Meghan Markle certainly didn’t google the royal family before meeting them.
The Suits graduate knew so little about then-boyfriend Prince Harry’s extended family that she mistook Prince Andrew for Queen Elizabeth II’s assistant, according to the Duke of Sussex.
In his explosive “Spare” memoir, Harry, 38, writes that Markle, 41, was ill-prepared when she went to the Royal Lodge for her first meeting with his monarchical grandmother in October 2016.
“After a moment, Meg asked me something about the Queen’s assistant. I asked who she was talking about,” he recalls in the book, which goes on sale Tuesday.
“‘That man holding the purse. The man who walked her to the door. Wasn’t that your assistant? Who was it?’” Markle replied.
Harry then explained that the man in question was his uncle, informing his then-girlfriend: “‘That was her second son. Andrew.’”
Meghan Markle knew so little about Prince Harry’s family that she assumed Prince Andrew was Queen Elizabeth II’s assistant. WireImage
Andrew, 62, was once a familiar face within the royal family, although he’s kept a low profile in recent years.
The Duke of York – who shares daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson – resigned from public duties in November 2019 over his controversial friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Harry revealed that Markle was unprepared for her first meeting with the monarch. Getty Images
Markle, who married Harry in May 2018, previously compared meeting the late queen to a themed dinner at American chain Medieval Times.
“She had no idea what it was all about,” Harry explained in the couple’s 2022 Netflix docuseries. “So it was a bit of a shock to the system for her.”
Harry joked that his wife-to-be didn’t google his family, WireImage
In his book, Harry also reflects on the moment his now-wife met his father, King Charles III, and stepmother, Queen Consort Camilla.
“Meg looked beautiful,” he writes, noting that he encouraged the former actress to wear her brunette hair down just like “da likes it.”
He also suggested that she would wear only “a little” makeup because his father “wouldn’t approve of women who wore a lot.”
Andrew, the Queen’s third child, stepped down from his duties in 2019. Getty Images
It seems the duo were much better prepared for this meeting than they were with the Queen, as they spent their evening with Charles, 74, and Camilla, 75, making small talk and chatting about their “fur babies”.
However, Harry and Markle’s relationship with the royal family quickly soured over the palace’s lack of support for the Duchess of Sussex while she faced extreme media scrutiny.
The couple eventually decided to step down from royal duties in January 2020. A little over a year later, they made their exit official.