EXCLUSIVE: Revealed – The Desperate 10-Word Offer Queen Elizabeth Made to Meghan Markle to Try and Stop Megxit... Which Duchess is Now Taking Advantage Of
The Queen's short plea to stop the 'Megxit' is now being used by Meghan Markle, years after the monarch's death.
Nov. 15 2025, Published 3:00 p.m. ET
Meghan Markle is now embracing the very offer Queen Elizabeth once secretly made to her in a last-minute attempt to stop Megxit, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
As the Duchess prepares to return to acting by shooting a cameo playing herself in the upcoming film Close Personal Friends, we can reveal the Queen made a personal plea to Meghan, 44, to reconsider her and Prince Harry's decision to quit royal duties in 2020.
Queen Elizabeth's Striking 10-Word Offer
Meghan Markle embraced the offer Queen Elizabeth once made to her.
Paul Burrell, Princess Diana's former butler, has revealed the late monarch – who died in 2022 at age 96 – made a striking 10-word offer to ease Meghan's transition into the family, one the Duchess is now acting on years later.
Burrell said: "There is no doubt in my mind that she didn't want Harry and Meghan to leave. She did not want 'Megxit' as it was dubbed, as she knew they would be estranged from her world."
"The Queen even said to Meghan, 'You can go back to acting if you want to.' She was willing to bend the rules for Meghan, and offered to talk to her whenever she had any problems."
Markle recently agreed to film a short self-referential cameo in Close Personal Friends, marking her first return to screen work since leaving Suits before her 2018 marriage.
Irony of the Duchess Taking Royal Advice
The Queen told Meghan she could return to acting if she wanted to.
One Hollywood insider said: "Meghan has always kept one foot in the creative world. Now she feels the time is right – and there's an irony to the fact she's finally taking the Queen's advice."
Another source added: "Meghan knows the offer was genuine. The Queen understood acting was part of Meghan's identity, and the family saw Meghan's return to the craft as something that might actually settle her, rather than unsettle the institution."
Burrell also recalled the Queen's efforts to help Meghan adapt, describing the early months of her royal life as guided and generous.
He added: "She wanted them to stay but she was born into an Edwardian court and was nearly 60 years older than Harry.
"Her Majesty had lived in a different world from her grandson. How could the Queen understand all of Harry's problems? She couldn't."
He added despite this, the monarch and Harry, now 41, shared a uniquely warm bond.
Palace Views Return with 'Measured Optimism'
Royal sources said the Queen believed acting might help Meghan feel more settled.
"He was relaxed and funny. Everyone was very stiff and starchy around the Queen, which she disliked," Burrell said. A senior palace source said Markle's return to acting is viewed with "measured optimism" by those still close to the royal household."
There's a sense she is finally doing something that aligns with who she was before all the upheaval," the source said.
"But there is an irony there as the Queen basically told her to go back into acting before she left the royals, and it is now hard for many in The Firm to see her take that advice."
A source said: "The Queen saw Meghan was uncomfortable early on. She wasn't opposed to Meghan having her own career – she just wanted her to feel grounded while doing it."
Burrell also wrote in his latest book The Royal Insider that Harry is in "an exile of his own making" with Markle in America.
A 'Full-Circle Moment' for Meghan
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Meghan agreed to film a cameo playing herself in 'Close Personal Friends.'
He added: "It is such a shame because William and Harry with their wives were the 'Fab Four' and certainly for a time Harry and Meghan were 'the golden couple'. They had everything."
But for Meghan, another source said, stepping back into acting feels like "a full-circle moment."
The insider said: "It's poignant. She's finally, and ironically, doing exactly what the Queen told her she could do."
