The late Queen was left ‘dismayed’ by Prince Harry’s behaviour before and after his wedding to Meghan Markle and his relationship with his grandmother was ‘left badly damaged’, a royal biographer has claimed.
It was a picture perfect wedding when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tied the knot at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, in May 2018.
The then-newly minted Duke and Duchess of Sussex were joined by all the leading members of the Royal Family who gathered to celebrate their marriage.
Prince William was best man and Prince Charles even walked Meghan down the aisle.
Indeed, the family appeared more united than ever.
But almost seven years later the same cannot be said.
The couple have stepped down as working royals and have been at loggerheads with other members of the Royal Family on numerous occasions.
Tensions were inflamed further during Harry and Meghan’s controversial interview with Oprah and following the publication of his now notorious memoir ‘Spare’.
Ingrid Seward, author of My Mother and I, has claimed that Harry’s behaviour was already ruffling feathers before the wedding – with none other than the Queen.
Prince Harry and Meghan on their wedding day in May 2018. A royal biographer has claimed the Queen was shocked by Harry’s behaviour before and after the marriage
The Queen at Harry and Meghan’s wedding. According to Ingrid Seward, Lady Elizabeth Anson – Elizabeth’s cousin and close friend – said that that the monarch was left ‘dismayed by Harry’s high-handed attitude before and after the wedding’
Harry and Meghan share a kiss outside St George’s Chapel in Windsor. Their wedding was a picture perfect affair in the gorgeous May sunshine
Meghan surrounded by members of the Royal Family. The family appeared more united than ever before but almost seven years after the spectacle the same cannot be said today
According to Seward, Lady Elizabeth Anson – Queen Elizabeth’s cousin and close friend – said that that the monarch was ‘dismayed by Harry’s high-handed attitude before and after the wedding’.
While it is unclear what behaviour this allegation is about, in 2020 it was reported that the Queen scolded Harry after he shouted at the Queen’s dresser, and confidante, Angela Kelly who was unable to meet Meghan’s sudden demand to visit Buckingham Palace with her hairdresser to try on her wedding day tiara.
The chosen jewelry for the special day was Queen Mary’s Diamond Bandeau Tiara.
It was also well documented at the time that Harry had to request special permission to wear his army uniform and keep his beard – which are strictly banned by the Army.
The Queen reportedly took issue with Meghan’s decision to wear a white dress and veil – despite the fact she is a divorcee.
Meghan had previously been married to Hollywood film producer Trevor Engelson between 2011 and 2013.
Harry and the Queen shared a close bond which spanned from Harry’s childhood well into his adult life. They even starred together in a video to promote the 2016 Invictus games, in which the late Queen showed her humorous side.
Harry and Meghan during their sit down interview with Oprah Winfrey. The TV special only damaged their increasingly fraught relationship with the Royal Family further
Meghan wearing Queen Mary’s Diamond Bandeau Tiara on her wedding day. In 2020 it was reported that the Queen scolded Harry after he shouted at the Queen’s dresser who was unable to meet Meghan’s sudden demand to try on the tiara
Prince Charles walking Meghan down the aisle
Harry and Meghan at their last official engagement as working royals in March 2020. Lady Elizabeth told royal biographer Katie Nicholl: ‘I don’t think the Queen ever truly understood Harry’s decision to leave’
However, after he left his royal duties the relationship became more strained.
Lady Elizabeth told royal biographer Katie Nicholl: ‘I don’t think the Queen ever truly understood Harry’s decision to leave.
‘Turning one’s back on duty is completely alien to the Queen and she has been left very hurt by it all.’
Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah Winfrey only damaged the increasingly fraught relationship with the Royal Family further.
One bombshell was the Sussexes’ suggestion that the Royal Family was collectively racist, pointing the finger at one – unnamed – member who, they alleged, had speculated about the colour of their son Archie’s skin when Meghan was pregnant in a racist way.
Meghan recalled ‘concerns and conversations about how dark his skin would be when he was born. People were concerned with how dark Archie’s skin would be.’
A tense looking Harry confirmed this, saying he was the one who’d heard these comments and had told his wife.
Harry also accused members of the family of jealousy towards Meghan for the ‘effortless’ manner in which Meghan had captivated the public during their tour of the Commonwealth and ‘how good she was at the job’.
The Queen also reportedly took issue with Meghan’s decision to wear a white dress and veil despite the fact she is a divorcee
Harry and Meghan with the Queen at an event in June 2018. Lady Elizabeth said: ‘Turning one’s back on duty is completely alien to the Queen and she has been left very hurt by it all’
And for the first time he made it clear that he and Prince William were at odds saying that, ‘he loved him to bits’, but that, ‘we’re on different paths’.
He also described Prince Charles and William as ‘trapped’. ‘They don’t get to leave and I have compassion for that,’ he said.
Whilst the Queen did not live to see the publication of Harry’s 2023 memoir ‘Spare’ it is likely she would not have approved of the intimate details of royal life revealed in the bestselling book.
This included revelations that Harry allegedly lost his virginity to a much older woman in a field behind a pub and that he took cocaine at 17 and smoked marijuana at Eton.
The Duke of Sussex also revealed his last words to the late Queen when she was on her deathbed in Balmoral in September 2022.
Harry claimed he whispered to his grandmother that he ‘hoped she was happy’ and would be reunited with Prince Philip who died in April 2021.
Harry also claimed that he and William pleaded with their father to not marry Camilla.
‘We support you, we said. We endorse Camilla, we said. Just please don’t marry her. Just be together, Pa,’ Harry wrote.
On top of this, he claimed that Kate Middleton and Meghan had a row over the Duchess of Sussex’s comment that the Princess of Wales had ‘baby brain’ and he described his brother as his ‘arch-nemesis’.
It has been previously been claimed that Prince Harry had second-thoughts about publishing the book after he returned home following the Queen’s death.
Harry and Meghan with the Prince and Princess of Wales following the Queen’s death in September 2022. In his 2023 memoir ‘Spare’, The Duke of Sussex revealed his last words to the late Queen when she was on her deathbed in Balmoral in September 2022
Harry and Meghan share a kiss at the 2025 Invictus Games. Since their move to California there has been both a physical and metaphorical wedge between the couple and the rest of the Royal Family
But publication went ahead and it has only pushed an even greater wedge between Harry and the other royals.
Though no members of the Royal Family have publicly commented on Harry’s foray into writing, it’s understood the reaction behind the scenes was one of pain.
The distinguished Daily Mail writer Robert Hardman’s book Charles III: New King, New Court, The Inside Story, revealed what was going on inside the Palace as they awaited the book’s release.
On the day the announcement was released to the Press, it eclipsed all other royal news, despite the Royal Mint striking the first coins with the face of the new King.
When asked about the King’s feeling on the incoming fire from the Sussexes and their associates, one Palace staffer referred to the ‘headwinds that we face from across the Atlantic’, according to Hardman.
The author wrote: ‘That was one way of describing an extraordinary 12-week run of non-stop disobliging headlines and combative allegations, all of them entirely beyond the control of the King and his staff.
‘Storm-force gales might have been a better metaphor. That this should all be unfolding in the first phase of a new reign might once have been considered disastrous.
However, there were two unexpected aspects to these ‘headwinds’ which would work in Charles III’s favour.
‘First, the constant diet of extraneous negativity, though awkward and at times embarrassing, made very little impact, according to polls, on public attitudes towards the monarchy. Second, it appeared to have no discernible impact on the King himself.’
