Prince Harry has shared details of a private phone call he had with the Queen about his desire to leave the UK and step back from their royal duties, while Meghan Markle claims they were blocked from seeing her.
The couple made the allegations in the fifth episode of their explosive Netflix series, when talking about the negotiations in the lead up to the announcement of them quitting as working royals in early 2020.
The pair spent Christmas 2019 in Canada and had been preparing to return to the UK, with Harry claiming he had sent emails to his father outlining his and Meghan's future plans.
He says that he called his grandmother to tell her they were coming back to the UK and details their private chat.
He recalls: "Before we left I spoke to my grandmother as well and told her that we were coming back on the 6th, and I would love to come and see you.
"She knew that we were finding things hard. I’d spoken to her many times about it. She told me that she had no plans for the week. She said: ‘Well, why don’t you come up?’ You can have tea, but why don’t you stay the night, you and Meghan?’"
But the couple alleges just before they were due to board a flight back to London, they were told the Queen would no longer be available to meet them.
Meghan says: "So we were flying back from Vancouver straight to Heathrow and right as we were getting on the plane, this urgent, urgent message comes through to H saying, ‘You are not allowed to go and see Her Majesty, make sure your principle is aware he cannot go and see her. She’s busy, she has plans all week'.
Harry adds: "I was like, ‘That’s certainly the opposite to what she had told me.’ Once we were back in the UK, I rang her and said “I’m now told that you’re busy.
"She goes, ‘Yes, I didn’t know I was busy. I’ve been told that I’m busy. I’ve been told that I’m busy all week, and I was like ‘wow’."
And Meghan recalls: "I remember looking at H, I mean this when a family and a family business are in direct conflict.
"Because they are blocking you from seeing the Queen. But really what they are doing is blocking a grandson from seeing his grandmother."
Harry referenced the phone calls in his interview with Oprah Winfrey, but didn't go into details of what was actually said.
He said: When we were in Canada, I had three conversations with my grandmother and two conversations with my father and — before he stopped taking my calls — and he said, ‘Can you put this all in writing what your plan is?’"
Asked why Charles stopped taking his calls, Harry replied: "Because I took matters into my own hands. It was like, ‘I need to do this for my family. This is not a surprise to anybody. It’s really sad that it’s gotten to this point but I’ve got to do something for my own mental health, my wife’s and for Archie’s as well’. Because I could see where this was headed."
In the first three episodes released last Thursday, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex railed against their treatment by the Firm.
Harry signified an ”unconscious bias” of racism at the heart of the institution while Meghan labelled William and Kate emotionless after she hugged them at their first meeting.
Harry also claimed the royals asked why Meghan should be "protected" from media speculation, alleging he was told it was something all royal women - including Princess Diana and Kate - have to go through.
While Meghan said she was left unprepared for royal life as she didn't know what a walkabout was and wore muted colours to blend in.
However, royal insiders have said the King and William will keep “a dignified silence” and not engage in a “tit-for-tat” battle.
A source said: “As far as everyone is concerned it’s business as usual and there is no desire to engage in a tit-for-tat war of words.
“There’s certainly nothing in the first half worth engaging with and there’s nothing new about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex talking in public about their time in the royal family.
“A dignified silence is the order of the day as the focus is entirely on getting on with the job.”
