 |
| Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (left) are pictured at a memorial service at St Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square in London on April 23. Queen Elizabeth II is pictured in Windsor, England, on April 22. Photo: Victoria Jones/AFP/Chris Jackson - WPA Pool/Getty Images |
By Rebecka Schumann, International Business Times - Business
Rumors pitting Queen Elizabeth II against Prince William’s wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, have been rampant for years. Now, ahead of Prince Harry’s royal wedding to American actress Meghan Markle, the same can be said about allegations regarding the relationship between Prince Harry’s future wife and the ruling monarch.
Ahead of the British prince’s wedding to Markle on Saturday, take a look at everything we know about how the 92-year-old Queen feels about Prince Harry’s bride.
Markle revealed during a sit-down interview with BBC News in November, after the announcement of her and Prince Harry’s engagement, that she had already met his grandmother and that they got along swimmingly.
“To be able to meet her through his lens, and not just with his honor and respect for her as the monarch, but the love that he has for her as his grandmother, all of those layers have been so important for me so when I met her I had such a deep understanding,” Markle said. “She’s an incredible woman.”
And it wasn’t just Queen Elizabeth II who was accepting of Prince Harry’s future partner. Markle shared that over of the course of their relationship, she also spent time with his other family members, calling all of them “welcoming.”
“The family has been great and over the past year and a half we’ve just had a really nice time getting to know them and progressively helping me feel a part of not just the institution but part of the family, which has been really special,” she said.
Prince Harry added, “The family together have been absolutely solid support and my grandparents as well have been wonderful throughout this whole process.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (left) are pictured at a memorial service at St Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square in London on April 23. Queen Elizabeth II is pictured in Windsor, England, on April 22. Photo: Victoria Jones/AFP/Chris Jackson - WPA Pool/Getty Images And it’s not just the Queen who took a liking to Markle, who quit her acting career on the U.S. network drama “Suits” to marry into the royal brood, the monarch’s beloved corgis also took to her during one meeting. “Just laying on my feet during tea,” Markle said with a smile. “It was very sweet.”
While Queen Elizabeth II did not take part in the couple’s post-engagement interview, she has shared her approval of Prince Harry’s marriage to the American divorcee on more than one occasion. Following their engagement, The Royal Family Twitter page issued a statement on the Queen and her husband Prince Philip’s behalf.
In March, following a Privy Council meeting at Buckingham Palace, the Queen publicly shared her consent for the upcoming union. The palace has since released a sneak peek of the Instrument of Consent, a handwritten document recording the Queen’s signed approval of the marriage, which will be gifted to the couple following their wedding.
“NOW KNOW YE that We have consented and do by these Presents signify Our Consent to the contracting of Matrimony between Our Most Dearly Beloved Grandson Prince Henry Charles Albert David of Wales, K.C.V.O., and Rachel Meghan Markle,” reads the official document, which is pictured below.
No matter what the Queen really thinks of Markle, it is clear the Prince is smitten with his soon-to-be wife.
“The fact that I fell in love with Meghan so incredibly quickly was sort of confirmation to me that all the stars were aligned. Everything was just perfect. This beautiful woman literally tripped and fell into my life, I fell into her life,” Prince Harry said during the BBC News interview. “ We’re a fantastic team. We know we are.”
COMMENTS