Is This Royal Family Member Meghan Markle's Favorite?

Much has been said about the relationship between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with the British royal family since the couple decided to step back from their roles within The Firm in January 2020 and move to California, as the BBC reported. In their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March, Harry seemed to confirm the widespread suspicion that his relationship with his older brother, Prince William, and father, Prince Charles, are currently strained, according to Town & Country. Reconciliation doesn't seem to be on the horizon, biographer Omid Scobie said on Good Morning America in August. 

Although Harry is apparently at odds with many family members, that is not true for all of them. Scobie said (via Marie Claire) that Harry and Meghan are close to Queen Elizabeth II, after whom they named their daughter. "When it comes to that relationship with the Queen, it is as strong as ever — they have nothing but love for her," he said. 

In addition to the queen, Harry has also seemingly remained close with his cousin, Princess Eugenie. "Eugenie had always been more than just a cousin to Harry. They were also the closest of friends," Scobie and Carolyn Durand wrote in Harry and Meghan's biography "Finding Freedom," according to People. As such, Eugenie was one of the very first people to whom Harry opened up about his relationship with Meghan, per The Telegraph. And it looks like Harry's love and affection for his cousin has been passed down to Meghan as well.  

When the world found out that Prince Harry was dating American actor Meghan Markle, the couple was with a special member of the royal family, as Meghan revealed during her surprise November 18 on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show".

Per Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand's previous report in "Finding Freedom," it was late October 2016 when Harry received a phone call from Kensington Palace informing him that a newspaper had caught wind about his relationship with Meghan and would run a story about it, per Marie Claire. Eugenie, Jack, and Harry were in Toronto visiting Meghan at the time, so they decided to have fun one last time as an anonymous couple, as Meghan explained to DeGeneres. "The four of us snuck out in Halloween costumes to just have one fun night on the town before it was out in the world that we were a couple," she said. They attended a "post-Apocalypse-themed party" and wore extravagant costumes concealing their identity, Meghan added. "We were able to just sort of have one final fun night out," she said.

After Meghan and Harry left their royal duties, Eugenie continued to support her cousin and his wife. When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex welcomed their daughter Lilibet in June, Eugenie shared heartfelt congratulations to her "dear cousins" on her Instagram Stories, according to People, suggesting Eugenie continues to be fond of Meghan.