The wayward Prince Harry paid respect to his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, in a statement in which he said, “Granny, I am forever grateful,” and recalled the first time she met his “darling wife” Meghan Markle.

Prince Harry — who left the Royal Family and didn’t push back last year when his wife suggested to Oprah his family is racist — also thanked his late grandmother, who he described as a “guiding compass,” for her “sound advice.”

“In celebrating the life of my grandmother, Her Majesty the Queen — and in mourning her loss — we are all reminded of the guiding compass she was to so many in her commitment to service and duty,” Prince Harry said in his statement, according to a report by Daily Mail.

“She was globally admired and respected,” he added. “Her unwavering grace and dignity remained true throughout her life and now her everlasting legacy. Let us echo the words she spoke after the passing of her husband, Prince Phillip, words which can bring comfort to all of us now: ‘Life, of course, consists of final partings as well as first meetings.'”

The second son of King Charles III went on to say, “Granny, while this final parting brings us great sadness, I am forever grateful for all of our first meetings — from my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met met my darling wife and hugged your beloved great-grandchildren.”

“I cherish these times shared with you, and the many other special moments in between,” he said. “You are already sorely missed, not just by us, but by the world over. And as it comes to first meetings, we now honour my father in his new role as King Charles III.”

“Thank you for your commitment to service. Thank you for your sound advice. Thank you for your infectious smile,” Prince Harry concluded. “We, too, smile knowing that you and grandpa are reunited now, and both together in peace.”

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex walk together to meet members of the public on the long Walk at Windsor Castle on September 10, 2022 in Windsor, England. (Kirsty O’Connor – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

On Thursday, Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral, her private Scottish home, at the age of 96, ending her 70-year reign.

Meanwhile, despite leaving the U.K. for a new life in the United States, “D-list celebrity” Meghan Markle continues to talk about the Royal Family — which she recently tacitly threatened to “say anything” about — on her new podcast, Archetypes, where she claimed that people only started treating her “like a black woman” after she started dating Prince Harry.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.