Meghan Markle looks heartbroken as she says goodbye to 'wonderful' grandmother-in-law

Meghan Markle was the picture of heartbreak as she left the Queen's state funeral on Monday.

The Duchess of Sussex, 41, was photographed leaving Westminster Abbey with Camilla, Queen Consort, Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Sophie, Countess of Wessex following Her Majesty's service.

In the photos, the duchess and the Countess of Wessex are pictured looking stoically ahead as the rest of the group converse among themselves.

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During the service, Meghan was seated next to Princess Beatrice and her husband, Prince Harry, in the second row, directly behind King Charles III and the Queen Consort. While she was inside Westminster Abbey, Meghan was photographed wiping a tear away as she stood next to Sophie.

The Sussexes had walked side-by-side in the procession behind the coffin at the beginning of the ceremony, behind Prince William, the Princess of Wales, and George and Charlotte.

Prior to the ceremony, she was seen reuniting publicly for the first time with her niece and nephew since Trooping the Colour, as she had arrived in a separate car while Harry was walking in the procession to Westminster Abbey.

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Despite Harry and Meghan's resignation as senior working royals in 2020 and subsequent tell-all interviews where they made damning accusations against the royal family, the duchess has maintained a fondness for the Queen – even naming her second-born child, Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor, in Her Majesty's honour.

When the Sussexes sat down for their engagement interview in 2017, Meghan recalled her first meeting with the late monarch, describing it as "incredible."

"To be able to meet her through his lens, not just with his honour 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," the duchess told the BBC.

"When I met her, I had such a deep understanding and, of course, incredible respect for being able to have that time with her. She's an incredible woman."

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In that same interview, the duke said the Queen and the late Prince Philip were "absolutely solid" supporters of the Sussexes' romance, and three years later, in a surprisingly personal statement following their resignation as senior working royals, the Queen said she was "particularly proud" of Meghan.

"I am pleased that together we have found a constructive and supportive way forward for my grandson and his family," the Queen's statement began. "Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved members of my family."

"I want to thank them for all their dedicated work across this country, the Commonwealth and beyond, and am particularly proud of how Meghan has so quickly become one of the family," she wrote.

Even in the Sussexes' controversial interview with Oprah, the duchess gushed over Her Majesty.

"The Queen has always been wonderful to me," Meghan said. "I just really loved being in her company ... she's always been warm and inviting and really welcoming."