The King is bidding farewell to the Windsors’ beloved royal train, it was announced this week, and the Duchess of Sussex was one of the few royals who got to travel on the locomotive.
Back in 2018, just a few months after her royal wedding to Prince Harry, Meghan stayed onboard with the late Queen Elizabeth II ahead of their joint visit to Cheshire.
Harry later wrote about his wife’s trip in his memoir, Spare, which was released in January 2023.
“Days later Meg went off on her first royal trip with Granny. She was nervous, but they got on famously. They also bonded over their love of dogs,” he revealed.
© Getty ImagesMeghan stayed onboard the royal train with Queen Elizabeth II
“She returned from the trip glowing. ‘We bonded’, she told me. ‘The Queen and I really bonded! We talked about how much I wanted to be a mom and she told me the best way to induce labour was a good bumpy car ride! I told her I’d remember that when the time came.'”
© Getty ImagesMeghan and the late Queen shared a giggle
The Duchess and the late Queen were pictured sharing a giggle together as they attended a ceremony to open the new Mersey Gateway Bridge.
The monarch wore a lime green coat and hat for the occasion, while Meghan sported a cream caped dress by Givenchy.
Fondest of farewells
The news about the royal train being decommissioned came as the annual royal accounts were released on Monday.
Instead the royal family will rely on two new helicopters when the nine-carriage train stops running ahead of a maintenance contract ending in early 2027.
© GettyThe royal train
James Chalmers, Keeper of the Privy Purse, described the move as an example of the royal household applying “fiscal discipline” in its drive to deliver “value for money”.
Mr Chalmers said: “The royal train, of course, has been part of national life for many decades, loved and cared for by all those involved. But in moving forward we must not be bound by the past.
© GettyThe Queen, Charles and Andrew onboard the royal train in 1961
“Just as so many parts of the royal household’s work have been modernised and adapted to reflect the world of today, so too, the time has come to bid the fondest of farewells, as we seek to be disciplined and forward-looking in our allocation of funding.
“With His Majesty’s support it has therefore been decided that the process to decommission the royal train will commence next year.”
© Anwar Hussein, GettyQueen Elizabeth II working at her desk on the Royal Train in 2002
The royal train was a favourite of Queen Elizabeth II and the late Duke of Edinburgh and was decorated and furnished to meet the needs of senior royals, and in 2020, the Prince and Princess of Wales made a 1,250-mile train journey over three days to thank key and frontline workers and communities for their efforts during the pandemic.
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