Meghan Markle Opens Up About Her 'Warm' Relationship With Late Queen Elizabeth
Meghan Markle has opened up about supporting her husband Prince Harry following the death of his grandmother, the Queen, and revealed the extent of her relationship with the late monarch.
The Duchess of Sussex, 41, told Variety she's 'really grateful' she was able to be there for him after she died last month.
Markle said: 'There's been such an outpouring of love and support. I'm really grateful that I was able to be with my husband to support him, especially during that time.
The mother-of-two delved into her feelings towards the Queen, referring to her as a 'shining example' of 'female leadership'.
She gushed: 'What's so beautiful is to look at the legacy that his grandmother was able to leave on so many fronts. Certainly, in terms of female leadership, she is the most shining example of what that looks like.
'I feel deep gratitude to have been able to spend time with her and get to know her. It's been a complicated time, but my husband, ever the optimist, said, "Now she's reunited with her husband."'
Markle, who's been married to Prince Harry since 2018, recalled a 'special' moment with Her Majesty, too.
'I've reflected on that first official engagement that I had with her, how special that felt,' she said.
'I feel fortunate. And I continue to be proud to have had a nice warmth with the matriarch of the family.'
The Archetypes podcast host hinted at her and the duke's relationship, when explaining: 'So much of how my husband and I see things is through our love story.
'I think that's what people around the world connected to, especially with our wedding. People love love.'
She clarified: 'I'm not excluded in that sentiment. And our definition of love is really expansive: Partner love, self-love, the love of community and family.
'We use that as the baseline of the kind of shows and documentaries we want out there.'
Just yesterday, Markle's latest podcast episode saw her open up about feeling objectified as a former briefcase girl on gameshow Deal or no Deal.
During a candid discussion with Paris Hilton about the derogatory term 'bimbo', she confessed there was a 'very cookie cutter idea' of what the briefcase girls should look like and that it was 'solely about beauty and not necessarily about brains'.
She explained the models on the show would line up to get a series of beauty treatments done, such as their lashes and extensions, and would be given spray tan vouchers every week.
Markle was 'grateful' to have had a job to pay the bills while auditioning for acting roles, but eventually quit the show.
'I was thankful for the job, but not for how it made me feel, which was not smart,' she said.
'And by the way, I was surrounded by smart women on that stage with me, but that wasn't the focus of why we were there.
'And I would end up leaving with this pit in my stomach knowing that I was so much more than what was being objectified on the stage.'
Markle shared her hopes for one-year-old daughter Lilibet too: 'I want my Lili to want to be educated and want to be smart and to pride herself on those things,' she said.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex reside in Montecito, California with their children, Lilibet and Archie, three.
They extended their UK trip for Her Majesty's mourning period and funeral, after her death at Balmoral Castle on September 8.
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