Meghan Markle phones the Queen ‘just to check in’ and called her after Prince Philip was hospitalised

MEGHAN Markle reveals she regularly phones the Queen ‘just to check in’, and she called the monarch after Prince Philip was hospitalised. 

The Duchess of Sussex made the claims during her and Prince Harry’s explosive Oprah Winfrey interview, as she praised the monarch as 'warm and inviting'. 

👑 Read our Meghan and Harry live blog for the latest news...

6

The pregnant 39-year-old claimed the pair are still on good terms despite Megxit, with Meghan catching up with the 94-year-old after Prince Philip, 99, was taken to hospital last month. 

The mum-to-be said: “I just pick up the phone and I call the Queen - just to check in.

"That's what we do, it's like being able to default to not having to every moment go 'Is that appropriate?'."

Meghan chatted with the chat show queen, 67, from near their new home in LA, with the former actress showing off her blossoming baby bump, revealing she and Harry are expecting a little girl.

She recalled the first time she met Prince Harry’s grandmother, saying it was ‘lovely and easy’. 

6

But the former actress claimed she had no idea how to curtsey, and Prince Harry, 36, had to quickly teach her right before the lunch with the Queen at the Royal Lodge, Windsor.

"I remember Harry and I were in the car and he said 'My grandmother is going to be there so you are going to meet her,” she explained. 

"I said 'Great'. He said 'Do you know how to curtsey?'

"I didn't think it's what happened inside. I said 'It's your grandmother.'

6

"He said 'It's the Queen.' That was the first moment that the penny dropped."

Meghan also revealed the monarch gave her "some beautiful pearl earrings and a matching necklace" for the pair's first joint engagement together in Cheshire, just weeks before her wedding. 

Meghan said: "I mean, we had one of our first joint engagements together. She asked me to join her, and I was on the train.

"And we have breakfast together that morning and she gave me a beautiful gift and I just really loved being in her company, and I remember we were in the car and she gave me some beautiful pearl earrings and a matching necklace, and we were in the car going between engagements.

6

"And she has a blanket that sits across her, her knees, for warmth and it was chilly and she was like, 'Meghan, come on.'

“And put it over my knees as well. And it made me think of my grandmother, where she's always been warm and inviting and really welcoming.”

Meghan continued the praise the monarch during the two-hour interview, saying: “It's hard for people to distinguish the two, because it's a family business right, there's the family, and then there's the people that are running the institution, those are two separate things and it's important to be able to compartmentalise that because the Queen, for example, has always been wonderful to me.”

6

The explosive interview aired on CBS in the US, and will be shown in the UK on ITV on Monday at 9pm.

Meghan and Harry, 36, along with one-year-old son Archie now live in Santa Barbara in a £11m mansion and are neighbours of Oprah. 

Meghan stunned in a black £3,600 Armani dress featuring a lotus flower design, and also has her hair pulled back in a centre-parted up-do.

The “primetime special” with Meghan and Harry was initially set to last 90 minutes, but CBS extended it to two hours.

Meghan and Harry signed up for the interview to have the freedom to "speak their truth".

6

Most read in Celebrity

NICK-ED HER HEART

People called me a gold digger for dating Nick Knowles, says Katie Dadzie

DIVINE DAVINA

Amanda Holden inspired me to dress inappropriately, says David McCall, 57

YOUTHFUL GLOW

Tulisa reveals treatment she ‘can’t go without’ - it slows signs of ageing

OH MAE!

'It’s been a complete disaster with Bambi, she's so clingy' admits Molly-Mae Hague

Meanwhile Meghan Markle claims Archie was banned from being prince after royals questioned how ‘dark skinned’ he would be.

READ MORE SUN STORIES

SO STRONG

Heartbroken Phillip Schofield carries mum's casket at funeral

FIGHT OR FLIGHT

BA axing all flights from UK’s biggest airport to 2 destinations next year

The interview also revealed Meghan was apparently left gutted when the Queen would not let her and Harry live in a wing at Windsor Castle.

Plus Archie's favourite word is 'hydrate' the proud parents revealed.