Meghan Markle 'Knew Exactly How to Butter Up the Queen' Before Ditching the Royal Family in 2020

Meghan Markle struggled to adjust to life behind palace gates, but initially, Queen Elizabeth was fond of Prince Harry's bride. The Duchess of Sussex and the late monarch were able to bond over their love of dogs during Meghan's brief stint as a working royal.

"I was so surprised when I heard the queen liked Meghan but she did. Meghan's a smart lady whatever people think of her," Ingrid Seward said in an interview. "She knew exactly how to butter up the queen. Even Harry gave us a little glimpse of it by the dogs."

In Meghan's various tell-all interviews following "Megxit," the Suits star admitted she didn't know how to curtsy to the queen and was confused about royal protocol.

During the Sussexes' engagement announcement, Harry shared that "the corgis took to [Meghan] straight away," while the actress added they were "just laying on my feet during tea, it was very sweet."

"Maybe she had a few treats in her handbag for them," Seward said in reference to the 2017 announcement. "Harry actually said Meghan was a great hit with the dogs. They always yap at him but they were all over Meghan."

Although Elizabeth's pets gravitated toward Meghan, the biographer claimed the California native didn't spend a significant amount of time with Her Majesty.

"I don't think that the Queen actually saw very much of them. Meghan being American used to ring her up, which a lot of her children don't do," she continued. "I think she kept in touch with her because she knew it was important and then she met Meghan's [mother]."

Prior to moving to the U.K., Meghan lived in Toronto for several years, and she hoped to focus on the British territories during her time in the monarchy.

"The Queen had these very high hopes for the Commonwealth because remember the Commonwealth was the Queen's baby," Seward explained.

"It was so important to her and she saw them as absolutely bringing a bit of modernity and youth into the Commonwealth and she was right actually," she noted. "And they were made ambassadors."

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In the Sussexes' 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan mentioned how her ethnicity would've been an asset to the British territories.

"The Commonwealth is a huge part of the monarchy, and I lived in Canada, which is a Commonwealth country, for seven years," she told the talk show host. "But it wasn’t until Harry and I were together that we started to travel through the Commonwealth, I would say 60 percent, 70 percent of which is people of color, right?"

"When I would meet them in our time in the Commonwealth, how much it meant to them to be able to see someone who looks like them," she added.

Seward spoke to Newsweek.