Meghan Markle has made a lot of accusations against the British monarchy in her recent interview with Oprah Winfrey, but has stressed that the "institution" should be not confused with her in-laws, the members of the British royal family.

The Duchess of Sussex has alleged that the institution of Buckingham Palace, officially headed by Queen Elizabeth II, treated her unfairly, but the monarch herself "has always been wonderful" to her, reports CBS.

"There's the family, and then there's the people that are running the institution, those are two separate things and it's important to be able to compartmentalise that because the queen, for example, has always been wonderful to me," she said.

The 39-year-old added that the queen made her think of her own grandmother, and has "always been warm and inviting." She said she particularly cherishes their joint royal engagement in Chester a few years ago, as well as a train journey they took together where the monarch gave her some pearl earrings and a necklace, and shared a blanket with her.

Recalling her first meeting with her then-boyfriend Prince Harry's grandmother, Meghan said that she went unprepared and did not know she was supposed to curtsy to her. She and Harry were going to lunch at Royal Lodge, the residence of Queen's son Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, and the monarch was going to be there as she was finishing a church service in Windsor. Meghan told Oprah "there wasn't a lot of anxiety about meeting the queen," but on the way there Harry asked her, "do you know how to curtsy?"

The "Suits" alum said she "genuinely" thought the curtsy protocol is followed outside but not within the family. "I thought that was part of the fanfare, I didn't think that was what happened inside. I thought, this is your grandmother," she said.

Meghan says Harry reminded her that his grandmother is also the Queen. Upon reaching there, they were greeted by Fergie who ran out and immediately asked Meghan "are you ready? Do you know how curtsy?" She then practiced how to curtsy right in front of the house.

In the end, everything went well, and Meghan was thankful that she did not google royal protocol before meeting Harry's family. "Apparently I did a very deep curtsy—I don't remember it—and then we just sat there and we chatted. And, um, it was lovely and easy and I think, thank God I hadn't known a lot about the family. Thank God I hadn't researched. I would have been so in my head about all of this," she said, adding that she had a lot of experience with meeting "celebrities" being one herself but the royal family was a "completely different ball game."

Not only the queen, Meghan had some good things to say about her sister-in-law Kate Middleton as well, even though tabloids have often claimed a rivalry between the two. At the time of her wedding, there were reports that she made the Duchess of Cambridge cry over an argument over bridesmaid's dresses, but Meghan said that it was actually the other way round.

"Did you make Kate cry?" Oprah asked Meghan, to which she said: "No – the reverse happened. She was upset about something. She owned it and bought me flowers."

"Everyone in the institution knew it wasn't true. I am not sharing that piece about Kate to be in any way disparaging about her. I would hope that she would want that to be corrected," she added, noting that the future Queen consort is a "good person."

The British royals
Rumours that all was not well with the Sussexes surfaced in October when Harry, sixth in line to the throne, admitted that he and William were "on different paths" and had good and bad days in their relationship. Photo: AFP / Paul ELLIS
Meghan Markle Kate Middleton Prince Harry Prince William