Queen Elizabeth II, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry during the 100th Anniversary of the Royal Air Force in 2018. By: Keith Mayhew/MEGA
Queen Elizabeth II reportedly struggled with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s exit from The Firm.
According to royal biographer Hugo Vickers, the years before Her Majesty’s September 2022 death were filled with anxiety due to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex leaving and then publicly bashing the monarchy.
“What I find unforgivable is the stress that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle put on the queen in the last years of her life,” the writer told Fox News Digital.
Meghan Markle, Prince Harry and Queen Elizabeth II attend the Young Leaders Awards Ceremony in 2018. By: MEGA
Vickers claimed the tension came from left field for Elizabeth, as Harry and Meghan were making impactful efforts to help The Firm.
“Harry was doing a really good job over in England and indeed in the Commonwealth. And Meghan also seemed to be very committed to the Commonwealth,” he pointed out.
“Even as an actress, before she met and married Prince Harry, she was going to African countries and undertaking humanitarian work. And obviously, she addressed the United Nations. It all looked very positive, but it wasn’t to be,” the journalist said.
In Vickers’ new book, Queen Elizabeth II: A Personal History, he doubled down on how hard the late leader of England handled the chaos.
Princess Eugenie, King Charles III, Queen Camilla, Meghan Markle, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Harry and Prince Philip attend Church on Christmas Day in 2017. By: MEGA
“The distress the Sussexes caused the Queen in the last years of her life cannot be overestimated,” he wrote.
Even after the Spare author and the Suits actress fled England for America in January 2020, Elizabeth continued to worry following their 2021 bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.
“I think that their departure and the subsequent activities, particularly the Oprah Winfrey interview, obviously were very upsetting,” Vickers told the publication. “And she came up with that wonderful remark, ‘Recollections may vary,’ which was a very polite way of putting it. So I think it inevitably caused her distress.”
During the shocking sit-down, Meghan said, “In those months when I was pregnant [with Prince Archie]… we have in tandem the conversation of, ‘He won’t be given security. He’s not going to be given a title,’ and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.”
“There were several conversations about it,” the With Love, Meghan star continued. “I think that would be very damaging to them. That was relayed to me from Harry. Those were conversations that his family had with him. It was really hard to be able to see those as compartmentalized conversations.”
In response, Elizabeth and Buckingham Palace issued a statement via NPR. “The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan,” they said.
“The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately,” the message read. “Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved family members.”