Royal News: Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, the Queen and Kate Middleton

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So what is the famous family up to today?

Prince Harry's pal mocks Meghan Markle saying she's 'standing back from her tax return to see friends and do yoga'

Rose Astor, whose husband is one of Prince Harry's close friends, poked fun at the dramatic announcement that saw the Duke and Duchess of Sussex reveal they were "stepping back" as royals.

The wife of Hugh van Cutsem posted on social media: "I am standing back as a senior member of my tax return because I’d rather drink coffee, see my friends, love my family and do yoga."

She also reportedly joked that "do[ing] maths which I swear is bad for my health".

Meghan is known to be a fan of yoga – while Rose also regularly shares photographs of her performing the back-bending workout.

Her post echoed the bombshell announcement from Meghan and Harry that stated: "We intend to step back as 'senior' members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support her Majesty the Queen."

Queen 'privately furious' about £2.4m Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spent on Frogmore refurb – only to move abroad

Sources claim Her Majesty is furious at the amount spent, which cost the taxpayer £2.4million, now that the couple intend to start a new life in Canada.

According to the Daily Mail, although the monarch has accepted the Duke and Duchess of Sussex won't live in Britain full-time, insiders have indicated she isn't happy.

The Sun Online has approached Buckingham Palace for comment.

Public money funded the upgrade after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle rejected a home in the grounds of Kensington Palace, saying they wanted a place of their own.

In their bombshell quitting statement the couple said they would use the five-bedroom pad "as their official residence as they continue to support the Monarchy".

They said it would be so that their family "will always have a place to call home in the UK."

At present, they live in the property rent free after it was gifted to them by the Queen.

Prince Harry has been 'grumpy, sad and bad-tempered' since marrying Meghan Markle, royal expert claims

Appearing on Good Morning Britain, The Sun's royal correspondent Emily Andrews said Prince Harry was on "good form" yesterday as he appeared at the Rugby League World Cup draw in Buckingham Palace.

Describing how the Duke of Sussex looked noticeably happier yesterday, she said it was as though "the weight of the world had gone from his shoulders."

Since Harry and Meghan released their shocking announcement that they were "stepping down" as senior members of the Royal Family last week, the Duke has been locked in crisis talks.

The expert continued: "I don't think he particularly wanted to go into the garden of Buckingham Palace to be presented with the royal press core but I definitely think he seemed as if things were going better for him."

What's more, Emily claims that the duke's cheery disposition yesterday made a welcome change from how he's acted during royal engagements since he married the duchess in May 2018.

She continued: "Certainly over the last 18 months or two years, we've seen him really grumpy, sad, and bad-tempered."

Prince Harry 'trawls online news sites to read negative comments about himself'

The Duke of Sussex would even "voraciously devour" stories about his love life from supermarket magazines.

The insight into how keenly the royal would follow coverage of his own life comes after he and wife Meghan Markle announced they were stepping down as royals and moving to Canada.

The Daily Mail's royal reporter Rebecca English today claimed Prince Harry had struggled in the attention his royal role came with.

She wrote: "All too often he would grill me about what I, or another member of the media, had written about him.

"His honesty was welcome and refreshing, interlaced with snippets of intelligence about his family, girlfriends, love for the military — and everything in between.

"But he would also talk about the supermarket magazines he picked up, voraciously devouring every article about his love life, riddled as they were with falsehoods.

"In recent years he had even taken to scouring online articles and the comments underneath."

Meghan Markle's sister rubbishes racism claims and mocks her 'fake British accent'

Samantha Markle said she believed Meghan had initially enjoyed her new role as a royal after marrying Prince Harry but the script "suddenly flipped" when the couple came under criticism.

And the royal's half-sister insisted she wanted the duchess to apologise to their father, Thomas Markle – although revealed she doubted a reconciliation would come anytime soon.

Speaking on This Morning, Samantha said she had noticed a change in Meghan when she initially appeared to enjoy life in the spotlight after wedding Harry.

She said: "I feel and it appeared outwardly that she did enjoy it.

"There was the quote 'Fab Four', and the photographs of her hair blowing in the wind and the smiling and the waving and the, you know, contrived British accent.

"It was all seemingly great and wonderful then but when the public began to criticise some of the expenditures and behaviour and protocol that had been broken, the tune changed."

Kate Middleton relies on 'timeless' houndstooth and tweed to create the ultimate ‘power-dressing’ wardrobe

Kate Middleton uses ‘timeless’ houndstooth print as a form of ‘power dressing’ – but always gives it a feminine twist.

The Duchess of Cambridge has an enviable wardrobe with the ‘Kate effect’ seeing pieces she wears fly off the shelves. 

The mum-of-three stepped out in a £15.99 Zara dress for an engagement earlier this week, and the dress has already sold out. 

Kate opted for a long-sleeved houndstooth frock, with a pussybow neckline and belted waist. 

It’s a go-to print for the duchess, who has worn a variety of outfits in the classic design over the years. 

And she doesn’t just make the print work for casual frocks, as she’s previously stepped out in a tailored jacket and evening gown – all in houndstooth. 

Susie Hasle, a stylist explained the checkered look was "timeless" and "conservative" – two essentials for royal's wardrobe – but she manages to give the traditionally male print a feminine twist. 

The style expert told the Daily Mail: “Catherine always favours a more conservative look and houndstooth ticks all the boxes for formal wear, with a bit of an edge."

Meghan Markle boasted to her adviser she had ‘legs as long as a mile’ & asked for jobs that ‘showcased this asset’

Gina Nelthorpe-Cowne acted as the Duchess of Sussex's business adviser after meeting the actress on the set of Suits in 2014, and the pair also became close friends.

The business guru worked with Meghan on numerous endorsement deals, from big-brand watch companies to body care ranges, and the actress was firm about how to promote herself. 

Gina wrote in the Mail on Sunday: “She [Meghan] took me to one side and emphasised that she had 'legs as long as a mile', demanding that our agency do our best to secure her a substantial offer to showcase this 'asset'.”

Meghan is also said to have had the “ambition” to land a huge contract with a beauty brand, like L’Oreal. 

The business adviser said that Meghan “is a businesswoman first and foremost” and she was “most keen” about being a brand ambassador when she was an actress. 

Meghan Markle is defying the royals as she goes about her ‘normal’ Canadian life and it’s terrifying The Queen

The sight of the Duchess of Sussex swanning around Vancouver this week can only be seen as an act of extraordinary defiance from the royals at the centre of a global backlash.

Collecting her yoga pal from the airport, beaming at the camera as she stepped off a seaplane and the image of her posing alongside staff at a woman’s refuge carried a simple message – 'crisis – what crisis?'

What appeared so insolent was the fact that she went about 'normal' Canadian life – as she did pre-Harry – while the shockwaves from the bombshell they'd dropped on the Royal Family last week still reverberated around the corridors of the palace.

The ink on the Queen’s carefully worded and unprecedented statement following Monday’s ‘Sandringham showdown’ with Harry had barely dried yet she was doing what she wanted, when she wanted to.

In it the statement Her Majesty made great play of the ‘family’, revealing that although she was disappointed, she remained supportive of Harry and Meghan’s decision to take a ‘step back’ from their official duties as royals.

What else could the Queen say? As head of the ‘Firm’ she was being forced to accept the royals were losing two of their brightest stars. 

Meghan Markle’s pal Mischa Nonoo is jetting into Toronto as girl squad rally around her following Megxit

Since the royal crisis erupted last week, the Duchess of Sussex has spent much of her time without Prince Harry in Canada.

As a result, a group of the Meghan Markle's friends have been rallying round to offer their support.

Earlier today, the royal mum-of-one was spotted picking up pal Heather Dorak from Victoria International Airport near the £14m mansion on Vancouver Island where she has been staying since before Christmas with eighth-month-old son Archie.

Meghan, 38, could also be set to reunite soon with another close confidante, Misha Nonoo, 33.

The Instagram account of the latter's fashion label announced last night that Toronto would be the first stop on the brand's "styling tour".

They will be hitting the Canadian city on January 24th to 26th, before moving onto Washington DC several days later.

This would make the British-Bahraini designer just a five-hour flight away from Meghan.

Equally, given her connections to the city – where she lived for seven years while filming TV show Suits – it is possible the ex-actress could hop on a flight to see her friend too.

In other royal news, we told you how Kate Middleton stunned in a £15 Zara dress and McQueen coat for Bradford visit with Prince William.

We also revealed that Prince Harry's staff were "apprehensive" when he met Meghan Markle as she was "opposite to the quiet life he craved".

And the Duke and Duchess of Sussex could get a book deal worth more than Obamas' £49m for "unfiltered" story.

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