Prince Harry And Meghan Markle's Exit Deeply Hurt The Late Queen And Destabilized Family

“The New Royals: Queen Elizabeth’s Legacy and the Future of the Crown,” an upcoming book by royal expert Katie Nicholl, details the tense relationship Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had with other members of the British royal family. She wrote about how their exit affected Prince William and the late Queen Elizabeth.

According to an excerpt from DailyMail, Nicholls wrote that Prince William hadn’t forgiven his brother for the exit, particularly because of the burden it created for his wife, Kate, and their three kids. She also stated that the exit was a source of deep pain to the late Queen in the last few years of her life.

According to Nicholl, the tension between the two Princes and their spouses stemmed from the early days of Harry and Meghan’s relationship and evolved into separate grudges. She also explained the royal family’s various problems with Megxit, including that they’d overstepped their authority. 

Read on to find out more.

In Nicholl’s upcoming book, she wrote per, DailyMail, that when Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, left England and moved to America, their exit deeply hurt Prince William. The brothers had been best friends, and Harry’s exit increased the burden on William, his wife, Kate, and their three kids. 

Harry’s exit meant that William’s family had to step up and fill the gap, which was more than they’d planned for while trying to raise their children. In the book, royal historian Robert Lacey commented on how Megxit had pushed William’s kids more into the spotlight. 

He said, “We’ve seen the children performing in front of the cameras in a way that cannot have been part of the original plan. We know that William and Kate want to bring up their children in relative seclusion and privacy, but the children have had to become a prominent part of the show.”

Nicholls also wrote about how Megxit was a source of pain to the late Queen Elizabeth. The late Lady Elizabeth Anson, a close confidante to the Queen at the time, spoke on how she’d handled their exit. She said, “I don’t think the Queen ever truly understood Harry’s decision to leave.”

Anson continued, “Turning one’s back on duty is completely alien to the Queen, and she has been very hurt by it all. William was angry. Charles was distraught. But Harry wasn’t prepared to back down over Meghan.” She also said that the Queen had worried about Harry’s behavior before he met Meghan. 

Anson said that when Harry publicly said in 2017 that he’d “shut down all of his emotions for the last 20 years” and suffered “total chaos” because of it, the Queen was very worried. She explained that Queen Elizabeth was concerned he’d reveal too much of himself and become a target for the media.

There were rumors of tension between William and Kate, and Harry and Meghan, from as far back as when Harry and Meghan went public with their relationship. Nicholl wrote that Harry had apparently hoped that Kate and Meghan would get along, but a “personality clash” had created a coldness between the two women.

When Harry and Meghan decided to get married, things reportedly became much worse. Meghan felt that the Royal Family didn’t offer her much support during preparations for their 2018 wedding, while Harry felt that his brother and Kate hadn’t endorsed and supported him like he thought they would.

On the other hand, Prince William’s concerns were that his brother had moved too fast with their relationship. One of his oldest friends told Nicholl, “It’s probably a bit strong to say he didn’t like Meghan from the start, but William had reservations. He was obviously happy for Harry but he was also cautious, as he always is about people getting close very quickly to his family.”

The royal expert, Nicholl, included in her book (via DailyMail), that when Megxit finally happened, it completely destabilized the royal family, severely damaging Harry’s relationship with his father, King Charles III, and William. Lacey also reflected on specific issues the royal family had with the couples exit.

He said, “The indignation of Prince Charles, Prince William and the Palace with Meghan and Harry was over two things. Firstly, the way that they revealed their entire ‘Sussex Royal’ plan as a done deal on their new website when it wasn’t a done deal at all, and secondly, the fact that the Sussexes were daring to pronounce on Royal matters that were far above their pay grade.”

Lacey continued, “There was a very strong feeling that went right to the top that the only person who can talk about the Royal Family doing things in a different style was the Queen herself, or possibly Charles.”