Royal | News - Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
Meghan Markle was seemingly left flustered during her first-ever joint engagement with the late Queen in 2018.
During the engagement, which appeared to be a success, Meghan was spotted making the late Queen laugh. Discussing their bond, Prince Harry later admitted in his bombshell memoir that his wife had bonded with his beloved grandmother over their shared love of dogs and motherhood.
A video later emerged from the visit which showed Meghan and the late Queen sharing a moment of confusion about who should get in a car first.
Meghan is said to have first offered to let the late Queen get in the car first – before suggesting they switch round, asking: “What’s your preference?”.
After asking the late Queen where she’d like to sit, the 43-year-old, who now lives in the US with Harry and their two children, got into the car first so that her grandmother-in-law could sit behind the driver.
Speaking of Meghan’s move, etiquette expert William Hanson told MailOnline at the time: “The Queen always sits behind the driver.”
He stated that this was not a protocol but just something that the late Queen preferred. Telling the publication, Ms Hanson added: “This is just a case of habit, not protocol [protocol actually says the most important person sits diagonally behind the driver] but the Queen has always preferred being directly behind whoever is driving her.
“Meghan was probably not aware of this and the royal household may have forgotten to brief The Duchess of Sussex in this nuance.”
Seemingly defending the Duchess of Sussex, he added: “It was, however, a considerate gesture from the Duchess of Sussex to consider where the Queen would like to sit.”
But the video sparked criticisim at the time, with people writing online: “Meghan looks so clueless, truly a fish out of water.”
Another said: “I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. This woman does not have what it takes to be a Royal.”
Howevers, others defended the Duchess of Sussex, writing: “Give the girl a break. She’s trying.”
After seeing the video of his wife and late grandmother, Harry also wrote in his memoir: “In truth she’d done exactly what Granny had told her to do. Granny said get in; she got in.
“No matter. There were stories for days about Meg’s breach, about her overall lack of class — about her daring not to wear a hat in Granny’s presence. The Palace had specifically directed Meg not to wear a hat.”
Speaking of the pair’s outfits for the engagement, Harry added: “Granny also wore green to honor the victims of Grenfell Tower, and no one told Meg to wear green — so they said she didn’t give a fig about the victims.
“I said: The Palace will make a phone call. They’ll correct the record. They didn’t.”