If you ever wondered how Queen Elizabeth II really felt when she first discovered that grandson Prince Harry, 37, and granddaughter-in-law Meghan Markle, 40, first told her that they wanted to step down as senior royals, which they officially did back in January 2020, then wonder no more! According to an explosive new book by former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown, The Queen was “concerned” when she first found out about their desire to step back from official duties – dubbed ‘Megxit’ by the press – adding that the 96-year-old British monarch was “genuinely very conflicted” upon learning of their wishes.
The Queen could reportedly “see how unhappy Harry and Meghan were,” but the royals wanted the couple’s exit to be done properly and set the “right precedent,” according to Brown’s book, The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor – the Truth and the Turmoil, which is said to explore “the scandals, love affairs, power plays and betrayals” over the past 20 years. Sounds juicy!
The bombshell book alleges that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's desire to step back "was clear from as early as the autumn of 2018," which Brown reportedly learned from a palace insider. "The family saw the split coming only months later, in the summer of 2019," the insider said, according to the book. Regardless of how it was reported in the press, and how other members of the royal family may have felt, Brown writes that Her Majesty wanted to be supportive of her grandson's decision, as she could see how "unhappy" he and Meghan were with senior royal life.
"They could all see how unhappy Harry and Meghan were," the insider added. "Everybody was supportive of them leaving. But they wanted it done in an orderly way. And they also wanted it done in a way that set the right precedent. William's got three kids. The precedent they set for this generation would affect his children. He's very mindful of that. So they wanted it done properly."
"I thought one of the best things that Meghan could do for Harry was to take him out of royal life because he was just so unhappy for so long," the source continued, referencing that although it was Prince Harry who reportedly decided to quit royal life, the decision to do so was made "in acceleration from Meghan."
"He needed a wife to come in and say, 'Actually the best thing for you is that I take you out of this,'" the source added, before detailing how the Sussexes initially suggested a part-time arrangement as opposed to stepping down completely, but the source said that an arrangement like that would create a conflict of interest.
"If, say, the high-visibility couple tacked a few days of shooting a paid Netflix documentary onto the back of a Foreign Office-funded Commonwealth tour, there would be an uproar – just as Prince Andrew saw when he mixed business sidebars with his trade ambassador trips," Brown wrote. "Ethics issues of this kind have killed many a promising political career and are red meat for the media." A palace aide reportedly told Brown that Harry and Meghan may have been trying to blur the line between The Queen's role as grandmother and reigning monarch by allegedly arranging an "informal meeting" to discuss their royal duties, which may not have been the preferred way to go about it.
"Such conversations should be conducted in the mind of Elizabeth II as sovereign, so there would have been agendas," the source said, according to the book. "The talking points would have been agreed beforehand between the private secretaries… What the Sussexes have tried to do is get around that and go to her because, on her own, she’s saying yes. She’s giving in." Interestingly, Harry referenced this very moment in his and Meghan's infamous Oprah interview which was broadcast in March 2021, and said that he "never blindsided my grandmother. I have too much respect for her."
