Long before Prince Harry and Meghan Markle blew up the monarchy with Megxit, the late Queen harboured deep concerns, fearing her grandson was “besotted and weak” and being manipulated by a woman who “could turn into nothing but trouble.”

Fresh revelations from royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith have laid bare private conversations with Lady Elizabeth Anson, the Queen’s first cousin once removed, shedding new light on the royal family’s early doubts about Prince Harry’s marriage — and their quiet dread ahead of the 2018 wedding, The Sun reported.

“We hope but don’t quite think (Meghan) is in love. We think she engineered it all,” Lady Elizabeth told Smith at the time, adding: “The problem, bless his heart, is that Harry is neither bright nor strong, and she is both.”

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today

The Queen, according to her cousin, was rattled.

She had reportedly described Prince Harry as “rude to her for ten minutes” in the lead-up to the wedding and was blindsided when he asked the Archbishop of Canterbury to officiate without clearing it first.

“Harry seems to think the Queen can do what she wants, but she can’t,” Lady Elizabeth said.

“On the religious side, it is the Dean of Windsor’s jurisdiction.”

The Queen, she said, believed her grandson had “blown his relationship with his grandmother.”

Though they later patched things up, the tension lingered.

Behind the scenes, Meghan’s reputation was already slipping. Palace staff had allegedly dubbed her “Me-gain” and complained of diva-like behaviour, including her demand to mask the “musty” smell in St George’s Chapel with scented spritzers before the ceremony.

“I don’t trust Meghan an inch,” Lady Elizabeth later said, citing the Duchess’s secrecy about her wedding dress, which unsettled the Queen during a tea day before the wedding. “Very much so,” she added when asked if Meghan was bossy.

As the Sussexes’ tensions with the palace worsened — culminating in their Oprah interview and Prince Harry’s tell-all memoir — many of Lady Elizabeth’s early fears appear to have been validated.

The Queen, who died in 2022, did not live to read Spare, nor to see Prince Harry take legal action over his police protection.

But the family’s divide has only grown deeper.

Despite King Charles and Princess Kate Middleton’s recent health battles, reconciliation appears out of reach.

Even now, Meghan continues to use her royal title in public ventures — including the launch of her new rosé wine — despite previous assurances to the Queen that she wouldn’t.

Neither Buckingham Palace nor the Sussexes have responded to the resurfaced claims.