If you thought meeting your boyfriend’s parents this holiday season was going to be intimidating, imagine spending three days with the Queen of England and the rest of the royal family. Meghan Markle is reportedly breaking royal boundaries and modernizing the monarchy once again as the first unofficial spouse to get an invite to the royal family’s holiday festivities.
According to Us Weekly, Prince Harry‘s bride-to-be will be spending Christmas with the royal family, a departure from the “spouses only” tradition. And she’s got the go ahead from the Queen herself.
The Suits actress will spend 72 hours with her fiancé and future in-laws at the Queen’s annual Sandringham gathering. The days’ festivities reportedly include a black tie dinner, a speech from the Queen and the exchange of gag gifts among the family.
Although Prince William waited five years to introduce his future wife Kate Middleton to his grandmother, Harry was excited to introduce Meghan to “the example I aspire to,” as he once referred to her. They first met in September, and Meghan had only glowing things to say about the monarch in her official engagement interview.
“To be able to meet her through his lens, not just with his honor and respect for her as the monarch, but the love that he has for her as his grandmother, all of those layers have been so important for me,” she said. “So that when I met her, I had such a deep understanding and of course incredible respect for being able to have that time with her.”
This Christmas will just be a preview of what Meghan’s life will be like once she and Harry get married in May. Hopefully, it’s the first of many merry Christmases for the couple.