When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced they were stepping back as working royals in 2020, the world reacted with dismay, and speculation immediately turned to how the rest of the Royal Family truly felt about the decision. Days later, Queen Elizabeth issued a personal message declaring that Harry, Meghan and their son Archie “will always be much loved members of my family.”It has since been suggested, however, that the late Queen was privately concerned about what the Sussexes would do once they had stepped away from royal duties, and that her blessing came with a specific condition attached.
What the Queen reportedly told Prince Harry
Writing in the latest issue of Woman, royal correspondent Duncan Larcombe alleges that Queen Elizabeth set out clear terms for Harry and Meghan’s departure. “Her Majesty made it clear to Harry that he and Meghan would leave with her blessing as long as they understood leaving royal life meant exactly that,” he wrote.
According to Larcombe, the Queen was worried the Sussexes would continue undertaking public engagements without coordinating their work with the rest of the family, potentially overshadowing the institution’s official activities. This half-in, half-out approach to royal life was reportedly something Harry and Meghan had hoped for at the time.
The Sandringham summit and the Queen’s final ruling
Queen Elizabeth ultimately did not share that vision, and made her position unmistakably clear. Writing in ‘The Windsor Legacy’, royal author Robert Jobson described a summit held at Sandringham House in January 2020, where the matter was settled definitively. “The answer from the top was clear: no halfway role was possible. They were either in or out,” Jobson wrote, adding that “Her Majesty’s ruling deepened the existing tensions in the family, particularly between Harry and William.“
Recent events echo the Queen’s earlier concerns
While Harry and Meghan initially followed the rules set out for them, recent years have seen developments that appear to echo exactly what the late Queen was reportedly worried about. The couple’s trip to Australia in April drew both praise and criticism, particularly for elements that resembled a traditional royal tour. The visit took place just before King Charles and Queen Camilla’s US State Visit.In May, Meghan travelled to Switzerland for the inauguration of The Lost Screen Memorial, dedicated to children who lost their lives as a result of harm suffered on social media. Just days earlier, the Princess of Wales had undertaken her first overseas visit since her cancer diagnosis, travelling to neighbouring Italy.
Working royals typically coordinate their engagements carefully to avoid clashes, but it remains unclear whether any such communication continues between the family and the Sussexes since their departure. The proximity of these visits has inevitably drawn direct comparisons, lending weight to the idea that the late Queen’s concerns about the institution’s work being overshadowed may have been well founded.
Queen Elizabeth’s legacy of service
The Queen’s dedication to the monarchy and the Commonwealth was widely regarded as one of her defining traits something Prince Harry himself acknowledged following her death in 2022. “In celebrating the life of my grandmother, Her Majesty the Queen and in mourning her loss, we are all reminded of the guiding compass she was to so many in her commitment to service and duty,” he said in a statement at the time.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source timesofindia.indiatimes.com ’
