Meghan Markle tells how she met the Queen for tea

Meghan Markle tells how she met the Queen for tea



 Newly-engaged Meghan Markle has recalled the first meeting she had with the Queen and revealed the love Prince Harry has for his beloved grandmother.



In a touching interview this evening, the 36-year-old actress spoke warmly about Her Majesty - and how she instantly bonded with her famous Corgis.



The American suits star praised the 91-year-old monarch, who she said was 'an incredible woman.'



Ms Markle revealed she had met the Queen 'a couple of times' for tea.



And when she moved one of her dogs over to the UK, it was perhaps the clearest indication that she was serious about Prince Harry.



The actress brought her beagle Guy to live at Kensington Palace as her romance with the royal got serious.



Her second dog, labrador-shepherd Bogart, is currently staying with friends in Canada.

Miss Markle has described the pair, which were rescued from a shelter in Los Angeles, as 'my loves', 'my boys' and said they 'mean the absolute world' to her.



And Prince Harry joked at his annoyance that the Queen's corgis, who have barked at him all his life, took to his fiancée 'straight away.'



She described how when she met the monarch, they 'sweetly lay on my feet during tea, it was very sweet.'



Prince Harry added: 'Just wagging tails and I was just like argh!'





If there is one thing likely to make sure Meghan Markle settles in well with the royal family, it will be her love of dogs.



Guy and Bogart have regularly featured on her Instagram account, with Guy even appearing in a patriotic knitted union flag jumper.



It was American comedian and chat show host Ellen DeGeneres who convinced Ms Markle to adopt Bogart - her first pet - after she bumped into her in a shelter.



'She turns around and comes and taps on the window glass and she yells 'Take the dog!' And so I brought him home. Because Ellen told me to,' she said.



Speculation that a royal engagement was imminent intensified when it was reported Ms Markle was putting arrangements in place to move the animals from her home in Toronto to London.



Harry's grandmother the Queen is the royal best known for her love of dogs.



She has owned more than 30 corgis, many of them direct descendants of Susan, who was so loved she accompanied the then Princess Elizabeth on her honeymoon.



Now she has only one corgi left, Willow, and two dorgis, Candy and Vulcan.



She introduced the new breed of dog known as the 'dorgi' when her corgi Tiny mated with a dachshund 'sausage dog' called Pipkin, which belonged to Princess Margaret.



Bogart might turn out to be a favourite with the Queen.



Labradors are bred and kept at Sandringham and the Queen has a close bond with the animals, which are working gundogs more than pets.



Ms Markle is a keen advocate of adopting dogs, often using the £adoptdontshop hashtag in her posts, which will go down well with Harry's stepmother the Duchess of Cornwall.





Camilla is patron of Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, and adopted her two adored Jack Russells, Beth and Bluebell, from the shelter.



The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have a cocker spaniel called Lupo, a wedding present from Kate's brother James Middleton.



Harry grew up surrounded by dogs. His father the Prince of Wales had a Jack Russell called Tigga, who featured on some of his Christmas cards along with William and Harry.



But not all royals dogs are well behaved.



In 2003, as the family was gathering for Christmas at Sandringham in Norfolk, Pharos, one of the Queen's oldest corgis, was savaged by Florence, the Princess Royal's English bull terrier, and had to be put down.



The year before, Anne was fined £500 and ordered to pay £500 compensation when another of her bull terriers, Dottie, attacked two children in Windsor Great Park.