Why Meghan Markle’s decision to wear a £60,000 Dior gown during her 2019 Morocco visit ‘angered’ Queen Elizabeth – as she warned it was an ‘ill-judged choice’
Despite being at the heart of the pomp and ceremony of the Royal Family, the late Queen Elizabeth II was notoriously frugal – in part due to her wartime upbringing.
She came from a generation that famously learned how to make do and mend – collecting ration coupons for her wedding dress, recycling her wardrobe and even sharing her hand-me-downs with senior staff.
So when Her Majesty’s new granddaughter-in-law, Meghan Markle, wore an eye-wateringly expensive Christian Dior gown for an official engagement in 2019, it did not sit well with Elizabeth.
She later let Meghan know that such an expensive outfit was an ill-judged choice,’ Mr Jobson wrote in his book The Windsor Legacy: A Royal Dynasty Of Secrets, Scandal And Survival.
Yet the Duchess appeared not to heed the sovereign’s warning as she was spotted in custom and high-end designer pieces several times during her time as a working royal.
This also wouldn’t be the last time Meghan’s actions upset the monarch, Mr Jobson added.
The Queen was said to have been so upset when she read that Harry, now 41, and Meghan, now 44, had named their second child, daughter Lilibet, after her, that she ‘threw the paper to the floor, startling the staff’.
When Her Majesty’s new granddaughter-in-law, Meghan Markle, wore an eye-wateringly expensive Christian Dior gown (pictured) for an official engagement in 2019, it did not sit well with the late Queen
‘She later let Meghan know that such an expensive outfit was an ill-judged choice,’ royal author Robert Jobson wrote in his book The Windsor Legacy: A Royal Dynasty Of Secrets, Scandal And Survival
Royal author Valentine Low reported that the Queen told an aide: ‘I don’t own the palaces, I don’t own the paintings, the only thing I own is my name.
‘And now they’ve taken that,’ Mr Low wrote in his book Courtiers.
Adding insult to injury, Harry and Meghan also allegedly skipped a tea with the Queen without any warning.
Mr Jobson, who described afternoon tea as the monarch’s most ‘precious’ daily ritual, explained that Elizabeth had even requested a special cake be made for the occasion.
However, the Queen – whose health was ‘rapidly declining’ and often felt rather ‘lonely’ – allegedly heard ‘no word’ from the pair on the day of their scheduled meeting and eventually asked that everything be cleared away.
‘After the loss of her husband, the Queen spent nearly all her time at Windsor Castle, where she had few visitors,’ Mr Jobson described the final chapter of the Queen’s life.
‘Her days were quiet, her health was rapidly declining and she was often lonely.’
When she tragically died on September 8, 2022, aged 96, the nation was plunged into mourning as Britain’s longest-reigning monarch was laid to rest.
She later let Meghan know that such an expensive outfit was an ill-judged choice,’ Mr Jobson wrote in his book The Windsor Legacy: A Royal Dynasty Of Secrets, Scandal And Survival.
Yet the Duchess appeared not to heed the sovereign’s warning as she was spotted in custom and high-end designer pieces several times during her time as a working royal.
This also wouldn’t be the last time Meghan’s actions upset the monarch, Mr Jobson added.
The Queen was said to have been so upset when she read that Harry, now 41, and Meghan, now 44, had named their second child, daughter Lilibet, after her, that she ‘threw the paper to the floor, startling the staff’.
She later let Meghan know that such an expensive outfit was an ill-judged choice,’ Mr Jobson wrote in his book The Windsor Legacy: A Royal Dynasty Of Secrets, Scandal And Survival.
Yet the Duchess appeared not to heed the sovereign’s warning as she was spotted in custom and high-end designer pieces several times during her time as a working royal.
This also wouldn’t be the last time Meghan’s actions upset the monarch, Mr Jobson added.
The Queen was said to have been so upset when she read that Harry, now 41, and Meghan, now 44, had named their second child, daughter Lilibet, after her, that she ‘threw the paper to the floor, startling the staff’.
She later let Meghan know that such an expensive outfit was an ill-judged choice,’ Mr Jobson wrote in his book The Windsor Legacy: A Royal Dynasty Of Secrets, Scandal And Survival.
Yet the Duchess appeared not to heed the sovereign’s warning as she was spotted in custom and high-end designer pieces several times during her time as a working royal.
This also wouldn’t be the last time Meghan’s actions upset the monarch, Mr Jobson added.
The Queen was said to have been so upset when she read that Harry, now 41, and Meghan, now 44, had named their second child, daughter Lilibet, after her, that she ‘threw the paper to the floor, startling the staff’.