Prince Harry was left furious after his father King Charles told him he wasn’t allowed to bring wife Meghan Markle to visit the queen on the day of her death. Photos / Getty Images, AP
Prince Harry was left furious after his father King Charles told him he wasn’t allowed to bring wife Meghan Markle to visit the queen on the day of her death. Photos / Getty Images, AP
Prince Harry was left furious after his father King Charles told him he wasn’t allowed to bring wife Meghan Markle to visit the queen on the day of her death.
In an excerpt from his 2023 memoir Spare, the Prince, who had quit royal life, lifted the lid on his experience of the day his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II on September 8, 2022.
Harry was invited by the family to Balmoral to say farewell to the Queen, but he was allegedly informed by his father that Meghan would not be welcome despite both being in the United Kingdom in the days leading up to her death.
Reflecting on the moment, the 40-year-old prince was furious.
In Spare, Harry wrote: “He said I was welcome at Balmoral, but he didn’t want... her. He started to lay out his reason, which was nonsensical, and disrespectful, and I wasn’t having it.”
Upset by his father’s stance, Harry then defended his wife Meghan, responding to Charles with just eight words, the Mirror reported.
“Don’t ever speak about my wife that way.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex look on as the State Gun Carriage carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II arrives at Wellington Arch during the Ceremonial Procession following her State Funeral at Westminster Abbey, London. (Photo by Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images)
In the book, Harry detailed the remaining conversation in which Charles allegedly tried to save face.
He claims Charles began to stumble on his words and attempted to give a clumsy apology.
Harry alleged that his father doubled down on why Meghan shouldn’t be there, explaining they wanted to keep the gathering small and that Kate wouldn’t be attending and therefore Meghan shouldn’t either.
“He stammered, apologetic, saying he simply didn’t want a lot of people around. No other wives were coming, Kate wasn’t coming, he said, therefore Meg shouldn’t,” Harry wrote in his book.
Harry also claimed that he faced a number of hurdles in getting to Balmoral to see the Queen, highlighting limited communication from other Royal Family members.
It meant he had to find his own way to Scotland which ultimately led to him arriving too late to say his final goodbyes to his grandmother.
While his plane was set to land, Harry’s phone blew up with messages from Meghan which prompted him to check the news.
“When the plane started to descend I saw that my phone lit up. It was a message from Meg: ‘Call me when you get this.’ I looked at the BBC website. My grandmother had died. My father was King.”
Despite not being allowed to visit the Queen on her death bed, Meghan was then invited to attend the funeral along with other members of the royal family.
It was the last time Meghan was seen in the UK.
Prince Harry and Prince Charles, Prince of Wales at the 'International Year of The Reef' 2018 meeting at Fishmongers Hall on February 14, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Matt Dunham - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Why the King has been urged not to answer Harry’s calls
There’s a key reason that King Charles has been hesitant to respond to Prince Harry’s attempts to reach out, it’s been claimed.
Royal biographer Robert Hardman reports that the monarch, 75, has been urged not to answer his son’s messages in order to keep his “stress levels down” as he continues battling cancer.
“I know people keep saying, ‘Why doesn’t he see Harry when he is in town? Why can’t they patch things up?’ Hardman told Fox News Digital.
The Duke of Sussex’s taxpayer-funded security personal protective security was rescinded when he quit his role as a working royal in 2020, and he has been fighting to have it returned in the years since.
An insider told People that Harry feels his father “could intervene”, and the issue plays a “crucial role” in the pair’s estrangement as their tense conversations have now resulted in “complete silence” from the King.
The duke has made several trips back to the UK this year.
He raced back to London for a whirlwind 24-hour trip to see his father after news of his cancer diagnosis broke in February and then returned for the milestone 10-year anniversary of the Invictus Games in May.
