Meghan Markle and Queen Elizabeth Step Out, and Prince Harry Wasn't Invited

Alexandra Whittaker
Updated

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Queen Elizabeth and Meghan Markle are taking their budding friendship to the next level.

The Duchess of Sussex and her grandmother-in-law are partnering together for the first time on an official royal visit, and the move comes only weeks after Markle tied the knot with Prince Harry ... who was not invited to this event.

Early Thursday morning, Markle joined the queen in Cheshire for an official visit, sans Harry. In order to get there, she and the queen had to spend 165 miles traveling together, overnight, by train, so clearly things must be going well between them.

For the big day, Markle wore a modest cream Givenchy dress (the same house that designed her wedding gown) with a shoulder overlay and black belt, while the queen opted for a Stewart Parvin coat in the same bright lime green color that she wore to Harry and Meghan's royal wedding.

The visit is only the latest chapter in a series of moves that show the queen taking a particular interest in spending time with her new granddaughter-in-law.

First, she was smitten with Markle's dog Guy, even riding with the shelter pup during Markle's wedding festivities. Then, she began taking Markle under her wing by making sure she had "duchess lessons" designed to help her learn the royal ropes. Then came the photographs of Markle in her Buckingham Palace home. And now? It looks like full-on friendship.

In Kensington Palace's photo, Queen Elizabeth was beaming as she stood next to Markle, who was allowed to ride with the monarch on her train before Harry, Prince William, or Kate Middleton.

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Kate Middleton didn't even get her solo royal visit with the queen until almost a year after she and William married in April 2011. For Middleton's March 2012 visit, she joined Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip as part of the queen's Diamond Jubilee tour of the U.K.

We've got to love a grandma who is so clearly her grandchildren's number one fan.