When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they would be quitting their royal duties six years ago, one key member of the Firm was so furious, they refused to see him
The Duke of Sussex(Image: Max Mumby/Indigo, Getty Images)
It’s been exactly six years since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced they would be quitting their royal duties and relocating to America, with the bombshell news sending shockwaves through the Royal Family and the world.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex had been spending time in Canada when they issued their statement about their change of royal status in January 2020, but just days later, Harry was summoned back to the UK by the late Queen Elizabeth for crisis talks with senior members of the Firm to hash out the details of their exit, with the meeting later being dubbed the ‘Sandringham Summit’.
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Prince Philip didn’t want to speak to Harry at the Sandringham Summit(Image: Getty Images)
A Channel 5 documentary titled Megxit: Inside the Sandringham Summit went behind the scenes of the dramatic meeting, and discussed the long-term effects their decision had on the monarchy.
According to one royal expert taking part in the documentary, one senior royal was so furious at Harry that he refused to even see him: his grandfather Prince Philip.
Royal author Andrew Morton claimed: “Prince Philip is someone who doesn’t take fools gladly, and he was horrified that they had come to a situation where the Royal Family were deciding whether to split up or not.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle quit their royal duties six years ago(Image: Amy Katz/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)
Another expert explained the late Duke of Edinburgh’s feelings were so strong that he left Sandringham altogether, rather than come face-to-face with his grandson. “Philip was so angry,” explained journalist Emily Andrews, “that he refused to even be there. I was told that he just couldn’t bring himself to see his grandson, he thought it was a huge dereliction of duty.”
Whilst Prince Philip always demurred to the authority of his wife, the late Queen, when it came to private matters, said to be “very much the head of the family “. Philip reportedly had a wonderful relationship with both Harry and William, and was instrumental in helping them navigate their grief when their mother Princess Diana died in 1997.
Author Tina Brown wrote: “A member of the Balmoral staff [where the boys were when they received the news Diana had died] noted that Prince Philip, who had effectively lost his own mother at the age of 10 when she was committed for three years to an asylum in Switzerland, was brilliantly effective with his grandsons, offering them gruff tenderness and outdoor activities like stalking and hiking to tire them out”.
However, the year following the Sandringham Summit and Harry’s decision to leave royal life behind, Prince Philip passed away – only a month after the Sussexes sat down with Oprah Winfrey for their bombshell interview detailing the reasons why they had chosen to walk away.
Prince Harry returned for his grandfather’s funeral, which, subject to social distancing restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, had a limited number of guests. The Sandringham Summit took place six years ago today, with the late Queen, the then-Prince Charles, Prince William and Harry all being summoned to the Norfolk estate, while Meghan remained in Canada with Prince Archie.
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