Meghan Markle and the Queen Got On Straight Away

widness, england june 14 meghan, duchess of sussex and queen elizabeth ii open the new mersey gateway bridge on june 14, 2018 in widness, england photo by samir husseinsamir husseinwireimage — (Image credit: Samir Hussein)

Meghan Markle and the Queen got on swimmingly as soon as they met, royal biographers Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand write in new Sussex biography Finding Freedom.
Their first meeting ran over schedule by 10 minutes—a huge deal for the famously punctual Queen.
"The conversation flowed naturally" between the future Duchess and the monarch, Scobie and Durand write.

Meghan Markle and the Queen's close relationship has been widely reported on, so it's little surprise that their first official meeting was a roaring success, according to royal biographers Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand in new book Finding Freedom. In fact, they got on so well that the meeting ran 10 minutes over schedule, a rarity for the Queen.

As Hello! reports, Scobie and Durand reveal that the future Duchess of Sussex officially met the Queen on October 12, 2017 (though they'd had a fleeting encounter earlier that year, when Meghan and Harry "literally bumped into her"). The meeting took place in the Queen's private apartments in Buckingham Palace. "Harry and Meghan rode the Queen's elevator—a stunning wrought-iron lift from the previous century—up to the monarch's private entrance," the royal correspondents write. "The inner sanctum of the Queen's private apartment was not at all what Meghan expected. Not that she really knew what to expect."

london, united kingdom july 10 embargoed for publication in uk newspapers until 24 hours after create date and time queen elizabeth ii and meghan, duchess of sussex watch a flypast to mark the centenary of the royal air force from the balcony of buckingham palace on july 10, 2018 in london, england the 100th birthday of the raf, which was founded on on 1 april 1918, was marked with a centenary parade with the presentation of a new queens colour and flypast of 100 aircraft over buckingham palace photo by max mumbyindigogetty images

"Harry kissed his grandmother on both cheeks as they walked into her sitting room. Meghan knew she needed to curtsy and had practised a dozen times before that day," Scobie and Durand continue. In reality, she had no need to worry: "The truth was that the sovereign was simply delighted for Harry."