King Charles Had 4 Words to Describe Meghan Markle After Prince Harry Introduced Them
TL;DR:
- Christopher Andersen writes in his 2022 book, The King: The Life of Charles III, King Charles III found Meghan Markle “completely charming” when they first met.
- The author also claims King Charles III “had no idea” Meghan Markle was biracial.
- Meghan Markle’s recent 2022 interview comments have reportedly “thrown” King Charles III.
Meeting the family is always a big deal, especially when it’s the royal family. In a 2022 biography, a royal author described the first time Prince Harry introduced Meghan Markle to King Charles III. Here’s when King Charles first met Meghan Markle and what the Duke of Sussex’s father initially thought of the Duchess of Sussex.
King Charles III liked Meghan Markle when Prince Harry introduced them in 2016
In his 2022 book, The King: The Life of Charles III, author Christopher Andersen recounted the king’s first meeting with Meghan.
“After returning from Botswana that fall, Harry introduced Meghan to his father and Camilla,” Andersen wrote, per Newsweek, referring to the couple’s 2016 Africa trip to get to know each other.
King Charles, who hadn’t yet taken the throne at the time, seemed to like Meghan.
“The Prince of Wales found the young American actress — who bore a passing resemblance to Kate’s sister, Pippa — ‘completely charming, absolutely delightful,'” Andersen wrote.
Later, during their 2017 engagement interview, Harry recalled what it had been like introducing Meghan to his family. He said the former Suits star met Prince William and Kate Middleton first. Then came introductions to Harry’s father and stepmother.
Harry shared they’d had a “handful of teas and meetings and all sorts of gatherings” at his father’s “place.”
“The whole family have come together and have been a huge amount of support,” he added, with Meghan chiming in that “they’ve been amazing.”
King Charles ‘had no idea’ Meghan Markle was biracial when they met
When the king met Meghan, according to Andersen’s biography, he was unaware of her biracial heritage.
“At the time, Prince Charles had no idea that Harry’s new girlfriend was biracial,” the author wrote.
Andersen went on, claiming the now-74-year-old king told an “American friend,” ‘Not that it would have mattered at all, of course. But no, I didn’t realize that until later.’”
Meghan later said in her and Harry’s 2021 tell-all Oprah interview that an unnamed royal had wondered what the skin color of their son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, now 3, would be. Off camera, the couple clarified the comment didn’t come from Queen Elizabeth II or Prince Philip.
King Charles ‘feels betrayed’ by Meghan Markle’s ‘hurtful’ comments in 2022 interviews
Years since the king’s first meeting with Meghan, the two aren’t necessarily in a good place, according to Andersen.
The author told Us Weekly that Meghan’s quotes from various 2022 interviews have been “hurtful” to the king.
“I think — as far as Charles is concerned, specifically — you know, he feels betrayed,” he said. “I mean, he really was very fond of her. And I think he’s somewhat bewildered.”
Andersen explained the queen had been “used to handling” Harry and Meghan’s forthcoming approach to interviews, whereas the king wasn’t.
“I don’t think it threw her as much as it has thrown at Charles, and understandably so, because this is his son and the daughter-in-law who … [have] said some pretty hurtful things,” he concluded.
