Brooke Boney questions Prince Harry’s recollection of Sandringham Summit

Channel 9 host Brooke Boney has savaged one of Prince Harry’s biggest claims in recent weeks, casting doubt over his recollection of royal talks.

Today host Brooke Boney has scoffed at one of Prince Harry’s biggest claims about the Queen in recent weeks, questioning the validity of the Duke’s accounts of royal talks.

Speaking on the Today show on Tuesday, entertainment reporter Boney cast doubt over Harry’s recollection of royal discussions of Megxit, and the suggestion the Queen had been a passive spectator.

Harry said the Queen ‘sat quietly’ while William ‘screamed and shouted’. Picture: Netflix

On January 13, 2020, the Queen summoned the Duke of Sussex, his brother Prince William and the now-King Charles to her Norfolk estate to try to resolve the Harry and Meghan crisis, in what became known as “Sandringham Summit”.

It came days after the Sussexes had announced their bombshell decision to “step back” as senior royals.

Despite the discussion being called for and held by the Monarch, Harry said in his Netflix documentary that she had “quietly sat there” as William “screamed” at him and his father said things that “weren’t true”.

Interviewing the Daily Mirror’s royal editor Russell Myers on Channel 9 today, Boney asked of Harry’s assertion: “So, if the Queen, the monarch, isn’t running the shop, then who is?”

Myers agreed that Harry’s description of his grandmother’s conduct during the chat was surprising.

“That’s a big question, isn’t it?” he said.

“Just last week we had Harry saying that during the Sandringham Summit, where they all came together to thrash out this deal in order to make Harry and Meghan be able to leave the royal family, he said that pretty much the Queen was sitting there as a bit-part player.

“And it was his brother screaming at him from across the table [and] Charles sitting there having a bit of a moan about the situation.

“So what is it? Was the Queen a patsy in her final days? Or was she the head of the shop, the one running the show?”

Brooke Boney questioned Harry's account of the crisis meeting.

Myers went on to say that Harry’s “truth” is all one-sided.

“Harry can’t have it all his own way. And I get the sense throughout his book and the interviews, he really gets himself in a bit of a muddle to try to deliver ‘his truth’. And it’s only one side of the story, and because the royal family aren’t going to hit back, it’s all we’re going to hear.”

The Duke of Sussex claimed in his Netflix docuseries that the late monarch had sat in silence as he was left terrified by William’s yelling.

He said: “It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me, and my father say things that just simply weren’t true, and my grandmother, you know, quietly sit there, and sort of take it all in.”

At the time, royal experts said any suggestion the Queen was sidelined during the exit talks was “complete nonsense”.

It comes as Harry’s press tour for his tell-all memoir, Spare, continues, having appeared on 60 Minutes and in a tense interview with British journalist Tom Bradby.

Speaking on Good Morning America this week, Harry said the Queen “knew what was going on”, and was already somewhat aware of what was coming when Harry decided to leave the UK.

“My grandmother and I had a very good relationship,” Harry said. “I had many, many conversations with (her) over the years and in the run-up to the point of this change.

“It was never a surprise to anybody, least of all her. She knew how hard it was,” he said.

Nonetheless, it was clear the Queen would have preferred for to him to remain within the family fold.

“She never said to me that she was angry (but) I think she was sad that it got to that point,” Harry added.

Originally published as Brooke Boney questions Prince Harry’s recollection of Sandringham Summit