Friday 9 September 2022 10:10 PM How Buckingham Palace 'was left incredulous' when Meghan said she was on her ... trends now
Amid the personal family tragedy on Thursday, a small domestic drama was playing out.
Unsurprisingly, it involved the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
It was a fortunate coincidence of sorts that Harry and Meghan were in the country when the prince’s grandmother passed away, sparing him an emotional and undoubtedly traumatic transatlantic dash as the Queen’s health failed.
Despite the rancour of the past few years, no one would begrudge him the chance to mourn his beloved ‘Granny’, with whom he had always enjoyed a warm and fun-loving relationship.
But as the royal households were consumed in concern for the ailing monarch, the Sussexes prompted an unprecedented flurry behind the scenes by announcing that Harry and Meghan would both be travelling to Balmoral.
News of their plans came via the small group of media the Sussexes deem it appropriate to deal with and tweeted out by journalists at 1.53pm. The statement read: ‘From a spokesperson: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be travelling to Scotland.’
This was, of course, news to the Palace and it did not go down well. Many behind royal walls, frankly, were incredulous.
Queen Elizabeth II and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex watch a flypast to mark the centenary of the Royal Air Force from the balcony of Buckingham Palace. Meghan and her husband have courted controversy since their exit as working royals
Despite the rancour of the past few years, no one would begrudge Prince Harry the chance to mourn his beloved ‘Granny’, with whom he had always enjoyed a warm and fun-loving relationship
Some say that Harry and Meghan hadn’t considered that William’s wife wouldn’t be there, with Kate staying in London instead, and when it was pointed out that she wouldn’t be, they realised how bad it looked. Others believe Meghan was effectively banned, using the argument that Kate – now the Princess of Wales – was staying at home. Pictured: The Duchess of Cambridge is seen in Windsor after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, in Windsor, Berkshire, UK, on September 9
Prince William drives Prince Andrew, Sophie, Countess of Wessex and Prince Edward into Balmoral as millions pray for the Queen
There was half an hour on Thursday following the Sussexes’ initial announcement during which matters quickly came to a head.
It is still unclear how much pressure was brought to bear by the Palace itself – or whether senior royal were involved – but a spokesman for the couple frantically began to ‘clarify’ their position, informing those same journalists that ‘only the duke was travelling at the moment’. Exactly what happened is open to speculation. Some say that Harry and Meghan hadn’t considered that William’s wife wouldn’t be there, with Kate staying in London instead, and when it was pointed out that she wouldn’t be, they realised how bad it looked.
Others believe Meghan was effectively
