The Queen emerges unscathed as Meghan and Harry lavish praise on his grandmother

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex unloaded on Prince Charles, The Duchess of Cambridge, and the tabloid press in their extraordinary tell-all with Oprah Winfrey.

But despite the numerous allegations levelled at named and unnamed members of the Royal family, The Queen emerged unscathed, and instead received glowing praise from the couple.

Meghan described how "everyone" welcomed her to the royal set-up initially, but singled out the Queen as making her particularly comfortable.

In another sign of their positive relationship, the Duchess said: “I just pick up the phone and I call the Queen - just to check-in. Meghan said the Queen has "always been wonderful" to her and that she reminded the Duchess of her own grandmother.

"She’s always been warm and inviting," the Duchess added.

The Duchess shared a touching anecdote on how her future husband’s grandmother gave her "some beautiful pearl earrings and a matching necklace" for the couple's first joint engagement together, and that the monarch also shared her blanket while travelling together between visits.

The pair attended a ceremony for the opening of the new Mersey Gateway Bridge, in Widnes, Cheshire in June 2018 and travelled north on the Royal train.

The Duchess revealed that the first time she met the Queen at a lunch at Royal Lodge, Windsor, Prince Harry asked her if she knew how to curtsey.

She said: "I remember Harry and I were in the car and he said: 'My grandmother is going to be there so you are going to meet her.'

"I said: 'Great'

"He said: 'Do you know how to curtsey?'

“I didn't think it's what happened inside. I said: 'It's your grandmother.'

"He said: 'It's the Queen.'

"That was the first moment that the penny dropped."

She said she and Prince Harry then practiced curtseying before meeting the Queen.

She told Ms Winfrey: "We sat there and we just chatted. And it was lovely and easy."

On Sunday evening, The Queen stressed the importance of keeping in touch with family to “transcend boundaries or division” in her annual Commonwealth Day message.

Her Majesty, 94, focused on a message of unity, describing how the global impact of the coronavirus pandemic had created a “deeper appreciation” of the need to connect to others.

Speaking to Ms Winfrey, the Duke of Sussex denied he had "blindsided" his grandmother with the bombshell statement about him and wife stepping back as senior royals.

Prince Harry said he would never do that as he has "too much respect" for his grandmother, and suggested that the story probably could have come from "within the institution".

He also said his father, the Prince of Wales, stopped taking his calls while he and Meghan were in Canada in the build-up to the announcement.

Asked by Ms Winfrey during their televised interview about why they left, Harry blamed a "lack of support and lack of understanding".

Prince Harry was asked: "Was the move about getting away from the UK press...because the press is, you know, is everywhere, or was the move because you weren't getting enough support from the firm?"

He replied: "It was both."

Ms Winfrey asked "did you blindside the Queen?" with the announcement they were leaving the family, and Harry replied: "No, I would never blindside my grandmother, I have too much respect for her."

Asked where that story came from, Harry said: "I hazard a guess that it probably could have come from within the institution."

The Duchess said it had been discussed with the Queen "several times" over the course of two years, adding: "But even the night before, days before...the statement coming out. I remember that conversation."

Ms Winfrey asked how they knew the Queen was not blindsided, adding that the "way it was presented through the press is that suddenly you made this announcement, she didn't know it was coming".

Prince Harry said while in Canada he had "three conversations with my grandmother and two conversations with my father, before he stopped taking my calls".

He said Prince Charles asked for him to put his plan "in writing", adding: "I put all the specifics in there, even the fact that we were planning on putting the announcement out on the 7th of January."

Asked why his father had stopped taking his calls, Prince Harry said: "Because I took matters...by that point I'd took matters into my own hands.

"It was, like, I needed to do this for my family. This is not a surprise to anybody. It's really sad that it's got to this point.

"But I've got to do something for my own mental health, my wife's and for Archie's as well, because I could see where this was headed."

Buckingham Palace has not yet responded to the allegations made in the interview.