In an excerpt from royal biographer Omid Scobie’s latest, Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy’s Fight for Survival, Scobie writes that, on the day that would ultimately be Queen Elizabeth’s last, Prince Harry was kept “in the dark” about the severity of her decline in health, was excluded from a flight with other members of the royal family, and was “completely by himself.”
Harry—who was famously close with his grandmother—and wife Meghan Markle happened to be in the U.K. for previously scheduled engagements when Her late Majesty’s health took a turn for the worse on September 8, 2022. An excerpt from the book revealed that Harry got a call from an unknown number (a call he normally wouldn’t pick up), but that Meghan said, “You should answer it.”
“He tapped accept just before it stopped,” Scobie writes, in an excerpt from the book obtained by People. “Harry hadn’t spoken to his father much that year, but this was not the time for any father-and-son tension. Charles told him he and Camilla were about to leave Dumfries House for Balmoral, where Princess Anne was already by the Queen’s side. He told Harry to make his way to Scotland immediately. William, whom Charles had just spoken to, was supposedly working on arranging travel. Harry sent a text message to his brother asking how he and Kate planned to get to Scotland and whether they could travel together. No response.”
With no further information from other family members or Palace aides, Scobie continues, “the Sussexes and their team had to operate in the dark. Harry was informed that William had already secured a flight with his uncles Andrew and Edward (and Edward’s wife, Sophie), but he couldn’t get in touch with anyone about joining that flight.” A source close to the Sussexes said “It was upsetting to witness. [Harry] was completely by himself on this.”
The world’s media was beginning to be clued into what was happening and were rushing to Aberdeenshire (most flights and train tickets sold out within minutes, Scobie writes), and travel options dwindled for Harry. “Another call came through from Charles, who instructed his younger son to come alone,” Scobie continues. “Despite already publicly confirming that Meghan would come with him (always the plan if they were traveling from California for this very situation), he reluctantly agreed, after Charles assured him that Kate would not be there, either.”
While Charles cited “protocol,” Scobie writes that Kate chose to stay back to pick up her children from their first day at a new school. “They just didn’t want Meghan there,” a former Palace aide said. Meghan “could sense she wasn’t wanted,” a friend added. Harry sent another text to William, again to no response. “Though there were available seats on William’s chartered Dassault Falcon private jet, which was leaving in less than an hour, Harry was left to fend for himself,” Scobie writes.
“William ignored him,” a family source said. “He clearly didn’t want to see his brother.” Harry’s cousin Princess Eugenie reached out to Harry to see if he had any more information about the Queen. She had heard from another family member that it was “time,” but knew little more than that. “With no invite forthcoming from any of the family members, Harry eventually located an available option—a private charter costing [$37,000] from Luton Airport, a 40-minute drive from Frogmore without traffic,” Scobie writes. “And with that, Harry started his own race to Scotland.”
Though rumors were beginning to spread that the Queen’s passing might be imminent, “Harry had no way of knowing whether it was true,” the book continues. “His father doesn’t carry a cell phone and his brother wasn’t acknowledging his existence.” William and the others landed at 3:50 p.m., only to discover that the Queen had died at 3:10 p.m. Harry still had no idea what was going on when his own plane finally took off at 5:35 p.m. For the duration of his 70-minute flight, Harry remained in the dark, Scobie writes.
“Back on the ground, there was a tug-of-war between the Sussexes’ team and Buckingham Palace over whether to announce the news without Harry being informed,” the book continues. “With Her Majesty’s death already confirmed to the prime minister an hour before Harry left, and all other senior family members now gathered in Scotland processing the news, royal press secretaries were ready to share the news with the world.” The Palace claimed Charles tried to call Harry and that there was no more time left to delay.
“His team literally had to beg for them to wait for his plane to land and they reluctantly agreed to hold the statement back for a little bit,” a close family source confirmed. Stormy weather over Aberdeen International forced Harry’s plane to circle the airport numerous times before landing, and patience at the Buckingham Palace press office wore thin. They couldn’t wait anymore, and the announcement of the Queen’s passing went live at 6:30 p.m. “When Harry’s plane finally touched tarmac 20 minutes later, he received a text from Meghan urging him to call ASAP followed by a breaking news alert via the BBC News app with the announcement of the Queen’s death,” Scobie writes.
“Harry was crushed,” a friend of his said. “His relationship with the Queen was everything to him. She would have wanted him to know before it went out to the world. They could have waited just a little longer, it would have been nothing in the grand scheme of things, but no one respected that at all.”
After finally arriving at Balmoral, Princess Anne greeted Harry warmly and led him to the Queen’s room, where he spent a quiet moment with her privately paying his respects. He hoped to see Charles, but was informed that Charles, William, and Camilla had already left for Birkhall together. Harry wasn’t invited, again.
“That night after eating he retired to his room, exhausted by the day’s emotional rollercoaster,” the book continues. “He was glad to have had a private moment to say goodbye to his grandmother, but there was no point in sticking around. With no offer to return with William and the others in the morning (all of his texts, including a thoughtful message about the loss of their grandmother, continued to be ignored), Harry booked his own British Airways ticket on the first available departing flight.”
*head explodes*
Endgame hits shelves on November 28.
