engagement is 'not a question of if but when'
The Ford Galaxy with blacked out windows was discreetly waved through the gates of Buckingham Palace and cruised to a halt at the Queen’s private entrance.
Out stepped Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Harry, I understand, was introducing his American actress girlfriend to the Queen. They were there for tea.
Ever since Harry issued his edict about privacy 11 months ago when he felt the media were trampling over his romance, royal aides have been extremely cautious about commenting on his private life.
But he desperately wanted his grandmother to meet divorcee Meghan and it would suggest that the couple are making plans for a future together just 18 months after meeting at the Invictus Games in Florida.
Everything about the teatime meeting was deliberately informal, I am told. In part it was to settle any nerves Meghan might have felt but also to ensure it was not widely publicised within the palace.
After being driven in to the inner courtyard, the couple were said to have been whisked up to the Queen’s private sitting room on the first floor overlooking the palace gardens and Constitution Hill, and which is served by a lift.
The Queen had only returned from her long summer break at Balmoral Castle two days earlier.
Prince Philip, who has been spending recent times at Sandringham, was not there.
She normally sits for half an hour eating from a selection of sandwiches, fruit or plain scones and cake.
It is served with her own blend of Darjeeling and Assam tea, known as Queen Mary’s blend.
Insiders say that Harry, 33, had spoken to his grandmother during the summer at Balmoral asking to introduce Meghan, who is three years his senior.
She has been a regular visitor to the Prince’s Kensington Palace home during the past year.
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