The Queen welcomed Meghan Markle with open arms, and initially believed she would be a ‘breath of fresh air’, according to insiders. Harry and Meghan started dating in 2016, with the former Suits star going on to meet the late monarch at Royal Lodge in October that same year, some 12 months before the couple got engaged.

Furthermore, the Queen broke with tradition to invite Meghan to Sandringham at Christmas prior to her wedding to Harry. Neither Princess Kate nor Duchess Sophie were asked to attend until after their own nuptials. A courtier later told royal reporter Richard Eden that “the Queen believed that Meghan – a divorced, mixed-race American actress – would be a breath of fresh air and a great asset to the Monarchy.

“The Queen fast-tracked her entry into the Royal Family, inviting Meghan to join her at a service to mark Commonwealth Day – her first official engagement with the Queen – two months before the wedding. It was another clear indication that Her Majesty valued Meghan and wanted her to be seen as a part of the family without delay.” However, the Queen is said to have started to have concerns about Meghan’s behaviour and attitude the closer it got to the couple’s wedding in 2018, according to the expert.

The late monarch was said to be surprised after Meghan rejected her suggestion that Duchess Sophie guide her on marrying into the Royal Family and was also “taken aback” at her choice of a bridal gown, as well as her attitude towards the tiara.

“She had offered Meghan access to her collection of tiaras and, during what Harry later described as an ‘extraordinary morning’, allowed her to try them on in front of her, her devoted dresser Angela Kelly and a royal jewellery expert in her private dressing room,” Eden wrote. “Something later went badly wrong, however, when Meghan tried to arrange a fitting with Kelly, who, it seems, did not like the manner in which she was being treated by the bride and groom.”

Harry later denied in his memoir Spare that he had angrily told Kelly, “What Meghan wants, Meghan gets.” He did, however, admit they had been exasperated by the dresser, who “fixed me with a look that made me shiver”. It is further claimed that royal staff formed the opinion that the Duchess “may not have wanted to make a success of her life in Britain” when she started working as a royal and appeared to be “actively seeking reasons to be unhappy or resentful”.

Since quitting the Royal family, Meghan and Harry have attacked The Firm on a number of occasions, including in their infamous Oprah interview, Harry’s memoir, Spare, and their tell-all Netflix series. Meghan raises eyebrows in the latter when she appeared to mock the deep curtsy she had performed in front of the Queen at their first meeting. Mr Eden continued: “How sad that the Queen’s genuine efforts to welcome Meghan during her final years, when she was in failing health, were thrown back in her face.”