The late Queen Elizabeth II was ‘not at all content’ on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding day, it was claimed this week.
Lady Elizabeth Anson, who was both a great-niece to the Queen Mother and a goddaughter to King George VI, served as Her Majesty’s party organizer and confidante for many years.
Recently, journalist and royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith shared in her Substack ‘Royal Extras’ the private exchanges she had with Lady Elizabeth, affectionately known as Liza by her friends.
Liza claimed that Meghan was ‘full of charm’ and appeared ‘natural, intelligent, and thoughtful’ after she became engaged to Harry in 2017.
As the wedding date neared, Liza reportedly mentioned that both Harry and Meghan had caused some discontent for the Queen. Harry allegedly spoke disrespectfully to his grandmother for about ten minutes in a meeting, while Meghan was said to have declined to share details about her wedding dress with the Queen.
Speaking on the YouTube show Palace Confidential, Rebecca English, the Daily Mail’s Royal Editor, said: ‘I know from my own sources that the Queen was bemused and saddened by some of Meghan’s behaviour but by their behaviour as a couple.
‘It did overshadow her last few years of life, of course.’
But there was another reason why the Queen was reportedly ‘not at all content’ while sat in the pews at St George’s Chapel on May 19, 2018.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle got married at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018
Queen Elizabeth was reportedly ‘not at all content’ on their wedding day
Ms Bedell Smith wrote: ‘According to Liza, the Queen was dismayed that Harry had asked the Archbishop of Canterbury to perform the wedding service in St. George’s Chapel without first requesting permission from the Dean of Windsor.’
‘It sounds quite niche in the circumstances,’ Rebecca said on the latest episode of Palace Confidential. ‘But I do think it gets to the crux of the issue.
‘She was really quite unhappy that Meghan and Harry wanted the Archbishop of Canterbury to marry them at St George’s Chapel at Windsor because actually that was the Dean of Windsor’s territory and it really shouldn’t have happened.’
Although Rebecca acknowledged that Palace Confidential viewers may find this ‘silly’, she explained: ‘When you know about the set up of things, it really was the Dean’s territory.
‘It kind of illustrated how she felt there was a fundamental misunderstanding from the couple about how things worked.
‘It just didn’t sit comfortably with her,’ she added.
As a result, Ms Bedell Smith wrote that Lady Elizabeth believed Harry had ‘blown his relationship with his grandmother’.
Rebecca stars on the hit royal YouTube show alongside host Jo Elvin and Richard Eden, the Daily Mail’s Diary Editor.
The Queen was reportedly ‘dismayed’ that the Sussexes were married by the Archbishop of Canterbury (centre)
Rebecca English, the Daily Mail’s Royal Editor, on Palace Confidential
Rebecca (centre) stars on the hit royal YouTube show alongside host Jo Elvin (right) and Richard Eden (left), the Daily Mail’s Diary Editor
Responding to Rebecca, Richard said: ‘You might remember in Harry and Meghan’s Oprah interview that Meghan actually said: “You know what, we got married the night before!”
‘They got the Archbishop of Canterbury round to their backyard, as she called it, and they got married and we know what that was. In reality, that was a rehearsal and they were just going through their vows.
‘That caused awful confusion because the Church actually had to issue a formal statement saying: “We did not marry them the day before i.e. break the law.”‘
Rebecca added: ‘I think the Church suggested it was just basically a blessing ahead of their big day but it did put the Archbishop of Canterbury in a difficult position.
‘He was a big supporter of Harry and Meghan because they had their marital lessons and they had spent time with him discussing their feelings and where they were going.
‘But they totally threw him to the wolves over that,’ she added.
Circling back to Lady Elizabeth’s words, which were published this week, Richard said the ‘most damning of all’ was her apparent suspicion of the former Suits star’s motives in marrying Harry.
‘We hope but don’t quite think she is in love,’ Liza said. ‘We think she engineered it all.’
In the Oprah interview, Meghan claimed she and Harry were married by the Archbishop of Canterbury before their wedding in the chapel
Richard Eden, the Daily Mail’s Diary Editor, said the ‘most damning’ of Lady Elizabeth’s words was the insinuation that Meghan ‘engineered’ her relationship with Prince Harry
She also warned: ‘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’.
‘Meghan is clearly brighter than Harry, but she has to be careful not to overshadow him’, she added.
Liza apparently told Ms Bedell Smith at the time: ‘I don’t trust Meghan an inch. Meghan could turn into nothing but trouble.’
A spokesman for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex declined to comment on the claims made by Sally Bedell Smith.
But a source close to the couple dismissed the sensational claims as ‘just gossip’.
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