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After Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sat down for a revealing interview with Oprah Winfrey, Queen Elizabeth II reportedly wanted to “sleep on” their claims. Sources and experts explained her supposed reasons for first choosing silence when others thought there should be a strong response.

Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex on the balcony of Buckingham Palace as the Royal family attend events to mark the Centenary of the RAF on July 10, 2018 in London, England. Queen Elizabeth was
Queen Elizabeth, Meghan Markle, and Prince Harry | Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth’s relationship with Harry and Meghan before the Oprah interview

By most accounts, Elizabeth shared a close bond with Harry and reportedly welcomed Meghan warmly. After meeting her, the late queen broke with custom by inviting her to join their Christmas Day church service. And that’s an honor traditionally reserved for royal spouses (Independent).

Meghan once said, “… When I met her, I had such a deep understanding and, of course, incredible respect for being able to have that time with her. She’s an incredible woman.”

Harry and Meghan stepped back from royal duties in 2020. They cited racist harassment by the press and a lack of support from within the family as their reasoning. And some royals, other than Elizabeth, supposedly “quietly welcomed” their exit.

Queen Elizabeth wanted to ‘sleep on’ Harry and Meghan’s Oprah interview, royal expert says

According to royal sources, the Oprah interview Harry and Meghan gave in 2021 sent the palace communications team into immediate overdrive. But the queen had the final decision on a response.

After long conversations about how to react, “precisely nothing happened,” royal correspondent Valentine Low wrote in Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown (Insider).

The palace remained quiet at first “because the Queen decided she wanted to sleep on” the heavy accusations. “She was not going to be rushed into saying anything precipitate,” Low wrote. “It was a reminder that, while courtiers might do all the groundwork, the final decisions are made by the royal family.”

Buckingham Palace released a statement the next day that read (AP), “The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately,” the statement continued.” 

Royal expert thinks Prince Harry won’t abandon paused memoir after Queen Elizabeth’s death

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Speculation about the release of Prince Harry’s memoir has changed direction since Queen Elizabeth’s death. Some sources have claimed that the project, which seems to be paused, is indefinitely shelved.

However, royal expert Katie Nicholl said that Harry took a “35 million pound advance” for the book and is unlikely to pivot (Entertainment Tonight). She added, “The chances of him handing that back and saying, ‘Actually, I’m not going to do this book after all,’ I think that’s highly unlikely.”

And Nicholl speculated that the book probably wasn’t for “talking about his philanthropic work,” considering what he received in advance. “That’s going to be the inside story of being born the spare [and] what it entailed,” she predicted.

Harry once said to her, “You know, there are many times I wish I wasn’t born a Prince,” she noted. “It was very apparent to me early on that he actually wanted a way out.”

The palace envisioned Harry would be a sidekick to his older brother, Prince William, but that wasn’t what he had in mind for himself, Nicholl said. According to her, Meghan was a “catalyst,” but not a cause, for Harry’s exit from royal duties.

“I think we’re going to see him shed a lot of light on why he left in this new book,” Nicholl shared.

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