‘The VIP lane with extra bells on': Prince Harry and Meghan Markle given royal treatment during family trip to Disneyland
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were reportedly given the full 'VIP' treatment during a recent family trip to Disneyland to mark Princess Lilibet's fourth birthday.
On Friday, the Duchess of Sussex, 43, uploaded a new Instagram post that included special moments from the family's two day visit to the original Disneyland park in Anaheim.
In the clip, the Sussex family were seen riding Splash Mountain and visiting Sleeping Beauty's Castle, Star Tours – the Adventures Continue and other iconic rides.
Lilibet, who is currently seventh in line to the British throne, was also gifted an extravagant Little Mermaid-themed birthday cake.
Markle, who has now been out of the royal family for twice as long as she was inside the firm, obligingly thanked Disney publicly for 'giving' the Sussexes 'pure joy'.
'Thank you @disneyland for giving our family two days of pure joy,' she wrote.
According to royal commentator Rupert Bell, the Sussexes were in "the VIP lane with extra bells on" during the visit.
'There didn't seem to any other members of the public while they were there,' he told TalkTV on Sunday.
'They definitely were walking around with a photographer.'
The passes presumably allowed the Sussexes to skip to the front of queues for popular rides and utilise underground tunnels to discreetly move through the crowded theme park.
The Sussexes have maintained a friendly relationship with Disney ever since Harry was infamously heard on a hot mic asking Disney CEO Bob Iger about a voiceover role for his wife at the Lion King premiere back in 2019.
Months later, Markle narrated a Disney+ documentary titled Elephant, but later clarified she took no payment for the role and did the gig for charity.
The extravagant trip on Disney's dime comes just months after reports Prince William was concerned about Markle's flagrant use of her HRH title despite agreeing not to mix the title with her commercial ventures.
Since leaving royal duties, the Sussexes have banked over $100 million USD through partnership deals with Netflix, Spotify and the proceeds of Harry's memoir Spare.
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