When Meghan Markle stepped out on her first solo official royal engagement after her wedding to Prince Harry, she was accompanied by none other than the late Queen.
Elizabeth II had decided to come along personally to welcome the new Duchess of Sussex to life as a working royal – while giving her a masterclass on handling engagements.
By all accounts, the June 2018 trip was a success, with the papers the following day focusing on the pair sitting giggling happily together.
And although conversations with the Queen are usually private, Harry later revealed in his 2023 memoir Spare that the pair bonded over their love of dogs and motherhood.
Body language experts revealed at the time that although Meghan appeared deferential and nervous, she above all seemed gloriously happy to be in the monarch’s company.
It seemed to everyone watching that they were witnessing a blossoming friendship.
Things got more serious between the pair when the Queen appointed her as vice president of the Commonwealth Trust in March 2019, which supports youth empowerment in Commonwealth countries.
Alongside Harry as president, it was hoped the young and enthusiastic couple could breathe fresh life into the institution for the next generation.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Netflix documentary involved severe criticism of the Queen’s beloved Commonwealth
Meghan went ahead with the documentary despite Elizabeth II personally warmly welcoming her to life as a working royal on her first engagement without Harry on June 14, 2018
The Queen died weeks after filming for Meghan and Harry’s Netflix series wrapped. Pictured during her Jubilee celebrations on June 5, 2022
When Meghan was announced she excitedly said her work would ‘highlight the Trust’s partnerships with young people across the Commonwealth, and in particular its work supporting women and girls’.
Citizens of the Commonwealth comprise one third of the world’s population, with 60 per cent under the age of 30 – so the job had a huge responsibility.
But most importantly, the role was a massive sign that the Queen was beginning to trust Meghan, as the Commonwealth was one of her most loved organisations.
The Queen famously dedicated her life to the service of the Commonwealth on her 21st birthday during a speech in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1947.
Its modern version of the international institution was formed in 1949, after ‘British’ was dropped from the name and allegiance to the Crown was removed.
However, like their other official roles, Harry and Meghan lost their patronages to the Commonwealth when they stepped down as working royals following Megxit.
But eyebrows were raised when only a few years after leaving the organisation, Meghan seemed to be dismissive of the whole Commonwealth.
When she and Harry’s production company Archewell produced their Netflix ‘docuseries’ in December 2022, they hired experts to criticise the institution.
The Queen famously dedicated her life to the service of the Commonwealth on her 21st birthday during a speech in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1947. Above: The Princess inspects a guard of honour in the country during the trip
Princess Elizabeth with her sister Princess Margaret (left) on the Royal Train in South Africa
Perhaps most damaging was the claim by academic Afua Hirsch that it was ‘Empire 2.0’, while author Kehinde Andrews claimed ‘nothing has changed’ from the UK’s colonial past, apart from the Royal Family’s ‘better PR’.
Discussing institutional racism in the UK, Afua said in the documentary: ‘Britain calculated that it needed to grant these countries independence in a way that protected its commercial and capitalist interest. So it created this privileged club called the Commonwealth.
‘The Commonwealth is still described as a club of friends who share common values. I find that language really problematic.
‘I sometimes call the Commonwealth “Empire 2.0” because that is what it is.’
The commentators suggested this racist legacy made it difficult for Meghan to be both assimilated into the firm and widely accepted and loved by the British public.
The accusations would surely have been a devastating blow to the Queen who had shown an enduring dedication to the organisation, making more than 200 visits to Commonwealth countries during her historic 70-year reign.
Giving her analysis of the damaging remarks at the time, Royal Editor Rebecca English said: ‘A lot of people I’ve spoken to found this particularly offensive when it comes to Harry and his much-loved grandmother and see it really as a direct attack on her and her legacy – when she of course isn’t around to defend it.’
Author Afua Hirsch (pictured) branded the Commonwealth Empire 2.0 in Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary
Harry and Meghan used their Netflix documentary to launch an attack on the Commonwealth
Twitter users reacted with fury to the Commonwealth being branded Empire 2.0 in Harry and Meghan’s Netflix docuseries
She said that while Harry and Meghan do not comment themselves on the Commonwealth, they hired talking heads to do so.
The Daily Mail’s Diary Editor Richard Eden said: ‘It’s almost lucky that Queen Elizabeth isn’t alive to see this because the Commonwealth was so central to her and bringing people together.
‘It’s a voluntary organisation whereas [in the documentary], it’s dismissed as this colonial body used for Britain to extract money and resources from the rest of the world. She would have been horrified.’
TV pundit Dan Wootton tweeted: ‘The only mercy in the late Queen’s death is she didn’t have to watch Harry and Meghan using Netflix to trash her beloved Commonwealth to millions around the world as the Empire 2.0. Disgraceful.’
Meanwhile, The Mail on Sunday’s Editor at Large Charlotte Griffiths revealed how all the filming for the series finished in August 2022 – just weeks before the Queen passed away at the age of 96.
She said: ‘They were planning to do all of this thinking that the Queen would be alive to see it […] Thank God she didn’t.’
Charlotte pointed out Meghan’s ‘stance on the Commonwealth seems to have changed dramatically’ since her May 2018 wedding, where she wore a veil boasting different symbols to represent each nation.
In response to host Jo Elvin recalling how Meghan said she was ‘excited’ to visit the Commonwealth countries in her engagement interview, Charlotte said: ‘So she hadn’t done any research before getting married?
The Mail’s Diary Editor Richard Eden said at the time the the Queen would have been ‘horrified’ by the claims that the Commonwealth is ‘Empire 2.0’
‘Is that what’s she saying? And now she’s done her research? That’s inconsistent with who Meghan is as a person, she’s obviously a very well-researched person.
‘I just think her whole stance on the Commonwealth has changed dramatically, maybe she fully believes what Afua is saying. I don’t know but it’s a pretty hard line [to take].’
But is the narrative of the Commonwealth that was painted by Meghan’s experts accurate?
It contains 56 countries as voluntary members, but instead of being dominated by a racist UK, its charter defines their shared values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.
Although mainly being former territories once controlled by the British Empire, that is not always the case.
Rwanda and Mozambique became members in 2009 and 1995 respectively, although neither were colonised by the British.
And in 2022, the former French colonies of Gabon and Togo opted to join too.
It seems countries want to join the Commonwealth as the benefits of membership include diplomatic channels, developmental support and co-operation on international goals.
South Africa withdrew in 1961 after it was criticised by Commonwealth members for its apartheid policies, only becoming a member again in 1994 following the end of the regime and the election of Nelson Mandela
The account of Meghan’s experts also seems to ignore Queen Elizabeth II’s own personal steps to address racism through the Commonwealth.
Queen Elizabeth II and the Duchess of Sussex at the opening of the new Mersey Gateway Bridge, in Widnes, Cheshire. It was their first and only royal engagement
On her 1961 tour of Ghana she famously danced with its president in a scene that has since been immortalised in The Crown.
Her dance with the black African leader created headlines around the world, and she received high praise for sending a powerful anti-racist message at a time when the US was still segregated.
The moment was a powerful testimony to the Queen’s belief in the equality of all of the Commonwealth nations.
Although Meghan had married into The Firm at the age of 36, and was not brought up to appreciate the full historical importance of the Commonwealth like her husband Harry, she would have been aware of the most important details.
After all, if the American actress had the time to learn how to curtsey properly and give a proper royal handshake, she would have had the time to learn about the most important international organisation to the Crown.
But there might not have been time for a long lesson on the Queen and Meghan’s only joint engagement in June 2018.
Harry later wrote of the event in Spare: ‘She returned from the trip glowing. We bonded, she told me. “The Queen and I really bonded!”
On her 1961 tour of Ghana the Queen famously danced President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana
Queen Elizabeth II sits and laughs with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex during a ceremony to open the new Mersey Gateway Bridge on June 14, 2018
The Queen had gifted Meghan a pair of delicate pearl earrings, which she wore on her first joint engagement with the monarch in June 2018 (left). At the monarch’s funeral in September 2022, she wore them again (right)
‘”We talked about how much I wanted to be a mom and she told me the best way to induce labour was a good bumpy car ride! I told her I’d remember that when the time came”.’
WATCH NOW: Meghan Markle & Queen Elizabeth II’s relationship explained
The Daily Mail’s Diary Editor Richard Eden analysed the Queen and Meghan’s relationship in full in his series Reading the Royals.
Watch on YouTube here.
The monarch was also seen sharing her blanket with Meghan while they travelled in the back of the car together.
However, it seems that although they only spent a short period of time together, the trip had a big impact on Meghan.
In a March 2021 interview with CBS, she revealed that the Queen’s blanket gesture meant a lot to her.
She said: ‘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… and it made me think of my grandmother, where she’s always been warm and inviting and really welcoming.’
And in another sign of her apparent friendship with the Queen, Harry’s wife sported a pair of delicate pearl earrings that day, given to her by the monarch as a gift.
Meghan would later wear these same earrings to the monarch’s funeral in September 2022.
And the month after, she spoke about her relationship with the late Queen in an interview with US magazine Variety, where she said: ‘I’ve reflected on that first official engagement that I had with her, how special that felt. I feel fortunate.
‘And I continue to be proud to have had a nice warmth with the matriarch of the family.’
But although Meghan seemed to be thankful to the Queen for welcoming her into the family (and the Commonwealth) so graciously, it didn’t stop her from attacking the institution the elderly woman had spent her life building.
