Meghan and the Queen’s special bond
Plus, the Duchess of Diamonds’ dazzling new jewels
If anyone doubts the impact that the new Duchess of Sussex is already having on the royal family, they need only look at this week’s journey to Chester.
Unaccompanied by Prince Harry, Meghan will be travelling with the Queen – and the significance has not escaped those closest to the monarch.
“At 92, the Queen is increasingly looking for support from younger members of the family,” an old friend of Her Majesty tells Woman’s Day. “She’ll never abdicate – it’s simply out of the question – but taking Meghan with her on this trip is both a sign of deep approval, and of a growing need to hand over duties and responsibilities.”
More than that, the Queen and the duchess will be staying together on the royal train the night before. There will be plenty of time to talk – and for Meghan, 36, to learn what her new role entails.
“It’s astonishing how quickly she’s been invited into the very centre of the royal family,” says a courtier. “Neither Harry nor Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge have ever been allowed to use the royal train, and it was 10 months before Kate was asked to accompany Her Majesty on an official visit – and that was in the company of the Duchess of Cornwall.”
This month marks a milestone for the Queen. On June 2, it was 65 years since her coronation, a sapphire anniversary she celebrated privately and solemnly, reflecting on the passing of her father King George VI.
For royal watchers, meanwhile, the landmark has sparked speculation that the monarch is accelerating her plans to pass the baton on to the younger generation of royals, particularly her heir.
“She is leaning more on Prince Charles,” reports the courtier. “She won’t let on,
but her knees are giving her trouble and when events are planned, the first thing her aides check is whether there are any stairs involved. She is slower and she complains a little about her back or knees playing up.”
But the Queen will never give up. In 2018, the monarch is undertaking even more engagements than usual – up 25% on the first five months of 2017, to 125. That’s more than either William, 35, or Harry, 33.
Next in line
However, it’s Charles, 69, who is taking up the slack, with 250 engagements so far this year. In line with the royal plan, he has become the “shadow king”, with Camilla, 70, the queen-in-waiting.
Yet as the Queen famously put it on her 21st birthday broadcast back in 1947, “I declare that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service.” She meant it then and she still does now.
Rumours that she will effectively abdicate when she reaches 96, invoking the Regency Act of 1937 and putting Charles in charge, are just that – rumours. Unless she is suddenly diagnosed with dementia, it isn’t going to happen.
As one royal insider says, “The Queen has always been so vehement that there will never be a regency unless she is sick to the point of being unable to perform her duties. As long as she’s healthy, regardless of her age, I don’t see it happening. Other members of the royal family can just step in and do more.”
And Meghan is one of them. The former Suits actress has charmed the Queen, as well as father-inlaw Charles, who beamed as he walked her down the aisle at St George’s Chapel in Windsor and warmly took her mother Doria Ragland’s arm on the steps outside afterwards.
“It was testimony to the effect Meghan and her family have already had on the House of Windsor, and to the new informality that Harry’s generation have brought to our royalty,” says historian Simon Heffer.
“In the past, outsiders fitted in with the style of the Windsors. Now the Windsors fit in with them and the people love it. As the world changes, they adapt – and that’s how the monarchy will survive.”
Already, Charles’ kind, gentlemanly actions at the wedding have led to a change in public perception. In 2012, 42% of Britons wanted William to inherit the throne instead of Charles, but that figure is now just 31%, with 54% backing the Prince of Wales and 75% keen for him to take on more of the Queen’s duties.
While many have predicted Charles, the world’s longestserving heir, will never take the throne, it’s clear that when “London Bridge is down” – the royal code for the Queen’s death – he will be crowned king.