FIVE years have passed since Megxit tore apart the Royal Family.
It gave Queen Elizabeth II undue stress and upset in the last few years of her life.
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tie the knotCredit: PA:Press Association
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The Queen and Meg watch a flypast to mark the centenary of the RAF from the balcony of Buckingham PalaceCredit: Getty
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The Queen and Charles accompanied by Lady Elizabeth AnsonCredit: PA
But according to royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith, the late monarch and her innermost circle had had their doubts about Prince Harry’s marriage to Meghan Markle long before they dropped the proverbial bomb and quit royal life in 2020.
In fact, the Queen feared her grandson was “besotted and weak” and said he had been “rude” to her in the lead-up to his and Meghan’s wedding at St George’s Chapel in Windsor in 2018.
She also worried that his bride-to-be had manipulated the prince, while getting away with a raft of bad behaviour.
Now, for the first time, the Queen’s private concerns have been made public in heartbreaking detail — showing just how perceptive she proved to be.
This week Sally published “explosive” revelations made to her by one of Her Majesty’s closest confidantes, her first cousin once removed, Lady Elizabeth Anson, in several conversations in 2018 and 2019.
Lady Elizabeth claimed there were serious concerns in the upper echelons of the Palace, long before Harry and Meghan made themselves royal pariahs.
Just days before the wedding, she had told Sally: “We hope but don’t quite think [Meghan] is in love.
“We think she engineered it all.”
She added: “It’s worrying that so many people are questioning whether Meghan is right for Harry.
“The problem, bless his heart, is that Harry is neither bright nor strong, and she is both.”
It’s unforgivable what Meghan did to the Queen – she’s caused a bigger crisis than the death of Diana, says expert
In another exchange, Lady Elizabeth said: “I don’t trust Meghan an inch.
“Meghan could turn into nothing but trouble.”
Musty smell
The shock revelations were released this week in Sally’s Royals Extra feature on publishing platform Substack.
The observations by Lady Elizabeth, who died from lung cancer in November 2020 aged 79, show the warning signs were there from the start — and proved well-founded.
She said Meghan had initially appeared “natural, intelligent and thoughtful” after getting engaged to Harry in 2017.
But as their wedding approached, they both caused a stir with their poor behaviour — and blatant disrespect for the Queen.
Harry was reportedly “rude to her for ten minutes” in one meeting and upset her by asking the Archbishop of Canterbury to perform the wedding service in May 2018, without first seeking permission from the Dean of Windsor.
As a high-society event planner herself, Lady Elizabeth — who was born at Windsor Castle in 1941 and was also King George VI’s goddaughter — understood all too well just what an embarrassing situation this put the Queen in.
She said at the time: “Harry seems to think the Queen can do what she wants, but she can’t.
“On the religious side, it is the Dean of Windsor’s jurisdiction.”
She added that as a result, “Harry has blown his relationship with his grandmother.”
They did later “patch things up” — but the hurt remained.
As for Meghan, allegations of her “diva-like” behaviour in the run-up to her big day are nothing new.
Indeed, at the time, it was rumoured that she had been nicknamed “Me-gain” by Palace courtiers, thanks to her extensive demands, and among her many complaints, had moaned about the “musty” smell in the chapel.
Nicknamed ‘Me-gain’ by Palace courtiers
She had even allegedly ordered staff to “go around with these atomisers, like spritzer guns, and spray the chapel with scent before anyone arrived.”
This follows years of allegations about Meghan’s “bullying” behaviour — something that even sparked an internal investigation at the Palace.
However, this is the first time we have heard about the Queen’s thoughts on the matter — and they were not good, according to Lady Elizabeth, who was a great-niece of the Queen Mother.
In 2018 she told Sally that Meghan had rattled the Queen days before the wedding, revealing: “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.”
This was enough to spark concern in the Palace, with hushed fears brewing that Meghan could “turn into nothing but trouble” and that — despite royal protocol — “she sees things in a different way”.
As Sally revealed this week: “I asked her if Meghan was being bossy. ‘So I gather,’ Lady Elizabeth replied. ‘Very much so.’”
The Queen is also said to have worried about Meghan’s infamously frosty relationship with her future sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, and told Lady Elizabeth that Meghan and Kate were “not working well”.
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Sally Bedell Smith, Queen Elizabeth’s biographerCredit: Getty
As history has proven, the Queen was right again.
Around the time of the wedding, it was widely reported that Meghan had made Kate cry over a disagreement about Princess Charlotte’s bridesmaid dress.
Then, in Harry and Meghan’s explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, Harry and Meghan claimed the “reverse” was true.
Meghan said that she was in fact the one in tears, adding: “I don’t say that to be disparaging to anyone, because it was a really hard week of the wedding and she was upset about something, but she owned it, and she apologised.”
Two years later, in his 2023 memoir Spare, Harry doubled down on Kate’s allegedly “icy” behaviour towards Meghan, claiming she had made a “grimace” when the latter had borrowed her lip gloss.
Clearly, as the Queen and Lady Elizabeth foretold, that bad blood between Kate and Meghan and their warring husbands only worsened.
Despite their concerns, there was — of course — hope that Harry and Meghan would take up the mantle as loyal and popular senior members of the Royal Family.
Harry seems to think the Queen can do what she wants, but Her Majesty can’t… Harry has blown relationship with his grandmother
And initially, at least, they showed promise.
Laid down the law
Just weeks after their wedding they proudly stood on the balcony at Buckingham Palace alongside Harry’s family for Meghan’s first Trooping the Colour.
But by February, a then pregnant Meghan was sparking concern yet again.
Writing recently on her Substack, Sally said: “By late February 2019 when Liza [Lady Elizabeth’s nickname] 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.’”
Sadly, the wedge only widened the gap.
In January 2020, Harry and Meghan announced they had chosen to “transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution”.
At first, it seemed they wanted to keep one foot in the royal fold, while pursuing financial opportunities on the outside.
But after months of negotiations, the Queen and the then Prince Charles laid down the law — they were either fully in or fully out.
There was no in-between.
The couple opted for the latter and moved to the US later that year, infamously launching a crusade of Palace-bashing and com- plaints against the royals in the aftermath.
Their first attack came in 2021 with the Oprah Winfrey interview, when they claimed — among several accusations — that the Palace had not protected Meghan when negative stories circulated about her, and had not supported her during a mental health crisis.
They also claimed there had been racially-charged speculation over the colour of their unborn child’s skin.
In response, the Queen — who lived by her mantra never to complain, never to explain — made an unprecedented response to their attacks.
The Queen and Meghan had tea days before the wedding. Her Majesty was trying to find out about the wedding dress, and Meghan wouldn’t tell her
A Palace statement said on her behalf: “The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan. The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning.
“Whilst some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately. Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved family members.”
As we all know now, the schism has only grown.
The Queen died in September 2022 at the age of 96 — before Harry and Meghan upped their outbursts against the royals.
Thankfully, she didn’t live to read his memoir, which made pointed attacks on his father and brother, accusing the latter of physically attacking him amid their Megxit negotiations.
She also didn’t live to see his legal battle against the UK government over the removal of his publicly funded police protection — an issue which, Harry says, has alienated his father for good.
Over the past year, both Kate and King Charles have fought respective cancer battles — yet even poor health has not helped to bridge the divide between the Royal Family and the estranged Sussexes.
As things stand, Harry and Meghan have fully severed every royal tie — though Meghan did recently refer to herself as HRH The Duchess of Sussex, despite previously promising the Queen they would not use their royal titles.
In the wake of Sally’s revelations, neither the Palace nor the Sussexes’ team have responded.
But her unearthed chats with Lady Elizabeth, who was made a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order shortly before she died, came at a momentous time for Meghan — on the same day she launched her lifestyle brand’s new rosé wine.
Whether she will be raising a toast this week — despite the fresh allegations stacked against her and Harry — remains to be seen.