On her first solo outing with Queen Elizabeth, it’s only right Meghan Markle should travel in style.
The royal duo will set out on their first engagement together on Thursday, on an overnight trip from London to Cheshire on board the lavish train.
Described as a “palace on wheels” the royal train has nine carriages in total that were installed in 1977 for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. They replaced the previous set that had been in use since World War II.
The train is regularly used by Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Phillip and Queen Elizabeth II. However, Meghan will be the first of the younger generation of royals to climb aboard, despite only being a member of the family for a few weeks.
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According to royal expert site, Royal Central, The Queen’s personal saloon is a 23-metre-long carriage that boasts a formal entrance hall, a sitting room, a bedroom and her bathroom.
As the Queen’s bathroom is fitted with a full-sized bathtub, the train operators routinely slow down at 7:30am each day to ensure the bath water is not splashing around for her morning soak.
Prior to Prince Phillip’s retirement of royal duties, he had his own private quarters accompanied with a meeting room and a fully electric kitchen.
The windows are each fitted with special curtains that allow passengers to see out but for no one to see in. These are perfect for Prince Charles who reportedly uses the train the most often and enjoys watching Britain’s passing countryside from his window.
Meals are definitely not downgraded simply because of the vessel. Staff are hand-picked and meals are sorted months ahead of the departure date.
Meals for the Queen include scrambled eggs and bacon in the mornings or smoked salmon, warm sausage rolls and egg sandwiches with the crusts removed for night time.
On their big trip to Cheshire, the Queen and Meghan will spend a fair amount of quality time together as they complete a number of royal duties.
First, they will officially open the Mersey Gateway Bridge at Catalyst Science Discovery Centre before opening the Storyhouse theatre in Chester and finally partaking in a special lunch at the iconic Chester Town Hall.
As Meghan’s first outing alone with the Queen, royal reporter, Ingrid Seward told People that the trip was “happening at triple speed”.
Meghan’s early invitation is reportedly a positive sign of encouragement from the royal family.
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