It’s a very Meghan Christmas
● Monarch pays tribute to victims of terror attacks and Grenfell fire
Well-wishers gathered outside Sandringham Church yesterday to greet the Queen after the morning service and see Meghan Markle, Prince Harry’s fiancée, join the royal family at Christmas for the first time.
In a departure from tradition, the American actress and activist was allowed to share the occasion with the family.
Queen Elizabeth has used her Christmas message to pay tribute to the of Edinburgh after 70 years of support on her official duties.
The Queen praised Prince Philip’s sense of humour as she also paid tribute to the “powerful identities” of London and Manchester after both cities were hit by terrorist atrocities in 2017.
Yesterday hundreds of wellwishers gathered outside Sandringham Church to greet the Queen after the morning service and see Meghan Markle, Prince Harry’s fiancée, join the royal family at Christmas for the first time.
In a departure from tradition, the American actor and activist was allowed to share the occasion with the family despite not yet being a royal. She was seen giving a curtsey as she met the Queen for the first time on a public engagement.
Prince William and his wife, Kate, who is expected to give birth to the couple’s third child in the spring, also attended.
Crowds outside the church were larger than usual, in part because of Ms Markle’s appearance, but also because the Queen was absent last year due to a heavy cold.
The Duke of Edinburgh, who is 96, walked back to Sandringham with other royals for their private Christmas lunch, while the Queen opted to be driven.
Later, in her address, the Queen offered a remembrance to the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire, she said it was impossible to forget the “sheer awfulness” of the fire that claimed 71 lives.
She praised the community spirit in London and Manchester after tragedy this year, saying it “shone through over the past 12 months in the face of appalling attacks”. The Queen said it was a “privilege” to visit young survivors of the attack on the Manchester Arena concert hall as they were recovering from the blast which claimed 22 lives.
“I describe that hospital visit as a ‘privilege’ because the patients I met were an example to us all, showing extraordinary bravery and resilience,” she said.
After he retired from scheduled official duties earlier this year, and in the year they celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary, Her Majesty thanked Prince Philip for his “support and unique sense of humour”.
She made a joke of her own, saying: “I don’t know that anyone had invented the term ‘platinum’ for a 70th wedding anniversary when I was born. You weren’t expected to be around that long.”