Queen Elizabeth II was “surprised” when Meghan Markle “dismissed” her advice for adjusting to royal life, according to the author of a new royal book.
Royal commentator Robert Jobson made the claim in his new book titled: Our King Charles III: The Man and the Monarch Revealed, set to be published on 13 April.
Jobso alleges that the late Queen suggested the Duchess of Sussex seek advice from Sophie, now-Duchess of Edinburgh, after she joined the royal family because the monarch felt that her daughter-in-law could act as an advisor to Meghan.
However, Jobson said the duchess “made it clear that she would make her own decisions” and allegedly turned down the suggestion on the basis that she had Prince Harry.
“When the Queen, who had asked her then assistant private secretary Samantha Cohen to work alongside Meghan for a bedding-in period, warmly suggested that she should turn to Sophie, Countess of Wessex for support and advice, Meghan dismissed the idea, saying: ‘I’ve got Harry,’” Jobson wrote. “Her response surprised the Queen.”
Notably, Jobson is not the first to make this claim. Royal broadcaster Gyles Brandreth previously told ITV’s Lorraine that the Duchess of Sussex preferred to seek her husband’s help when she joined the royal family.
“The Queen said to Meghan: ‘You’re new to this. Coming into the royal family, it’s not easy for everybody. Sophie Wessex, the last one to come in, maybe she can be a kind of mentor. She could advise you, help you.’ But Meghan said: ‘No, I don’t think I need that, I’ve got Harry,’” Brandreth claimed to host Lorraine Kelly in December 2022, shortly after the release of Harry and Meghan’s Netflix docuseries.
Brandreth also said the Queen offered the advice to Meghan because of her love for her grandson Harry and was “very keen” for the couple’s relationship to work.
“She loved Harry,” Brandreth said of the late monarch. “She loved all her grandchildren, but she loved him especially because she loved his sense of humour and I know, for a fact, that she welcomed Meghan warmly and was very keen for it to work.”
Sophie later reflected on the Sussexes’ exit from the royal family during an interview with The Sunday Times and said royal family members do all that they can to help new additions adjust.
“We all try to help any new members of the family,” she said at the time, adding: “I just hope they will be happy.”
During the Duke and Duchess of Sussexes’ tell-all Netflix docuseries, Meghan recalled thinking it was a “joke” when Harry asked her if she knew how to curtsy shortly before her first meeting with the Queen.
