Prince Harry’s wife Meghan Markle blocked as more detail on delay in getting to Queen revealed
More detail about why Prince Harry was too late to see the Queen before she passed away has emerged, which involved a tense row that occurred behind the scenes.
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Prince Harry was blocked by his father Prince Charles from bringing his wife Meghan Markle on a mercy dash to see his grandmother on her deathbed.
As word of his grandmother’s ailing health grew, Prince Harry and Markle released a statement saying the pair had cancelled engagements and were “travelling to Scotland” together.
That was until a phone call from Prince Charles from his dying mother’s bedside.
“Charles told Harry that it wasn’t right or appropriate for Meghan to be in Balmoral at such a deeply sad time,” The Sun quoted a source as saying.
“It was pointed out to him that Kate was not going and that the numbers really should be limited to the very closest family. Charles made it very, very clear Meghan would not be welcome.”
The tension between Prince Harry and the Royal family was further evident, it was revealed the California-based Prince was refused a seat of the Royal Air Force jet which took his brother William, and uncles Edward and Andrew to Scotland.
With his wife remaining at Frogmore Cottage, Prince Harry was forced to make his own way to Balmoral – arriving more than 90 minutes after his grandmother died.
He was mid-flight when the announcement came from Buckingham Palace that the Queen had passed away, at 6.30pm. Before he arrived at the castle, his website Archewell was updated with a tribute to his grandmother, reading, “In loving memory of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 1926-2022.”
Less than 12 hours later, Prince Harry was back on a commercial flight to London.
The brothers might be neighbours on the Windsor Estate, but they still had a metaphorical ocean separating them, with initial hopes their beloved grandmother’s death would reunite them.
Earlier on Thursday, Prince William and Kate were snapped looking excited and happy as they escorted their three young children Princes George and Louis and Princess Charlotte to their first hand at Lambrook School that morning.
But by midafternoon, their beloved Gan-Gan, as George called the Queen, had passed away and everything changed, including their titles and their roles in the new Royal Family.
Why Meghan and Catherine weren’t in Balmoral with their husbands, wasn’t initially explained – Sophie was there with Edward, but she had long enjoyed a close relationship with the Queen. Was there a compromise that both wives stayed away?
Royal insiders suspect it was thought simpler and this way would avoid both internal conflict and a distraction. The BBC’s royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell said on air of Meghan, “She might not be terribly warmly welcomed, to be perfectly candid about it.”
Certainly, having Harry join the grieving family at Balmoral was a positive step in repairing broken bonds, but the period of private mourning was brief as he left Balmoral at 8.30am on Friday to fly back to London on a British Airways commercial flight and then on to Windsor, where Meghan was at Frogmore Cottage.
Prince Harry was photographed being comforted by an Aberdeen Airport ground crew member, while passengers on the flight told The Sun the Prince had cut a forlorn figure.
“He barely moved for the whole hour-long flight and was obviously reflecting on his beloved grandmother,” one passenger said.
“It was so sad to see him without the other royals to comfort him. I really hope the Queen’s death will help them heal their rifts.”
As to what happens next, the family must adjust to their new roles and titles.
Prince Charles is now King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort. Prince William and Catherine become the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Cornwall as well as Prince and Princess of Wales, after Charles bestowed the title on them.
Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex, is expected to later become the Duke of Edinburgh, if Charles bestows the title, inheriting it from Prince Philip and Sophie, therefore, the Duchess of Edinburgh.
Harry and Meghan’s children get the royal titles that proved so contentious at the time of Archie’s birth. Archie will, if he and his parents wish, be able to use the title Prince Archie Mountbatten-Windsor and Lilibet, Princess. This is because the order of succession has changed and the children are now grandchildren of the monarch. Harry has moved up the line of succession, despite leaving the family and is now fifth in line to the throne, Archie sixth and Lilibet, seventh.
In the following days, William and Catherine will be centre of accession proceedings, as well as the funeral. Charles will be officially proclaimed King at the Accession Council at St James’s Palace, which will be televised for the first time.
But Harry and Meghan, as non-working members of the Royal Family, will not partake in all the official proceedings, other than as family.
It is understood Harry will remain in the UK until the funeral.
Royal reporter and Sussex spokesman Omid Scobie confirmed, “He will of course remain in the UK during this time,” but whether Meghan will fly back to the USA to be with their children, is not clear.
The Sussex’s press office did not comment.
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