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Daily Record
Daily Record
Entertainment
Rosaleen Fenton & Jennifer Newton & Paul T Smith

Meghan Markle's deep curtsy tribute for the Queen at Palace of Westminster vigil

Megan Markle showed her respects to the Queen, with a deep curtsy by her coffin as she lay in state at Westminster Hall in London.

Members of the Royal Family gathered for a short service, before the public had their turn to say goodbye to the late Monarch.

Previously speaking about meeting the Queen for the first time at the Royal Lodge in her Oprah interview, Meghan shared her shock at having to learn how to curtsy very quickly - and how she ended up doing a 'very deep' curtsy, reports The Mirror.

She recalled: "I remember Harry and I were in the car, and he says, 'OK, my grandmother is there so we're going to meet her,'". "And I said, 'Oh great, I love grandmas.' [...] 'But, right, do you know how to curtsy?'"

"I thought, genuinely, that was part of what happens outside," she added. "I thought that was part of the fanfare. I didn't think that's what happens inside, and I said, 'It's your grandmother.' He goes, 'It's the Queen.'"

"That was really the first moment that the penny dropped that this wasn't easy," she continued.

So moments before walking in to meet the Queen, Markle practiced curtsying with help from Harry and the Duchess of York, who came out to meet them.

"I learned it very quickly," Markle added. "Right in front of the house, we just practiced and then walked in. [...] I met her and, apparently, I did a very deep curtsy."

After the short service, Meghan and Harry were seen clasping hands, as was Zara and Mike Tindall - following the 38-minute procession from Buckingham Palace.

Prince Harry walked alongside his brother, Prince William, during the Queen's journey from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, while Meghan travelled with Sophie, the Countess of Wessex.

The King and the senior royals saluted the coffin as it was carried by a bearer party – eight soldiers from Queen’s Company 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards – into the Hall.

Lined up to watch were the Queen’s elderly cousins Prince Michael of Kent and the Duke of Kent.

Next to the Duke of Kent was the Duchess of Sussex, the Countess of Wessex, the Princess of Wales and then the Queen Consort.

Dozens of wider members of the royal family stood in two rows at the side of Westminster Hall, including Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice and their husbands, Zara and Mike Tindall, Lady Louise Windsor Viscount Severn, Lord Freddie Windsor and Princess Michael of Kent.

Meghan appeared to take a deep breath as the Queen’s coffin passed in front of her.

Today, the Queen's coffin left Buckingham Palace for the final time and went to Westminster Hall, where a 20-minute service was led by the Archbishop of Canterbury accompanied by the Dean of Westminster.

Now up to 400,000 people are expected to brave a 12-hour wait on the banks of the Thames to catch a glimpse of the Queen's coffin as she lies in state for four days ahead of her funeral on Monday.

Today's procession to Westminster comes after there were emotional scenes last night when the Queen's coffin was brought back to London from Edinburgh.

The Queen's grandchildren, including Harry and William - the new Prince of Wales - and their wives Meghan and Kate, were among members of the royal family paying their respects to the late monarch by witnessing her coffin’s arrival at Buckingham Palace.

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