Long before Taylor Swift popularized the concept of Easter eggs to the masses, Queen Elizabeth was doing it. Queen Elizabeth has been sending hidden messages through her choice of brooches. Who can forget the three different brooches (opens in new tab) she wore during President Donald Trump's visit to Japan to convey different messages of non-support? (Opens in new tab) As for the brooches, the Queen never does anything by accident - so, given the increasingly caustic feud between the senior royals and Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, the Queen on Friday paid tribute to the place where Harry felt "more like himself than anywhere else in the world" and fell in love with his current wife Meghan and It is interesting that she chose a brooch (opens in new tab) that pays homage to the place she described as "the place where Harry felt more like himself than anywhere else in the world.

A little recap: the aftermath of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's bombshell interview on Oprah and subsequent interviews - most recently, Harry told Dax Shepard's "Armchair Expert" podcast that he was a "genetic In his subsequent interview - in which he described himself as a victim of "pain and suffering" inherited from his father for generations - the situation between the couple and Buckingham Palace has continued to deteriorate, both for Buckingham Palace staff and senior royals. A notable exception is the Queen, who is famously protective of her grandchildren and was the first family member to call to share the news of Meghan and Rivette Diana's baby. (The Queen has reportedly already met the newborn via video chat.)

But after a royal source told the BBC that the Queen adamantly disapproved of the name Lilibet for Meghan and Harry's child (Lilibet is an important family nickname for the Queen), the Sussex family fired back with a furious statement (opens in new tab) and threatened legal action. It is not clear how the Queen felt about the drama, but there are unconfirmed reports that she was upset. (Her son, Prince Andreu, gave the queen a corgi (opens in new tab) to cheer her up. as she does.)

Which brings us to the brooch she wore on Friday:

The Queen wears a Botswana "millet" brooch that was given to her in 2007: according to the Royal Collection Trust (open in new tab), "The brooch is the main Botswana It was presented to the Queen by the President of the Republic of Botswana at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Uganda.

Botswana is a special country for both Meghan and Harry, and Meghan's engagement ring features a diamond mined in Botswana. Harry said of their third date, "I managed to convince her to come with me to Botswana, and we camped with each other under the stars." Harry also told a Town and Country reporter (open in new tab) that being in Botswana is "like being connected to the earth," adding: "[Here] I can be completely relaxed and normal. Losing yourself in the bush... It's a place where I feel more like myself than anywhere else in the world. I wish I could spend more time here." [Of course, it is possible that the Queen wore the brooch for reasons other than Meghan and Harry. The Queen has been known to wear professional brooches to events with representatives of other countries, and the G7 summit was attended by representatives of Canada, Japan, France, Germany, and Italy, as well as the Bidens, who represented the United States. Needless to say, Botswana is just north of South Africa, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa also attended. Upon deeper investigation, we learned that millet (sorghum) is the Eden Project in Cornwall, where the G7 summit was held. Still, it is interesting.