Prince Harry arrives at Westminster Abbey ahead of the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on September 19, 2022 in London, England.Photo: Christopher Furlong/Getty
Prince Harrywas famously close with his grandmotherQueen Elizabeth. But in the monarch’s final hours, he was kept in the dark about her health, according to an explosive new book.
In this passage fromEndgame— out Nov. 28 and exclusively excerpted inthis week’s PEOPLE— author Omid Scobie offers an intimate look at Harry’s journey to the Queen’s deathbed last year.
By the next morning, the Sussexes had no idea that Buckingham Palace was already planning for the Queen’s final hours and the first days of the monarchy’s new era — until the duke’s phone started ringing. An unknown number. He usually ignored those.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex view flowers and tributes to Queen Elizabeth on September 10, 2022 in Windsor, England.Chris Jackson/Getty Images
Chris Jackson/Getty Images
With the world’s media now rushing to Aberdeenshire (and most flights and train tickets selling out within minutes), travel options dwindled. Another call came through from Charles, who instructed his younger son to come alone. 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.
Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy’s Fight for Survival.
Charles had cited “protocol,” but the reality was that Kate chose to stay back to pick up the children from their first day at a new school. “They just didn’t want Meghan there,” said a former Palace aide. Meghan, a friend added, “could sense she wasn’t wanted.”
Harry sent another text to his brother. Nothing. 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.
“William ignored him,” said a family source. “He clearly didn’t want to see his brother.” Princess Eugenie reached out to Harry to see if he had any more information about their grandmother. She had heard from another family member that it was “time” but knew little more.
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.
And with that, Harry started his own race to Scotland. Though rumors of the Queen’s passing were rife at this point, Harry had no way of knowing whether it was true. His father doesn’t carry a cell phone and his brother wasn’t acknowledging his existence. When William and the others landed at 3:50 p.m. to discover the news that the Queen had passed away 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. And, as his phone service cut out after takeoff, he remained in the dark for the duration of his 70-minute flight.
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. 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 (sources later told me there was never any proof of this), and that there was no more time left to delay.
Palace “sources” later briefed certain papers that Charles had personally shared the news with his younger son, but this was just a move to save face. “Harry was crushed,” said a friend of the duke. “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.”
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When he arrived at Balmoral, Princess Anne warmly greeted him and led him to the Queen’s room, where he spent a quiet moment privately paying his respects. He had hoped to see his father — who had made it to Balmoral Castle in time to see his mother alive — to express his sympathies, but he was informed that Charles, William, and Camilla had already left for Birkhall together.
Prince William and Prince Harry arrive at Westminster Abbey in London on September 19, 2022, for the State Funeral Service for Queen Elizabeth II.MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty
In the months that followed their grandmother’s funeral, the division between brothers Prince Harry and Prince William widened following the release of Harry and Meghan’s Netflix docuseries and the duke’s revealing memoirSpare.
As for how he feels about Harry since the release ofSpare, a source close to the prince told me, “There’s a huge amount of anger there. He feels betrayed and sad about the situation. But he also doesn’t agree with the things his brother feels he has done. He feels he has lost Harry and doesn’t want to know this version of him.” That version, countered a Spencer family source, is simply “Harry being a man who has stepped outside of the institution and sees things in a different light. They will never see eye to eye at this point. They’re on completely opposite sides . . . that won’t change.”
Prince Harry arrives for the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Westminster Abbey on May 6, 2023, in London, England.Andy Stenning - WPA Pool/Getty Images
Andy Stenning - WPA Pool/Getty Images
In May Harry made a brief appearance at the coronation of his father, King Charles, 75, but was not invited to join the royal family on the palace balcony. Meghan and their children stayed home.
As the duke left California on May 5 for King Charles’s coronation — a decision he had made because “it was the right thing” to support his father on such a big day — his emotions were a world away from how he felt landing in London with knots in his stomach for the Platinum Jubilee just a year earlier. “Though he hasn’t found closure with his family, he’s accepted that things are unlikely to change, particularly with his brother — who refuses to even properly talk with him,” said a source. As Harry later explained to a friend, “I’m ready to move on past it. Whether we get an apology or accountability, who knows? Who really cares at this point?”
source: people.com
