Prince Harry claims he was left outraged after King Charles instructed him not to bring Meghan Markle to Balmoral on the day of the late Queen ‘s passing.
In his 2023 memoir Spare, Harry recounted the events of September 8, 2022, when he was invited to Balmoral to bid farewell to his grandmother, but was allegedly told by his father not to bring his wife, despite both being in the UK at the time.
Harry, 40, 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.”
The duke claimed he felt furious and told his father: “Don’t ever speak about my wife that way.”
Describing the rest of the conversation, Harry said his father stuttered and apologised, explaining that he didn’t want a large gathering, citing that Kate wouldn’t be attending, and therefore, neither should Meghan.
Harry said: “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.”
According to Harry, he also faced difficulties getting to Balmoral that day, with limited communication from other Royal Family members, forcing him to find his own way to Scotland, ultimately arriving too late to say goodbye.
The moment was described by him as follows: “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.”
Meghan, who wasn’t initially invited to Balmoral on the day Queen Elizabeth II passed away, was ultimately asked to join the funeral procession among other Royal family members, reports the Express.
That sombre occasion marked Meghan’s last appearance in the UK, with Harry returning several times since on his own initiative.
Highlighting Harry’s recent visits, he came to support his dad in February after Charles’ cancer diagnosis revelation and attended the WellChild Awards 2024 this September.