NEED TO KNOW
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Queen Elizabeth was reportedly unhappy with how Prince Harry and Meghan Markle handled matters before their May 2018 wedding day
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Royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith shared the alleged story in her Substack, Royals Extra
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Bedell Smith relayed the claim by recounting conversations with her late friend Lady Elizabeth Anson, who was a cousin of Queen Elizabeth
Queen Elizabeth was disheartened by a dispute with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in the run-up to the couple’s royal wedding, according to a new report.
On July 1, The Times published an excerpt containing the claim made in a recent edition of royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith’s Substack, Royals Extra.
In that update, Bedell Smith, the author of bestselling biographies of the late Queen, recounted her friendship with Queen Elizabeth’s cousin and party planner Lady Elizabeth Anson, who died in November 2020 at age 79. There, she shared an anecdote about the alleged disagreement between the Queen and her grandson ahead of his wedding in May 2018.
A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s office declined to comment.
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Lady Elizabeth Anson at Royal Ascot on June 18, 2013.
In her Substack, Bedell Smith wrote that Anson said the Queen was upset that her grandson Harry asked the Archbishop of Canterbury to perform the wedding service at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle without first getting approval from the Dean of Windsor.
Referring to Anson by the nickname Liza, Bedell Smith wrote,” ‘Harry seems to think the Queen can do what she wants, but she can’t,’ said Liza. ‘On the religious side, it is the Dean of Windsor’s jurisdiction.’ As a result, Liza said that ‘Harry has blown his relationship with his grandmother. She said she was really upset. I was shocked when the Queen told me this, how she was so saddened. I had no idea about the conversation, that he was rude to her for 10 minutes.’ “
According to the author of Elizabeth the Queen, that wasn’t the only blow, either. Another alleged pain point was Meghan’s wedding dress details, which the bride reportedly kept private.
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle depart following their wedding at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018.
Anson reportedly told Bedell Smith, “They had tea with her the day before yesterday. She was trying to find out about the wedding dress, and Meghan wouldn’t tell her.”
Less than a month ahead of Harry and Meghan’s nuptials, Liza told Bedell Smith that “the Queen and Harry have patched things up. He came to her on his own. She said she felt very left out, so he wrote her a letter about what was happening.”
Queen Elizabeth was also reportedly bothered that Meghan, Prince William and Kate Middleton were “not working well.” “That is what the Queen said, particularly about the two girls,” Anson reportedly told Bedell Smith.
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Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018.
Prince Harry and Meghan tied the knot in a storybook ceremony at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018, in a celebration attended by Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip (who Bedell Smith notes had had hip replacement surgery just a few weeks before at age 96), the future King Charles and most other members of the royal family.
Bedell Smith outlined how Meghan’s father, Thomas Markle, did not attend the wedding amid health problems and how then-Prince Charles escorted his daughter-in-law to the altar, where the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby officiated the nuptials.
“The world fell in love with Meghan, and the Queen warmly welcomed her. But rumbles of discord began to emerge in the autumn, and by late February 2019, when Liza and I spoke on the phone, she said, ‘I don’t trust Meghan an inch. To begin with, she was not bad — a straightforward starlet, used to public speaking and charity work. The wedge between the brothers is really too bad,’ ” Bedell Smith wrote, seemingly referencing the tensions that escalated into a bitter rift between Prince William and Prince Harry.
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Queen Elizabeth, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to mark the Centenary of the RAF on July 10, 2018 in London.
Queen Elizabeth bestowed Harry, 40, and Meghan, 43, with the titles of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex upon their royal wedding day, and the couple later honored her by naming their daughter Lilibet Diana in a tribute to the Queen’s childhood nickname of Lilibet, used by family.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced their seismic step back from their working royal roles in 2020 and moved to the U.S., where they are raising their children, Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4, outside of the spotlight.
In a statement released by the Queen through the palace following Harry and Meghan’s announcement about their intentions to step back, she emphasized that “Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved members of my family.”
“Following many months of conversations and more recent discussions, I am pleased that together we have found a constructive and supportive way forward for my grandson and his family. Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved members of my family,” the history-making monarch said in a statement then.
“I recognize the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life. I want to thank them for all their dedicated work across this country, the Commonwealth and beyond, and am particularly proud of how Meghan has so quickly become one of the family,” Queen Elizabeth continued.
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Meghan Markle, Prince Harry and Queen Elizabeth at the Queen’s Young Leaders Awards Ceremony at Buckingham Palace on June 26, 2018.
“It is my whole family’s hope that today’s agreement allows them to start building a happy and peaceful new life.”
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Queen Elizabeth died in September 2022 at age 96 at her beloved Balmoral Castle in the Scottish Highlands. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were coincidentally in Europe for a series of charitable events and attended the funeral events that followed.
Read the original article on People