Telegraph e-paper

Late Queen concerned that Duke was ‘a little too in love’

By Patrick Sawer SENIOR NEWS REPORTER

QUEEN ELIZABETH II was worried that Prince Harry was “perhaps a little too in love” with his wife Meghan during the early days of their marriage, it has emerged.

Although the late monarch did everything she could to make the Duchess of Sussex feel welcome, she appears to have expressed some concern about the effect on her grandson of some of the tensions within the Royal Household following her arrival, a new biography has revealed.

Gyles Brandreth, the broadcaster and a close confidant of the senior royals, has disclosed how the late Queen was delighted with Prince Harry’s choice of wife, and had high hopes for the contribution the American actress could make to public life.

But as staff left the Sussexes’ service and claims of bullying emerged, denied by the Duchess’ legal team, the Queen expressed her worries about the consequences on her grandson.

Brandreth writes in an extract from his new book, Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait, published in The Mail on Sunday: “The only concern the Queen let slip in the early days of the Sussexes’ marriage was to wonder to a friend if

Harry wasn’t ‘perhaps a little over-inlove’. This was as far as she came – to my knowledge at least – to ever uttering a word against the new Duchess of Sussex.”

The broadcaster says in his book that the late Queen liked Meghan and did “everything to make her feel welcome”, even telling the Duchess, who had starred in the US legal drama Suits, that she could continue her career, saying: “You can carry on being an

‘This, to my knowledge at least, was as far as she came to uttering a word against the Duchess of Sussex’

actress if you like – that’s your profession, after all.”

When the Duchess said she would quit acting to dedicate herself to Royal service, the Queen was “delighted”, reports Mr Brandreth, only to become concerned when her offer to have Sophie Wessex “show her the ropes” to Royal life was allegedly rejected.

The book reveals that when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are mentioned to other members of the Royal family, the response is a brief smile and the curt “we wish them all the best”.

News

en-gb

2022-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://dailytelegraph.pressreader.com/article/281672553955322

Daily Telegraph