Queen Elizabeth Was ‘Sad’ But Not ‘Surprised’ by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Royal Family Exit
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle shared their unhappiness with the royal family to its senior members. However, its monarch, Queen Elizabeth, was said to have not been “surprised” by the couple’s exit, although she was “sad.”
Prince Harry confided his unhappiness to his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth
The Duke of Sussex had a close relationship with his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth. In an interview with Good Morning America‘s Michael Strahan, he shared how close they were. Harry said, “My grandmother and I had a very good relationship.”
The interview was to publicize Prince Harry’s tell-all, Spare. Strahan spoke to Harry in January 2023, four months after Queen Elizabeth’s death.
Strahan asked how the monarch reacted to Harry’s royal exit in early 2020. Subsequently, the prince revealed his decision “was never a surprise to anybody, least of all her.”
He continues, “But she knew what was going on. She knew how hard it was.”
“She never said to me that she was angry. However, I think she was sad that it had got to that point,” Harry concluded.
A royal author claims the queen was unhappy with the Duke of Sussex’s exit
In the book The New Royals: Queen Elizabeth’s Legacy and the Future of the Crown, royal author Katie Nicholl claims Queen Elizabeth wrote to Harry and Meghan about leaving their royal duties behind. Lady Elizabeth Anson was quoted regarding her conversations with the monarch.
“However, I don’t think the Queen ever truly understood Harry’s decision to leave,” Anson said in the book. “But the queen made it clear that if Harry and Meghan chose to leave, they couldn’t reap the benefits of being royal,” an excerpt published in Vanity Fair said.
Privately, the queen confided to her friend she felt exhausted by Harry and Meghan’s decision. Thus, Anson said, “‘She was very hurt and told me, ‘I don’t know, I don’t care. And I don’t want to think about it anymore.'”
She concluded, “It was a source of sadness that she got to see so little of Archie and Lilibet. Harry and Meghan were not able to join her for a weekend at Balmoral in August when the queen used to host a ‘sleepover’ for all of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”
Was Prince Harry close with Queen Elizabeth after leaving his royal duties behind?
Despite his estrangement from the other senior members of his family, Prince Harry remained close to Queen Elizabeth. He and his wife, Meghan Markle, would travel to the United Kingdom to visit the queen.
In April 2022, Harry and Meghan visited the Elizabeth on their way to the Netherlands to attend the Invictus Games. It was their first joint visit to the U.K. since they gave up their roles as senior royals and moved to the U.S. in 2020.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle reside in California. The couple has two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
