Meghan Markle and her husband, Prince Harry, are facing fresh scandals over their social media activity while also being hit by a series of “drip-drip” revelations from their past.
The former soldier and the actress-turned-business mogul believed that leaving the United Kingdom implied they had left their British-related drama behind.
However, that is far from the case. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have one of the biggest stories published in Spare being revisited and questioned.
There have been some unflattering revelations that shed light on the real reason Meghan Markle was absent from Queen Elizabeth II’s bedside at Balmoral during the Queen‘s final hours in September 2022.
According to new claims, King Charles III personally intervened to ensure the Duchess of Sussex did not attend, citing her previous refusals to visit the Queen and her public criticisms of the monarchy as the primary reasons for her being “unwelcome.”
The “Unwelcome” Verdict: Tom Bower’s Claims
In his new book, Betrayal, author Tom Bower outlines the specific moment the King blocked the Duchess’s travel plans: “When Charles heard that Meghan intended to come, he called Harry. That was unacceptable, said Charles.”
Bower further explains that the decision was rooted in Meghan’s past choices regarding family invitations. The author stated: “Since Meghan had refused the Queen’s invitations to Balmoral in the Queen’s lifetime, she was unwelcome at her death.”
The author also highlights the internal perspective on the necessity of the grandchildren’s presence, noting: “There was no need for Harry to be going to Balmoral either. William had to go as the heir, but Harry was just one of the grandchildren and none …”
Regarding the King’s personal feelings on the matter, Bower writes that Charles found the idea of Meghan’s presence inappropriate, given the history of the “Megxit” fallout: “Sharing his grief with Meghan, who maligned the monarchy, was unthinkable, ” said Charles. He believed that, to her dying day, his mother was shocked by Harry’s disloyalty.”
Finally, the book describes how the King attempted to soften the blow by pointing out that the Princess of Wales was also staying behind, though the situation remained incredibly tense: “Charles ended their argument by revealing that Kate would not be coming, so Meghan had not been picked on. Still fuming, Harry discovered that William, who was unwilling to wait any longer, had ordered the plane to take off.”
Harry’s Defense: The Version From Spare
While Tom Bower’s Betrayal paints a picture of a King making a firm, moral stand against a “disloyal” daughter-in-law, Prince Harry offers a much more chaotic and emotional version of that phone call in his memoir, Spare.
According to Harry, the conversation was not about royal protocol or past snubs, but rather a confusing and “disrespectful” encounter that left him fuming. Prince Harry even claims that his father apologized for the incident.
Harry recounts being told that he was welcome at Balmoral to say goodbye to his grandmother, but that Meghan was pointedly excluded. He describes the King’s reasoning as completely lacking logic.
The Prince wrote in his bombshell memoir: “He said I was welcome at Balmoral, but he didn’t want her. He started to lay out his reason, which was nonsensical, and disrespectful, and I wasn’t having it.”
When the King allegedly began to speak disparagingly about Meghan to justify her absence, Harry claims he immediately shut the conversation down with a fierce warning to his father: “Don’t ever speak about my wife that way.”
The “Kate Excuse” and the Final Blow
Harry describes his father as caught off guard by the confrontation, claiming the King began to backtrack and struggle to find a better excuse or apology for his brutal decision. Harry confessed: “Repentant, ” he said, stammering, that he simply didn’t want the place to be full of people. Nobody’s wife was going to go, not even Kate, he told me, so Meg shouldn’t either.”
Harry says his final response to the “Kate excuse” was blunt, suggesting the King could have saved them both the drama by leading with that: “Then that’s all you needed to say.”
Perhaps the most painful detail of all is Harry’s claim that, after the argument and the stressful flight to Scotland, he was not even the one the family called to deliver the news. He describes the moment he realized the Queen had passed: “I looked at the BBC website. My grandmother had died. My father was King.”
It is unclear if the Sussexes will revisit the story in a public fashion.
