When the now Duchess of Sussex first met Queen Elizabeth II in the early days of her relationship with Prince Harry, Meghan was still a star in the TV drama Suits. A new book called Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait has claimed that the Queen told Meghan she could continue acting.
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Never forced to give up her career
According to the author and close friend of the Royal Family, Gyles Brandreth, Queen Elizabeth did ‘everything she could' to make sure Meghan felt welcomed within the Royal Family. The author also claims that the Queen was deeply concerned about the Duchess’s future happiness.
The book claims that Queen Elizabeth gave Meghan the go-ahead to continue acting and undertake Royal duties part-time. According to Brandreth, the late Queen told her future granddaughter-in-law:
You can carry on being an actress if you like – that’s your profession, after all.
Royal biographer Andrew Morton also claimed that if Meghan felt unable or unwilling to ‘embrace royal duties full time’, she was more than welcome to continue her acting career. He said on the podcast Royally Obsessed:
They (The Royal Family) did say to Meghan if you don’t want to embrace royal duties full time, please be our guest and continue your acting career.
Meghan chose Royal duties
However, per Brandreth’s account, Meghan was more than ready to take on Royal duties full time. The Duchess showed great enthusiasm for the Commonwealth.
She even reportedly made a commitment to the Queen to do ‘whatever you think we should be doing for the Commonwealth’. Meghan supposedly went so far as to vow ‘that when it came to the Commonwealth, she wouldn’t let Her Majesty down’.
Meghan’s enthusiasm naturally delighted the late Queen, and Elizabeth told many people how much she liked her new granddaughter-in-law.
Prince Harry and Meghan were apparently given ‘a degree of latitude’ that other Royals do not have. According to Morton, author of Diana: Her True Story:
They (The Duke and Duchess of Sussex) were told, ‘here are your first-class tickets, pick which country you want to go to, we’re going to make you youth ambassadors for the Commonwealth’
However, Morton believes that Meghan wasn’t fully aware that ‘becoming a member of the Royal Family is a tough gig’.
But despite the pair’s rather abrupt resignation from Royal duties, the Queen reportedly truly wished the Sussexes ‘well in the new life’ they sought.
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Sources used:
- The Mirror: Queen told Meghan Markle she could continue acting at their first meeting, claims book
- The Mirror: Queen 'understood' Harry's desire to write memoir and was 'devoted' to him, claims book
- The Independent: Queen ‘told Meghan she could continue her acting career’, claims royal expert
