Meghan Markle praised the Queen today, saying she had been ‘wonderful’ to her and had once asked her to share a blanket which sits across her knees for warmth.
The Duchess of Sussex also told Oprah Winfrey in her bombshell interview that the monarch had given her some ‘beautiful’ pearl earrings and a matching necklace.
She also revealed she had called the Queen to check in on the Duke of Edinburgh’s health after learning the 99-year-old had gone to hospital in London last month.
Meghan went on her first trip with the Queen on the royal train to Cheshire in June 2018, a month after her wedding, which saw them open a bridge and visit a theatre.
She told Oprah: ‘The Queen, for example, has always been wonderful to me. I mean, we had one of our first joint engagements together. She asked me to join her.
The Queen and Meghan attend the opening of the new Mersey Gateway Bridge in June 2018
The Queen and the Duchess of Sussex attend a day of engagements together in Cheshire
‘We had breakfast together that morning, and she’d given me a beautiful gift, and I just really loved being in her company. And I remember we were in the car.’
Oprah asked her what the gift was, and Meghan replied: ‘She gave me some beautiful pearl earrings and a matching necklace.
‘We were in the car going between engagements, and she has a blanket that sits across her knees for warmth.
‘And it was chilly, and she was like, ‘Meghan, come on,’ and put it over my knees, as well.’ Oprah replied ‘nice’.
And Meghan continued: ‘Right? Just moments of… and it made me think of my grandmother where she’s always been warm and inviting and really welcoming.’
The Queen sits with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at Buckingham Palce on June 26, 2018
Oprah said the Queen ‘made you feel welcomed’, and Meghan replied ‘Yes.’
The Duchess also pointed out there ‘there’s the family, and then there’s the people that are running the institution – those are two separate things, and it’s important to be able to compartmentalise that.’
Meghan and the Queen had gone on an overnight rail trip to Cheshire in 2018, and were pictured smiling together during a ceremony to open the new Mersey Gateway Bridge.
They had been greeted by cheering crowds in Chester, and also joined the rest of Britain in observing a minute’s silence to remember the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire on its first anniversary.
Meghan also revealed she had called the Queen to check in on the Duke of Edinburgh’s health after learning he had gone to hospital last month.
Meghan and Harry on the Buckingham Palace balcony on June 10, 2018 with the Queen and other royals including Charles, Andrew, Camilla, William and Kate
The Duchess said she woke up earlier than Harry one morning and saw a note from someone on their team in the UK saying Prince Philip had been admitted to hospital.
She added: ‘I just picked up the phone, and I called the Queen just to check in.’
Philip was taken to King Edward VII Hospital in London on February 16 for treatment for an infection, before having heart surgery at St Bartholomew’s Hospital last week.
He was transferred back to King Edward VII Hospital last Friday and remains there this morning.
There had been calls over the past week for Harry and Meghan to postpone their interview out of respect for Philip and his ill health.
Harry and Meghan appeared on CBS in the interview with Oprah Winfrey in the US on Sunday
In the interview, Meghan also told Oprah that the first time she met the Queen at a lunch at Royal Lodge, Windsor, Harry asked her if she knew how to curtsey.
She said: ‘I remember Harry and I were in the car and he said: ‘My grandmother is going to be there so you are going to meet her.’
‘I said: ‘Great’. He said: ‘Do you know how to curtsey?’ I didn’t think it’s what happened inside. I said: ‘It’s your grandmother.’
‘He said: ‘It’s the Queen.’ That was the first moment that the penny dropped.’
Meghan said she and Harry then practised curtseying before meeting the Queen. She told Oprah: ‘We sat there and we just chatted. And it was lovely and easy.’