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“I think, as Americans especially, what you do know about the royals is what you read in fairytales.”
Because I’m from the States, you don’t grow up with the same understanding of the royal family. So while I now understand very clearly there’s a global interest there, I didn’t know very much about [Harry when we first met].
Anything I learned about [Harry] and his family was what he would share with me... For both of us, it was just a really authentic and organic way to get to know each other.
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His family’s been so welcoming... Over the past year and a half, we've just had a really nice time getting to know them and progressively helping me feel a part of not just the institution but also part of the family, which has been really, really special.
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“It's incredible... to be able to meet [the queen] through his lens. Not just with his honor and respect for her as the monarch, but [with] the love that he has for her as his grandmother.”
I thought genuinely [curtsying] was what happens outside. I thought that was part of the fanfare. I didn't think that was what happens inside [the family]. And I said [to Harry], 'But it’s your grandmother,' and he said, 'It’s the queen.’
The queen, for example, has always been wonderful to me... I just really loved being in her company.
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This morning, I woke up earlier than H and saw a note... saying the Duke of Edinburgh had gone to the hospital. I just picked up the phone and I called the queen just to check-in. I just called, that’s what we do.
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“A few days before the wedding, [Kate Middleton] was upset... about flower-girl dresses, and it made me cry, and it really hurt my feelings. But she owned it, and she apologized.”
Not being able to meet [Harry’s] mom, it's so important to me to know that she's a part of this with us. I think in being able to meet... different people who were so important to his mom, I'm able to, in some way, know a part of her through them and of course through him.
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 compartmentalize that.
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I came to understand that not only was I not being protected, but they were willing to lie to protect other members of the family [and] they weren’t willing to tell the truth to protect me and my husband.