01 February 2024 , 11:29
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Meghan Markle certainly made a splash when she officially joined the Royal Family in 2018. And her new father-in-law, King Charles, was quick to realise how tough and resilient she really was.
In fact, Charles was so struck by Meghan's strength that he came up with a nickname for the actress - albeit an unusual one - as she began her life as a working royal.
It was royal expert Katie Nicholl who first revealed the moniker in her 2022 book, The New Royals: Queen Elizabeth's Legacy and the Future of the Crown.
"Charles reportedly nicknamed his future daughter-in-law 'Tungsten' because of her toughness and resilience," according to Nicholl. And she further noted that those attributes were evident during Meghan's first joint appearance alongside Harry, William and Kate during the Royal Foundation Forum, where she spoke, in February 2018.
"It was, according to one aide, the moment William and Kate, who was heavily pregnant, realised they needed to up their game," Nicholl writes. "The Cambridges had already signalled their intention to be more than 'ornamental royals' and had, along with Harry, made a huge success of their mental health campaign Heads Together.
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"But Meghan was the breakout star of the foursome," she continues. "She was polished, passionate, and funny, using all her TV-honed skills to present her case.
"That was a wake-up moment for William and Kate when they realised that Meghan was very impressive, very confident, and very capable, according to a source."
Elsewhere in the book, Nicholl writes that it was the Queen's desire that Meghan reconcile with her father, Thomas Markle, ahead of her wedding to Harry.
Meghan and Harry had the Queen's full support in the run-up to their wedding. But, shortly after their engagement, Meghan's strained relationship with her father became public knowledge.
Ahead of their wedding day, Nicholl writes that the monarch was worried that Harry had never met Thomas and was marrying his daughter. In turn, she encouraged Meghan to mend things with her father before her wedding on 19 May, 2018.
"It was the Queen's feeling that Meghan should sort things out with her father and that Harry should have met Thomas before the wedding, reveals a close family friend," Nicholl writes. "She thought the whole thing could have been better handled. From a practical point, the Queen did what she could for the family's newest member and given Meghan's boots-on-ground approach made sure the new duchess had the support she needed."