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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Entertainment
Thomas Molloy

Harry and Meghan open up about Duchess of Sussex meeting Queen for first time

Harry and Meghan have spoken about the moment that she was first introduced to Queen.

During the second episode of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's brand new Netflix series, Meghan admitted that she thought it was a 'joke' when Harry asked her if she knew how to curtsy, ahead of their first meeting at the Duke and Duchess of York's country residence Royal Lodge.

Harry described the meeting as a 'shock to the system' for the former Suits star. "My grandmother was the first senior member of the family that Meghan met," he said. "She had no idea what it all consisted of so it was a bit of a shock to the system for her."

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Meghan responded: "I mean it's surreal, there wasn't like some big moment of 'now you're going to meet my grandmother.' I didn't know I was gonna meet her until moments before.

"We were in the car and we were going to Royal Lodge for lunch and he was like 'oh my grandmother is here, she's gonna be there after church.' We were in the car driving and he's like 'you know how to curtsy, right?' And I just thought it was a joke."

Harry added: "How do you explain that to people? How do you explain that you bow to your grandmother and that you would need to curtsy, especially to an American? That's weird."

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (Getty Images forà2022 Robert F.)

Meghan joked that it had made her think of 'Medieval Times, Dinner and Tournament' - a family dinner theatre, featuring staged medieval-style games, sword-fighting, and jousting. She said: "Now I'm starting to realise this is a big deal. I mean, Americans will understand this, we have 'Medieval Times, Dinner and Tournament'. It was like that."

Performing an exaggerated, theatrical bowing-like gesture, Meghan added: "Like, I curtsied as though I was like... 'Pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty.' Like was that okay? It was so intense.

"Then when she left, Eugenie, Jack and Fergie say 'you did great!', 'Thanks?' I didn't know what I was doing."

Meghan also opened up about the first time she met Kate Middleton, when she invited the future Prince and Princess of Wales over for dinner. The Duchess of Sussex said that she had been in ripped jeans and bare feet and was 'surprised' by the level of formality that 'carried through on the inside'.

Look back on an unforgettable year for the Royal Family with a special OK! Royal magazine. Available to buy here, or pick up a copy in the shops.

"It's so funny if I look back at it now because now I know so much, and I'm so glad I didn't then because I could just authentically be myself without so much preparedness," she said. Even when I met Will and Kate and they came over and I had met her for the first time, they came for dinner, I remember I was in ripped jeans and I was barefoot.

"I was a hugger, I've always been a hugger and I didn't realise that is really jarring for a lot of Brits. I guess I started to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside - that there is a forward-facing way of being and then you close the door and you're like 'oh great, okay we can relax now,' but that formality carries over on both sides and that was surprising to me."

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