Meghan Markle Labeled ‘Nothing But Trouble’ by Queen Elizabeth’s Cousin: 'She Engineered it All...'
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s royal wedding ruffled a lot of feathers behind the scenes, fracturing relationships that led to the Sussexes stepping down in 2020. A confidant of the late Queen Elizabeth, detailing some of the incidents ahead of the wedding, labeled the Duchess ‘nothing but trouble’. She also revealed the truth about whether the former monarch liked Harry’s choice of partner.
Royal author Sally Bedell Smith, who is known for introducing King Charles to Queen Camilla, has shared various conversations she had with Lady Elizabeth Anson, the first cousin once removed of the late Queen. According to the Daily Express, Smith claimed that Anson viewed Markle's entry into the family as the cause of a lot of issues within the Firm. Markle, she opined, was allegedly "full of charm," "natural, intelligent, and thoughtful", but her ‘bossy’ behavior during the wedding planning upset the late monarch. Ahead of the royal wedding, Anson said, “We hope but don’t quite think she [Meghan Markle] is in love. We think she engineered it all.” Markle allegedly kept details about her wedding dress from the Queen, which made her furious. This, reportedly, had Anson convinced Markle had a different way of seeing ‘things.’
Smith penned, “When we spoke two weeks before the May 19 wedding, Liza had just heard from the Queen. 'The Number One Lady — I call her Jemima [Anson's nickname for the Queen] — says the jury is out on whether she likes Meghan,' said Liza. ‘My Jemima is very worried.' In Liza’s view, 'Harry is besotted and weak about women.” Despite the tensions, the late Queen allegedly had high hopes for Markle and her future role in the royal family. However, her husband, Prince Philip, reportedly thought otherwise and warned Elizabeth about the former Suits actress.
According to the Daily Mail, royal insider Ingrid Seward once revealed the warning the Queen got from Philip. Seward penned, “While the Queen continued to champion Harry’s new love, he warned his wife to be cautious. It was uncanny, he told her, how much Meghan reminded him of the Duchess of Windsor.” She continued, “He wasn’t simply referring to the fact that both were pencil-slim, dark-haired and glamorous American divorcees.” Seward opined that the Queen continued to hope better for Markle while not caring much about her husband’s warning. However, Philip, who had met Wallis Simpson, sensed a similarity between her and Markle.
Simpson, much like Markle, was twice-divorced and an American for whom King Edward VII had infamously abdicated the throne less than a year after marriage. The two tied the knot in 1937. Markle, too, like Simpson, along with Harry, stepped back from their royal duties in 2020 and moved to the US.