Meghan Markle joined her husband, Prince Harry, and the royal family to pay respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II today, attending her coffin procession at Westminster Palace, where the monarch will lie in state until her funeral Monday morning. And while Meghan didn’t interact with Prince William or Kate Middleton, from whom she was mere feet away, the Duchess of Sussex did have a poignant moment with the late Queen.
Meghan was photographed curtsying to the Queen’s coffin. It was a moving public display of the respect and love she has for Harry’s grandmother.
ALKIS KONSTANTINIDIS//Getty Images
Getty Images
ALKIS KONSTANTINIDIS//Getty Images
Harry and Meghan were near the Queen, with the couple selecting to call their daughter Lilibet after the Queen’s childhood nickname. āNow we have a very special relationship,ā Harry told The Today Show in April of his bond with the Queen. āWe discuss things she will be able toāt discuss with anyone else.ā
Meghan also comforted her husband through the event. Harry was photographed wiping away a tear at one point, and the couple held hands as they left the service. They were the one royal couple to accomplish that.
CHRISTOPHER FURLONG//Getty Images
EMILIO MORENATTI//Getty Images
PHIL NOBLE//Getty Images
Meghan spoke to Oprah in March 2021 about her own āwonderfulā relationship with the Queen.
āThe Queen, for instance, has at all times been wonderful to me,ā Meghan said. āI mean, we had considered one of our first joint engagements together. She asked me to affix her, and I went on the train. And we had breakfast together that morning, and she or he gave me a stupendous gift, and I just really loved being in her company, and I do know we were within the automobileāyeah, she gave me some beautiful pearl earrings and an identical necklaceāand we were within the automobile going between engagements. And he or she has a blanket that sits across her, her knees, for warmth and it was chilly and she or he was like, āMeghan, come on,ā and put it over my knees as well.ā
In his statement following the Queen’s death, Harry spoke about how much he cherished his time along with her, particularly her first meetings with Meghan and later their children, Archie and Lilibet.
āGranny, while this final parting brings us great sadness, I’m perpetually grateful for all of our first meetingsāfrom my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the primary time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the primary moment you met my darling wife and hugged the one that you love great-grandchildren,ā he wrote. āI cherish these times shared with you, and the various other special moments in between. You might be already sorely missed, not only by us, but by the world over.ā
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring Recent York City.
