Support truly
independent journalism
King Charles banned Meghan Markle from travelling to Balmoral with Prince Harry to be with the dying Queen, royal author Rob Jobson has claimed in his new biography on the Princess of Wales.
The move saw Prince Harry, now 39, take a private jet to Scotland alone to avoid travelling with his family on the day his grandmother passed away at the age of 96.
However, it was only Princess Anne who was able to be at the monarch’s bedside as she took her final breaths on 8 September 2022 before she died at 3:10 pm.
Jobson explained that while the then-Prince Charles had seen his mother earlier in the day, he went out to “clear his head” and he, alongside other senior royals, “did not make it [back] to Balmoral in time”.
“Prince Harry had decided to travel separately from his brother and the other senior Royal Family members,” Jobson wrote.
“He took a private jet to Scotland, not getting there until just before 8 pm.
“Close sources said he had elected not to fly with his brother and uncles after a disagreement over Meghan not being allowed to join him.
“It emerged that when he insisted that his wife accompany him to Balmoral during a phone call with his father, Charles told him she could not come.”
While the Princess of Wales did not travel to Balmoral at the time of the Queen’s death, opting to stay and look after her children, the royal author speculated that this decision “may have been influenced by Harry’s petulance.”
Jobson elaborated on the couple’s relationship with the late monarch prior to her death.
He explained that their departure from the Firm in 2020 prompted her to take decisive action to protect the throne she had reigned on for seven decades.
This came when Harry and Meghan suggested that they could “carve out a progressive new role” as working royals who split their time between the UK and the US.
“She knew instinctively that for the sake of the monarchy’s future, there could not be any ambiguity over its role and function or financial structure,” Jobson wrote.
“As far as she was concerned, you were either working for the Firm fully, or not. There was no halfway house.”
Jobson claimed that while the Queen ultimately felt “let down” by Prince Harry’s decision to leave and did not want him to financially benefit in his new life from the status he previously held.
“She knew that he and Meghan had much to offer and certainly appealed to the younger generation in a way none of the other royals could.
“But the idea of the couple earning millions by cashing in on their royal titles and status was abhorrent to her.”
Jobson added: “She did not object to their decision to leave, but she was adamant that it meant they must be stripped of their patronages and banned from using their HRH titles personally and commercially.”
The Queen’s decision to strip Harry of his titles reportedly left him “shocked and hurt” and while he left of his own accord, he ultimately felt like he had been “banished” from the royal family.
The Independent has reached out to a representative for the Sussexes and King Charles for comment.
