Why Prince Harry Wasn't With Queen Elizabeth And His Family When She Died
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When Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8, 2022, the world gathered together to mourn the loss of the longest-serving monarch in UK history. But before her tragic death, her family stayed by her side as the queen spent her final days in Balmoral Castle, her beloved estate in Scotland. In the days leading up to the queen's last, her closest confidantes and family members gathered close to keep the Queen company and send her off with as much love as possible. Not among those people was her grandson, Prince Harry.
In the years following the Queen's death, royal fans were left to wonder just why Prince Harry wasn't there when his grandmother passed away. While there has been a lot of speculation about Harry's arrival in Scotland that day, Business Insider reports that the prince didn't arrive at Balmoral until later that night, leading many to believe he rushed over at the last minute. However, the full reason why Harry wasn't around during that critical moment is much more complicated.
Prince Harry didn't realize Queen Elizabeth II was in critical condition
New details about Queen Elizabeth II's final moments were brought up in "The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy," a biography written by Daily Mail's royal expert Robert Hardman. The book, which was released a year after the Queen's death, explains that the queen's health took a sudden turn for the worse on the day she died. The abrupt change took everyone by surprise, including her son, the future King Charles. According to Hardman, Charles was so alarmed that he immediately boarded a helicopter and flew to Balmoral to be at his mother's side. The future Queen Camilla and Princess Anne were among those who were also at Balmoral to comfort Queen Elizabeth.
As the prince sat at his dying mother's side, he is said to have dialed up both his sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, to let them know that their grandmother was in dire condition. Prince Harry, who was in the United Kingdom at the time, hopped on a private jet to fly to Balmoral. It's believed that Charles thought the queen had more time left, but she passed away a few hours after he made the call. When the queen died, Hardman wrote that Charles tried to call Prince Harry multiple times to let him know the news. But since Harry was already airborne and on his way to Scotland to be with Queen Elizabeth, the phone calls did not go through.
The phone call to Prince Harry got messy, fast
Prince Harry confirmed the fact that his father had indeed called to inform him that Queen Elizabeth's health was on the decline. In the pages of Harry's infamous memoir "Spare," the prince wrote that he made plans to travel to Balmoral Castle immediately. Unexpectedly, the phone call quickly became a heated discussion that left both parties rattled. According to Harry's words in "Spare," he was told right then and there by King Charles that Harry's wife, Meghan Markle, was not invited to see the ailing monarch. Harry was livid at the command, writing that it "didn't make any sense, and actually they were disrespectful. I didn't tolerate it" (via BBC).
Harry may have thought that his dad's request for Meghan not to come to Balmoral was unfair, but it turns out there was no ill will towards the Duchess of Sussex. According to Robert Hardman's book, none of the other wives were to be in attendance, including Prince William's wife, Kate Middleton. The Princess of Wales decided to stay with her children, believing they needed at least one parent around right then, as per Express.
Tragically, Prince Harry found out that his grandmother passed away right after he landed in Scotland. He wrote in "Spare" that he checked his phone and saw the terrible news. "I looked at the BBC website. My grandmother had died. My father was King," he wrote.