Will Her Majesty Tell Meghan Markle About Her Diplomatic Foxtrot With Ghana's President Nkrumah?

Body language often tells all, as this charming, delicious photo of Queen Elizabeth and Meghan Markle shared a "royal giggling fit" in the British town of Chester this weei. The queen and Markle officially opened the Mersey Gateway Bridge and Chester's Storyhouse Theatre on their first solo public engagement together.

Writing for The Daily Beast, Tom Sykes explains that Markle is taking on official royal duties with astonishing speed, even travelling to Chester overnight on the sleeper train with Her Majesty.  Meghan wore her new pearl diamond drop earrings, confirmed by Kensington Palace to be a gift from the queen. They were sublime with her elegant nude haute couture Givenchy dress, designed by Clare Waight Keller, who also created her wedding dress. 

There are many reasons why Her Majesty and Markle "became besties", writes Sykes. By now we know that the Queen's corgis adore her, but I didn't know how much they express disdain for other members of Britain's royal family. The Queen was thrilled that her corgis sat quietly at Meghan's feet the entire time of their first greeting tea. 

Prince Hatty told BBC interviewer Mishal Husain: “I’ve spent the last 33 years being barked at; this one walks in, absolutely nothing.”

Meghan herself said the dogs were, “Just laying on my feet during tea, it was very sweet.”

The royal writer Christopher Andersen, author of multiple royal biographies including the best-selling and newly reissued e-book Diana’s Boys says the centrality of dogs to their relationship should not be underestimated.

“Everyone in the Royal Family, without exception, detests the Queen’s corgis, and the corgis return the favor. Charles, Philip, Anne, Andrew, Edward, William, Harry, all have gone on record saying they cannot abide Her Majesty’s dogs. They bark, they nip, they pee everywhere, and they are famous for sweeping into a room and tripping people up. But they love Meghan. And the Queen has practically adopted Meghan’s adorable rescue beagle, Guy.”

Stykes' final remarks are worth noting. In addition to her obvious and genuine connection to Markle, Queen Elizabeth may be "setting her face" against the "small-mindedness" of "those courtiers who continue to grumble, with thinly disguised racism, about the royal family letting an outsider like Meghan in."

She’s more than good enough for me, the queen is not-so-subtly stating, so get over yourselves.

In setting her face against such small-mindedness, the queen is playing her own very significant part in dragging the House of Windsor into the modern age.

This is not the first time, Queen Elizabeth has taken on the establishment, and if I were a royal researcher, an investigation might uncover many examples of her regal defiance. The Queen's relationship with her new royal granddaughter Meghan Markle might bring back memories of her royal foxtrot in Ghana.

Perhaps in the privacy of a quiet royal corner -- guarded by the royal Corgis and Meghan's rescue beagle Guy -- the Queen and Meghan will share all kinds of girl talk about the historical moments around privilege and racism in her worldly reign.