Dotdash Meredith and Yahoo Inc. may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below.
Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Meghan Markle and Queen Elizabeth in 2018
Meghan Markle connected with Queen Elizabeth over her dream of becoming a mother.
Prince Harry, 38, shares the sweet story in his long-awaited memoir, Spare, out Tuesday.
During Meghan and the Queen’s first joint engagement in June 2018, weeks after the Sussexes’ royal wedding in Windsor, Prince Harry writes that his wife came home “glowing” from her visit to Cheshire, some 200 miles away from London, where she and the monarch connected with community leaders and watched a performance by local school children.
“The Queen and I really bonded!” Harry quotes his wife as saying in Spare. “We talked about how much I wanted to be a mom and she told me the best way to induce labor was a good bumpy car ride! I told her I’d remember that when the time came.”
Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Queen Elizabeth, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry
RELATED: Prince Harry Tells PEOPLE: ‘Spare’ Is a Raw Account of the ‘Good, the Bad and Everything in Between’
About a year later, Meghan and Harry’s dreams of parenthood came true when their son Archie Harrison was born in May 2019. The Sussexes relocated to North America the following year, and their daughter Lilibet Diana was born in California in June 2021. Both of the children got to meet the monarch, who died in September at age 96.
While paying her respects to see the Queen lying in state, Meghan poignantly wore the pearl and diamond drop earrings her grandmother-in-law gave her in honor of their first solo outing in Cheshire.
Gregorio Borgia/AP/Shutterstock Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex
RELATED: Prince Harry Wants Archie and Lilibet to ‘Have Relationships’ with Royal Family
In this week’s exclusive PEOPLE cover story, Prince Harry tells PEOPLE how he remembers the late monarch.
“My grandmother and I were very close, and we very much did have a special relationship,” he says. “I miss her dearly, as well as her cheeky sense of humor and quick wit.”
PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE The book jacket of Prince Harry’s memoir ‘Spare’
For more from PEOPLE‘s exclusive interview with Harry, check out this week’s issue, on newsstands Friday
“I’m also really happy for her. She lived a full life and is now reunited with her husband,” Harry continues, recalling his grandfather Prince Philip, who died in April 2021.
“I will forever cherish every memory I had with her, especially the times she spent with my children,” he adds of Archie and Lilibet.
Jenna Jones
In Spare, Prince Harry reflects on when Archie and Lilibet (whose name comes from Queen Elizabeth’s family nickname stemming from her childhood) met their great-grandmother in June 2021. The family had traveled to the U.K. from their California home for the monarch’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, marking her 70 years on the throne.
Harry recalled Archie “making deep, chivalrous bows” while Lili was “cuddling the monarch’s shins.”
“Sweetest children, Granny said, sounding bemused,” he wrote in the book. “She’d expected them to be a bit more . . . American, I think? Meaning, in her mind, more rambunctious.”
The book is billed as an "accurate and wholly truthful” firsthand account of Prince Harry's life.
"Gwen Stefani telling an Asian American interviewer that she identifies as Japanese is the kind of oblivion i'm trying to channel in this dark, cruel world."View Entire Post ›
In 'Spare,' the prince says the Waleses' home is "like a museum," while his and Meghan's Nottingham Cottage had IKEA furniture and a secondhand couch.
Britney's former agent and ex-fiancé is making rare comments about their relationship.
The officer jumped from an apartment complex adjacent to the building housing the NYPD Medical Division, where physical and mental evaluations are conducted.
The content creator and model, 27, opened up about her doctor prescribing the medication, and how it eventually made her binge eating worse
Kyle Doan's mother, a teacher at a local school, was saved by bystanders after her car got caught in rising flood waters but the 5-year-old was pulled out and downstream
"I just thought you were extraordinary," Farrell told Armas, for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in Blonde
Whenever a public figure dies or has a major health problem, some falsely blame it on COVID-19 vaccines, despite the fact that it deters people from being vaccinated, thus increasing the risks for everyone.
To industry experts, the tip is common knowledge — but to everyday travelers, it could mean the difference between a $150 flight voucher and $1,350 in cash.