Here’s How Meghan Markle’s Dysfunctional Family Strengthened Her Relationship With The Royals

Some of Meghan Markle’s family members back in the U.S. have been a thorn in her side since the weekend of her wedding to Prince Harry — but that hasn’t stopped her from being warmly embraced by the royal family. In fact, as E! News reports, her family drama actually helped her to get an “in” with the Windsors.

The royal family is all about propriety, dignity, and elegance. They’re the living embodiment of the United Kingdom’s centuries of history and tradition. As such, they must steadfastly avoid any embarrassment, salacity, or anything that would bring disrepute to the family.

So one might think that, once the American actress’s father and half-siblings started a coordinated campaign to drag their relative through the mud, that the Windsors would have locked her out for their own protection. But as we all know, the opposite has happened: her father-in-law, Charles, loves her like a daughter. She’s the apple of Queen Elizabeth’s eye. And she and her sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, are more like actual sisters.

In fact, Meghan’s family drama isn’t just something that the Windsors collectively ignore when it comes to Meghan — it’s something that has seemingly helped her to get closer with them. One theory as to why this is the case is that the Windsors have been there, too.

It happens get over it, but since it's Meghan yall have to blow it out of proportion ?
Found this picture on Instagram #DukeandDuchessofSussex #MeghanMarkle #HarryandMeghan pic.twitter.com/ThRHOkdiFE

— ????? #LiveToLead 12.31 (@Sussex__Archive) October 31, 2018

For a family that tries so steadfastly to avoid embarrassment and negative publicity, they’ve had their fair share. There was the time that Queen Elizabeth’s uncle abdicated the throne to marry a divorced American actress — a series of events so shocking that it almost destroyed the monarchy. Then there was the time that the future King (Charles) and his wife (Diana) divorced, which at the time was almost earth-shattering in its significance to the country. Then, Diana died under suspicious circumstances.

Such a record of royal drama could include far-less-major but still-embarrassing incidents — like Princess Anne’s affair with a married man, or any of Prince Philip’s many public gaffes. Long story short, if any family knows about dramatic affairs, it’s the Windsors.

Royal documentarian Angela Levin says that family drama is so old-hat to the Windsors that Meghan’s embarrassing relatives back in the United States were actually something of an asset to her.

“There have been so many traumas and crises within the person [sic] life of the royal family. And many royal divorces. That’s why the Duchess of Sussex’s troubled family background has endeared her to Charles even more.”

As it turns out, the Windsors have even extended their love for Meghan to one of her relatives — the one relative who doesn’t continually try to embarrass the Duchess. Rumor has it that the Queen has invited Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, to the family’s Christmas dinner.