The third and final part of my series based on my conversations with Lady Elizabeth Anson over twenty-five years takes my readers inside the private life of Queen Elizabeth II. Liza, the foremost party planner in Britain for sixty years, had a rare position within the royal family as a great-niece of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, a goddaughter of King George VI, and a cousin of Elizabeth II. In the last decades of the Queen’s life, Liza became her confidante, speaking to her frequently on the phone and entertaining her for lunch and dinner at her London home.

In part three, I described the dinner parties organized in 2014 by Liza for Sheikh Hamad Al-Thani, a member of the Qatari royal family, in honor of the Queen, the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, and Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge at his exquisitely renovated London home, Dudley House.

I also offered Liza’s perspective on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle after their engagement in 2017, and how their difficult behavior caused concern for the Queen even before they were married. According to Liza, Harry upset his grandmother by treating her rudely, and Meghan wouldn’t tell her about her wedding dress. During this period, Lady Elizabeth Anson’s health was failing, and the Queen showed special kindness to her in quiet and thoughtful ways.