New details of Harry and Meghan’s ‘Megxit’ crisis talks laid bare

An explosive new book has lifted the lid on the emergency negotiations that took place after Harry and Meghan dropped their ‘Megxit’ bombshell.

New details have surfaced about the tense negotiations around Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s sensational exit from the Royal Family.

Crisis talks – dubbed the ‘Sandringham summit’ – famously took place after the couple dropped the bombshell news in January 2020 that they wanted to step back from frontline royal duties and live a more “private” life.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex allegedly said they felt “cornered and misunderstood” in the family and were “deeply unhappy”.

The emergency meeting then took place between the four royal households – the Queen’s, then-Prince Charles’, Prince William’s, and Harry’s – to hammer out a solution, with the monarch demanding it be done “at pace”.

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Meghan and Harry dropped their bombshell news in early 2020. Picture: Simon Dawson/Pool/AFP

The exact details of those negotiations have now been laid bare by Times reporter Valentine Low in the new book, Courtiers: the Hidden Power Behind the Crown, in which it was revealed the Queen herself rejected the five proposals put forward to keep the Sussexes within royal ranks in some capacity.

One of the proposals suggested that Harry and Meghan would split their time between having a public and private life, but with the bulk of their time spent as working royals.

It included a vital clause which allowed the couple to spend a month a year doing whatever they wanted.

The Queen gave the couple an ultimatum. Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Another plan flipped that so the majority of their time would be spent privately – but they would be called up to do a select number of royal activities each year.

Low explained that a key component of the discussions was around finances, with Harry and Meghan having publicly declared their desire to become “financially independent”.

However, the author claims that aides felt the pair couldn’t be members of the Royal Family – even in a diminished capacity – while also signing commercial deals.

Another crucial element raised during the negotiations was how the proposed deals would impact future generations of royals – particularly those not in the direct line of succession.

Low also revealed that there was a “positive mood” in the talks, and a belief that a compromise could be reached which would satisfy all parties.

However, the Queen later dealt an ultimatum, nixing the half-in, half-out proposals and demanding the Sussexes choose a side.

As we now know, that resulted in Harry and Meghan losing all benefits of being part of the Royal Family – including titles and police protection – and moving to California, where they have gone on to broker multimillion-dollar commercial deals with companies including Spotify and Netflix.

Originally published as New details of Harry and Meghan’s ‘Megxit’ crisis talks laid bare