One thing Queen Elizabeth and King Charles bonded over in the final years of the late monarch’s life? Meghan Markle and Prince Harry‘s decision to depart from the royal family.
In an interview with People on Tuesday, Robert Hardman, author of the book The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy, talked about the impact Megxit had on the mother-son duo. When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex wanted to step back from royal duties, they offered a solution they believed would make everyone happy. Harry and Meghan said they’d do their royal obligations and work outside of the royal family at the SAME TIME. However, Elizabeth and Charles weren’t down for that idea!
Related: Harry & Meghan Sent Their ‘Best Wishes’ To Catherine & Charles Amid Health Issues!
The pair didn’t always see eye-to-eye, but they were in agreement when it came to this issue. They only wanted Meghan and Harry to commit 100 percent to being working royals and nothing less. Of course, as we all know, the couple quit their roles as senior royals in 2020. While their exit (and subsequent actions) only intensified their feud with the royal family, there was a bright side to the situation, according to Robert. The royal biographer shared with the outlet that Charles and Elizabeth became “closer” than ever before when the two left:
“Harry and Meghan’s departure brought Charles and his mother closer together.”
At least something good came out of the royal feud… as Charles and his mother didn’t have much time left.
Their bond only strengthened as Meghan and Harry began to speak out about their hard time working in the royal family, including during their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey. For those who’ve forgotten, Meghan accused a royal in the interview of expressing “concerns” about how dark her then-unborn son Archie’s skin tone would be. Years later we found out through an accident that there were two alleged culprits — Charles and Princess Catherine. Naturally, even before the alleged royal racist identities were revealed, Charles and Elizabeth had a big problem on their hands and needed to put on a united front once again. Robert said:
“I don’t think anything could really trump the sort of sense of shock felt by the Oprah Winfrey interview – that was huge.”
Their challenges with Meghan and Harry only continued. However, Charles would be handling it without the late queen this time. Later, the two continued to drop bombshell details about their life as royals in their Netflix documentary. Prince Harry then spilled more tea, which included a peek into his troubled relationships with Charles and his brother Prince William, in his memoir Spare. Robert told the outlet there was “sadness” for the 75-year-old but he also remained “pragmatic” during this time. The author added:
“There was a sort of weary resignation, but also a sense that ‘look, I’ve got so much to worry about now that I don’t have the luxury of dwelling on this.’ If that’s what they want to do. I mean there’s, there’s only so much I as a father can do. And the door is always open.”
Hmm. It’s hard to imagine Harry, Meghan, and the royals mending the fences at this point. Too much seems to have happened now for them to go back to being one big happy family. Not without Elizabeth to lead them! Ultimately, Robert stated that Meghan and Harry’s exit was a “great loss” for the monarchy. Even with the bad blood between everyone, he claimed there is an “occasional wistful thought” at the palace “of if they were still part of the team and of all the things they could have done and could now be doing.” He continued:
“There is no question that Harry and Meghan are a great loss to the institution, and that is still appreciated and understood. There’s absolutely no sense of good riddance or anything like that. It’s fundamentally a source of deep regret.”
Oof. Thoughts, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments below.
[Image via WENN/Avalon, MEGA/WENN]
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