The second volume of Harry & Meghan sees controversial Duke and Duchess of Sussex sharing new details about the Sandringham Summit.
Harry Recalls Moment His Brother Shouted At Him After Disclosing His Decision To Step Down from Royal Duties
Harry and Meghan shed light on the meeting called by the late Queen Elizabeth in 2020, after they announced that they wanted to step back as senior working members of the royal family. Harry started, “I sent an email to the three most senior private secretaries saying, ‘Let’s have a meeting, let’s get together and have a meeting and talk about this,’ Because what was happening, what was playing out in public was crazy.
Prince Harry Reveals Prince William’s Reaction Over His Decision to Step Back from Royal Life: “It was terrifying”
And that meeting was rejected.” “It was only once Meg had left and gone back to Canada that it was then arranged that there was going to be a meeting at Sandringham on the following Monday.” “Imagine a conversation, a roundtable discussion about the future of your life,” said Meghan. “When the stakes are this high. And you as the mom and the wife and the target, in many regards, aren’t invited to have a seat at the table.” “It was clear to me that they planned out so that you weren’t in the room,” he added.
The prince went on to share the inside events of his approximately 90-minute discussion with the late Queen, his father, the then- Prince Charles and his brother, Prince William at the monarch’s country estate in Norfolk to “talk things through.” “I have such happy memories of Sandringham — it was where we spent every Christmas — and now I was back there in very different circumstances,” he shared about his fondness for Sandringham.
“I went in with the same proposal that we’d already made publicly. But once I got there, I was given five options,” Harry continued. “One being all in no change, five being all out.” “I chose option three in the meeting,” he said. “Half in, half out; have our own jobs but also work in support of the Queen.” However, his decision led to his older brother, Prince William, shouting at him.
Harry said that, “It became very clear very quickly that that goal was not up for discussion or debate,” said Harry. “It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me, and my father say things that simply weren’t true and my grandmother quietly sit there and sort of take it all in.”
“But you have to understand that from the family’s perspective, especially from hers [Queen Elizabeth], there are ways of doing things and her ultimate sort of mission goal or responsibility is the institution. People around her telling her by the way, that proposal or these two doing ‘xyz’ is going to be seen as an attack on the institution, then she’s going to on the advice that she’s given,” he continued.
“That was really hard.” Prince Harry shared that the meeting “finished without any solidified action plan.” “I think from their perspective, they had to believe that it was more about us and maybe the issues that we had, as opposed to their partner, the media and themselves, that relationship that was causing so much pain for us. They saw what they wanted to see,” the Duke of Sussex said.
“The saddest part of it was this wedge created between myself and my brother so that he’s now on the institution’s side,” he continued. “Part of that I get, I understand, right, that’s his inheritance. So to some extent, it’s already ingrained in him that part of his responsibility is the survivability and continuation of this institution.”
It was shortly after the Sandringham Summit that the Queen released an emotional statement. The statement read: “Today my family had very constructive discussions on the future of my grandson and his family,” she said. “My family and I are entirely supportive of Harry and Meghan’s desire to create a new life as a young family,” she continued. ”
Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working Members of the Royal Family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family.”
“Harry and Meghan have made clear that they do not want to be reliant on public funds in their new lives. It has therefore been agreed that there will be a period of transition in which the Sussexes will spend time in Canada and the U.K.,” she continued. “These are complex matters for my family to resolve, and there is some more work to be done, but I have asked for final decisions to be reached in the coming days.”
