Queen Elizabeth granted and accommodated Meghan Markle with a special privilege two Christmases ago. Of all the outsiders of the royal family, the Duchess of Sussex was the sole person to ever receive this privilege. Not even Kate Middleton enjoyed this kind of special treatment while she was still dating Prince William.
In 2017. Meghan joined Prince Harry and the rest of the royal family for a Christmas in Sandringham. This made Meghan the very first non-royal to have made it on the Queen's guest list because, at that time, she was not yet officially married to Prince Harry.
According to the documentary Sandringham: The Queen at Christmas, Queen Elizabeth invited Meghan to the royal family's traditional Christmas event as Prince Harry's fiancee. It was believed she had this special privilege because Meghan had no other family member in London at that time.
Other royal experts analyzed that Queen allowed Meghan to join since she cannot say "no" to Prince Harry. According to People, Her Majesty adores her grandson too much to turn him down when he asked for something as big as this.
In contrast, Kate didn't have the privilege of spending Christmas with the royals until she became the wife of Prince William. However, Kate had her big and warm family to celebrate the holidays with so it wasn't exactly a losing situation for the Duchess of Cambridge.
The move to have Meghan Markle join the royal family for Christmas when she was not yet officially a royal was a big statement. It showed the British monarchy adapting and accepting of the modern ways and not strictly becoming consumed by old traditions.
Meghan also joined the royals for Christmas in Sandringham the following year. This coming December, however, she and Prince Harry are skipping the royal tradition to celebrate their first Christmas in the U.S. as a family, with baby Archie Harrison.
According to Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth gave her permission for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to celebrate Christmas abroad. However, some royal experts think that Prince Harry and Meghan were being disrespectful to the Queen for not spending the holidays with her this year, given the tough challenges they've faced as a royal family for 2019.
Even singer and royalist Rod Stewart was disappointed by Prince Harry and Meghan's decision. He said that if it were him, he will make it a point to spend this special time with a family member who doesn't have more years left since the Queen and her husband Prince Philip are over 90 years old.
