizabethâs party, but she stayed chatting to guests for hours.
The embarrassing truth is that I wanted to leave the party, having been there for some time, but didnât feel I could while our elderly monarch was still in full swing.
Given her evident devotion to Lady Elizabeth, her remarks to her cousin about her grandson Harry and his choice of bride revealed this week by respected royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith should not come as a surprise.
The journalist and author says Harry âblewâ his relationship with the Queen as he prepared to marry Meghan, who also upset the monarch by refusing to reveal what her wedding dress looked like.
The Queen was said to have been âvery worriedâ about her âbesotted and weakâ grandson and was concerned about some of their decisions relating to the ceremony at St Georgeâs Chapel, Windsor, in May 2018.
Her Majesty reportedly confided in Lady Elizabeth that Harry was ârude to her for ten minutesâ in one meeting and that âMeghan and William and Kate were not working wellâ together, adding that it was âparticularly… the two girlsâ who didnât get on.
The âjury was outâ on whether the Queen really liked her grandsonâs then bride-to-be, Bedell Smith claims, and the monarch felt âleft outâ of the planning for the wedding by Harry, who tried to âpatch upâ their relationship in the weeks before walking down the aisle.
The duchess reportedly upset the monarch by refusing to reveal what her wedding dress looked like
EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Clarkson set to launch OnlyFarmers
Lady Elizabeth herself allegedly said just days before Meghan and Harryâs wedding: âWe hope but donât quite think she is in love. We think she engineered it all.â
Despite the Queenâs apparent reservations about Harryâs choice of bride, she went out of her way to welcome her into the Royal Family. Indeed, she cast aside royal conventions to do so.
For example, while 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 to spend Christmas at Sandringham, Meghan was allowed to join Harry in 2017, five months before the big day. It was an unprecedented and highly personal gesture by the Queen.
Meghan later said on her Netflix series, Harry & Meghan: âI remember so vividly the first Christmas at Sandringham, calling my mom, and sheâs like, âHowâs it going?â and I said, âOh, my gosh, itâs amazing.â Itâs just like a big family, like I always wanted. And there was just this constant movement and energy and fun.â
The Queen gave Meghan the Duchess of Sussex title, and invited her granddaughter-in-law to accompany her on a solo visit to Chester just weeks after the royal wedding, prompting Meghan to tell Oprah Winfrey in 2021: âThe Queen, for example, has always been wonderful to me.â
Other thoughtful gestures by Her Majesty included handing Meghan a role as royal patron of the National Theatre and giving her important positions within the Commonwealth. Meghan was also named Vice President of the Queenâs Commonwealth Trust in 2018.
The fact that less than two years after her wedding, Meghan was already quitting royal duties to seek her fortune overseas shows how astute the Queen was to have private reservations about her.
Sign up for Richard Edenâs Royal Newsletter: Palace Confidential
LondonMeghan Markle
Share or comment on this article:
Truth about Queen and Meghan Markle, exposed by my extensive research. RICHARD EDEN’S sources raised upsetting questions about her and Harry’s behaviour. Now he lays bare most disturbing comment of all
Add comment