While relations between Prince Harry and his grandmother were allegedly strained in the run up to his wedding to Meghan Markle, it was a ‘final betrayal’ almost three years later that changed their relationship forever, a new report has claimed.
A year after announcing their decision to step down as senior members of the Royal Family, the Sussexes sat down with Oprah Winfrey for a no-holds-barred interview, in which Meghan said ‘concerns’ had been raised by an unnamed member of the Royal Family about Archie’s skin colour before he was born.
Now sources have told The Daily Beast, that by attacking the monarchy, their ‘betrayal was complete’ in the Queen’s eyes, while the insinuation of racism which cast suspicion on everyone was ‘unforgivable’.
The relationship between the late Queen and Harry made headlines again this month after biographer Sally Bedell Smith revealed on her Substack, Royal Extras, that the Queen was profoundly unhappy with Harry and Meghan prior to their wedding.
The revelations by Bedell Smith were based on interviews with the queen’s cousin, the late Lady Elizabeth Anson.
Lady Liza, as she was known to friends, told Bedell Smith that Harry had been ‘rude’ to his grandmother for 10 minutes during a meeting about his wedding and Meghan refused to disclose details of her dress, leaving the monarch ‘saddened’.
Now, according to fresh claims from an insider, the relationship was fractured up until the late monarch’s death, and was ‘never the same again’ after the Oprah interview.
A year after announcing their decision to step down as senior members of the Royal Family, the Sussexes sat down with American media personality Oprah Winfrey for a no-holds-barred interview
One source, who spoke in response to Bedell Smith’s claims, told The Daily Beast that the Queen felt ‘betrayed’ by Harry
Speaking to the Beast’s The Royalist section, a former courtier said of the Queen’s reaction: ‘When he and Meghan attacked the institution that she spent her whole life serving in the Oprah interview, that betrayal was complete.’
They added that those who knew Harry were ‘shocked’ by his actions, particularly because his grandather Prince Philip was ‘on his deathbed’ at the time.
The Duke of Edinburgh died on April 9, 2021, 33 days after the interview aired, and the Queen was reportedly ‘dismayed’ by the allegations of racism levelled at the family in his final days.
‘To accuse an unidentified person within the family of racism, thereby casting the shadow of suspicion over everyone, was unforgivable in her eyes,’ the former courtier said.
‘Things were never the same after that. It was a horrific series of betrayals at the end of her life.’
In the interview Meghan alleged that an unnamed Royal Family member had expressed ‘concerns’ about ‘how dark’ her first child’s skin would be when he was born and ‘what that would mean or look like’.
A source said: ‘When he and Meghan attacked the institution that she spent her whole life serving in the Oprah interview, that betrayal was complete’
Oprah asked Meghan: ‘They were concerned that if he were too brown, that would be a problem? Are you saying that?’. She responded: ‘If that’s the assumption you’re making, I think that feels like a pretty safe one.’
She said the conversations had been with Harry rather than her, and that it would be ‘very damaging’ to reveal who made the alleged remarks.
It prompted a worldwide guessing game about the senior royal in question and hours later Harry’s estranged brother, Prince William, was forced to publicly remark that they were ‘very much not a racist family’. The Queen gave a rare statement and said ‘the issues raised, particularly that of race, were concerning’ but stressed that ‘recollections may vary’.
Then, in January 2023, in an interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby to plug his memoir Spare, Harry made a u-turn.
The British broadcaster, a friend of Harry’s, raised the 2021 Oprah interview with Meghan and said: ‘You accused members of your family of racism.’ But Harry snapped back: ‘No I didn’t. The British press said that. Did Meghan ever mention that they’re racist?’
The duke then insisted the comments made about his son Archie’s skin colour were ‘unconscious bias’.
The line ‘recollections may vary’ was proposed to add into the draft statement, which would show that the royals were unwilling to let Harry and Meghan’s Oprah narrative become the definitive version
Speaking about the Palace reaction to the Oprah interview, royal author Valentine Low wrote in his 2022 book Courtiers: ‘The late Queen was adamant that she was going to watch the programme first.
‘She was going to watch it with the rest of the population, on ITV on Monday evening.’
The interview aired in the US first, and a day later in the UK.
The line ‘recollections may vary’ was proposed to add into the draft statement, which would show that the royals were unwilling to let Harry and Meghan’s Oprah narrative become the definitive version.
It took until March 9 for a statement to be agreed upon by the family, with the queen having final approval.
Royal author Ingrid Seward, who has spent 40 years following The Firm, has claimed that Harry’s fratctured relationship with his grandmother stemmed from the prince being characterised as ‘the joker’.
An arrangement of UK daily newspapers shows front page headlines reporting the Palace’s response to the interview
Seward added that Harry allowed the ‘Spare’ label to ‘dominate his life – to the extent that he has now made a career out of it’
‘When he had something serious to say to her, he had very little idea how to go about it,’ she wrote in her book, My Mother and I.
She added that Harry allowed the ‘Spare’ label to ‘dominate his life – to the extent that he has now made a career out of it’.
In his explosive memoir Harry wrote that William always felt the Queen indulged Harry in his misbehaviour, while he was expected to maintain high standards.
This could be seen playing out when the brothers came to loggerheads as the Queen reluctantly accepted that Harry could keep his beard on his wedding day.
The royal author wrote: ‘When William discovered this he was furious: annoyed that Harry had gone to the Queen, annoyed that she had given her clearance and annoyed at what he saw as Harry’s one-upmanship.’
This stemmed back to the fact that William had not been allowed to keep his beard at his own wedding.
‘This argument became so heated that at one point William actually ordered Harry to shave, ‘as the Heir speaking to the Spare’,’ wrote Seward.
But it was the late Queen who found herself in an ‘impossible position’ when it came to dealing with Harry’s antics.
Seward wrote: ‘However much she loved Harry – and she did – she couldn’t condone the way he was speaking about the institution of the monarchy that she had spent 70 years preserving.
‘He chooses to be the victim and wreak vengeance on the slights he thought he had suffered; on his family, on the press and through the courts.
‘His row with his brother was one thing – this is not unusual with siblings, when one has all the responsibility and the other is free to have more fun.
‘But the anger aimed at the monarchy, the British people, his father and stepmother was totally unnecessary.’
The wounded relationship between the Sussexes and the Royal Family is unlikely to heal any time soon.
In a fresh dig, the prince spoke to the BBC about losing his legal challenge against the government over his security in May.
Harry said there had been ‘so many disagreements ‘in the family, but the ‘only thing that’s left’ is the row over his security – which he said had ‘always been the sticking point’.
‘There is no point in continuing to fight anymore, life is precious,’ he added.
Harry also touched on King Charles’ cancer treatment.
He said: ‘I don’t know how much longer my father has – he won’t speak to me because of this security stuff but it would be nice to reconcile.’
He added ‘some members of my family will never forgive me’ for writing his memoir Spare, and went on to say: ‘It would be nice to have that reconciliation part now.
‘If they don’t want that, that’s entirely up to them.’
