Prince Harry Reveals Royal Family's 'Horrible Reaction' To Queen Elizabeth II's Death
Prince Harry revealed the royal family's reaction to the late Queen Elizabeth II's passing.
"But the day that she died was just a really, really horrible reaction from my family members... then the briefings, then the leaking, then the planting," he recalled during his Sunday, January 8, interview for ITV with Tom Bradby about Her Majesty's September 8, 2022, death. "I was like, 'We're here to celebrate the life of granny, and to mourn her loss. Can we come together as a family?'"
While the Spare author believed his grandmother's funeral would be a chance to heal wounds within his family, the reality was much different than what he had hoped. "I don't know how we collectively change that," Harry continued.
Although Harry, wife Meghan Markle, Prince William and Kate Middleton joined together publicly to view tributes for the former head of state, tensions between the four were evident.
According to the Duke of Sussex, his older brother was partly the reason he was unable to see his grandmother in the final moments before her passing, as William allegedly did not ask his younger sibling to be on the private plane to Scotland.
"I was not invited," he confirmed to Anderson Cooper during his 60 Minutes interview on Sunday, January 8. Royal author Tom Bower backed up these claims in his book Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors, alleging Harry took issue with the fact that his spouse was not welcome to join in on the journey if he wanted to go on the family's jet.
"At Meghan’s suggestion, Harry insisted that he would be accompanied by his wife – and that plan was broadcast to journalists at 1:53 p.m.," Bower claimed in the book. "Meghan’s expectation was astonishing. For four years she had rejected the Queen’s invitations to visit Balmoral but, in her last hours of life, Meghan eagerly sought to make the journey. Firmly, Harry was told that Meghan was not welcome."
"Unwilling to waste more time, William ordered the RAF jet to take off at 2:39 p.m. Harry was left to hire his own plane and make the journey alone," Bower states. "He landed in Scotland at 6:46 p.m., 14 minutes after the Queen’s death had been announced to the public. She had died at 3:10 p.m."