The Queen's private thoughts on Megxit

In a groundbreaking new book, Valentine Low reveals Meghan and Harry felt "cornered, misunderstood and completely unhappy" before departing the royal family.

Here's what the Queen thought about Megxit. 

The Queen banned Harry and Meghan from carrying out official royal duties after exiting the royal family and was unwilling to compromise with the controversial pair, an all-revealing book about The Firm has unveiled.

Since divorcing the Crown, the Sussexes have created a Netflix show, Meghan’s Spotify podcast, and a fully-fledged celebrity brand progressed somewhat by the infamous March 2021 Oprah interview. It appears the palace’s view back then, that whatever they did would reflect on the institution, stands.

In the wake of Queen Elizabeth II’s death, Valentine Low, the royal correspondent for UK publication The Times, is set to release a book that looks at the staff behind the Crown. In excerpts published in The Times over the last week, he reveals new details about Megxit.

"Crucially, it was the Queen who took the view that unless the couple were prepared to abide by the restrictions that applied to working members of the royal family, they could not be allowed to carry out official duties," Low writes.

If Meghan and Harry wanted to continue their duties as royals, the rules of engagement stated they could not gain financial benefit for themselves, their family, or their friends. 

One source told Low: “There was a very clear view: you can’t be in and out. And if you’ve got such clarity of view, it’s very difficult to say, ‘Why don’t we go 10 per cent this way instead of 20 per cent?’ ”

"Compromise was off the table, removed by the Queen," according to Low.

Harry thought their royal exit would be less contentious. He even hoped he could break up with his royal family over email.

In January 2020, he emailed his father King Charles III to say he and his wife were unhappy and wanted to move to North America. They were in Canada with their baby son Archie for Christmas and he wanted to sort it out before they returned. 

Harry had long been unhappy with his role, and mistrusting of the media and even the workers at Buckingham Palace, Low writes. He feared he would become irrelevant once Prince George turned 18, something like his uncle Prince Andrew. 

Yet Harry hoped to find a compromise where he and Meghan could live some time of the year abroad and still participate in the family.

In reply to the email, he was told it would require "proper family conversations". Feeling “cornered, misunderstood and deeply unhappy”, the pair announced Megxit on January 8 without notice, making the family mad.

Despite talking through a number of possible scenarios for their exit in the days that followed - including being a part of the royal family most of the time to a select number of times - they wanted the freedom to make their own money and essentially, they lost it all. Their royal duties, their income from the Prince of Wales, and their Royal Highness titles. 

"I think Meghan thought she was going to be the Beyoncé of the UK. Being part of the royal family would give her that kudos. Whereas what she discovered was that there were so many rules that were so ridiculous that she couldn’t even do the things that she could do as a private individual, which is tough,” one palace insider told Low.

Others said the talks were doomed. "Meghan was never going to fit in that model and that model was never going to tolerate the Meghan who Meghan wanted to be."

Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown by Valentine Low will be available on October 6.