Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s decision to step down as working royals in 2020 and move across the pond to the US may have come as a shock at the time.
In the months leading up to their shock departure from the Royal Family, the Duke of Sussex admitted he and his brother Prince William were “on different paths” in an interview with ITV suggesting that their relationship had become fractured.
Whilst it became more obvious that there was increasing tension among the Royal Family, it is believed that Harry and Meghan were left “seething” after a meeting with the late Queen fell through while trying to negotiate his exit from the monarchy.
Royal expert Robert Lacey made the claim that Harry had spoken to his father and grandmother on the phone over Christmas 2019 as he was keen to discuss possible plans for his future and transition away from being a full-time working royal.
The late Queen and his father reportedly seemed open to the prospect of talking further.
However, when Harry phoned their offices to get a date in the diary, he was told that her Majesty would not be available for another month.
Mr Lacey wrote in the Daily Mail: “Harry and Meghan were seething as their Air Canada flight made its dawn touchdown in London on that Monday.
“They toyed with the idea of driving straight from Heathrow to Sandringham – which would certainly have provided a New Year surprise for the Queen.”
In his January 2023 memoir Spare, Harry claimed he received a “frantic note” canceling the plan from one of the Queen’s aides.
The Duke of Sussex wrote: “I said to Meg ‘They’re blocking me from seeing my own grandmother.”
