Prince Harry is opening up about the loss of his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, and it’s just as tear-jerking as you might expect.
As Perezcious readers know, the 96-year-old died on September 8 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. Harry was actually in Germany at the time with Meghan Markle promoting the Invictus Games when he learned Her Majesty had fallen ill. He rushed to be by her side, but traveled separately from his feuding relatives, causing him to arrive after his loved one had already passed away.
To make matters even worse, according to Page Six at the time, Harry learned about the news of the Queen’s death via online reports when he landed — rather than from any of his family members or the palace officials. Brutal.
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Now, in a new excerpt of his upcoming memoir Spare obtained by Page Six, the 38-year-old opened up about his last moments with the Queen. According to the renegade royal, he arrived at the matriarch’s deathbed hours after she had already passed away. That didn’t stop him from whispering a few final words into her ear, such as sharing how he “hoped she would be happy” and that she would be with his late grandfather, Prince Philip, who died at 99 the year before. So sweet.
Referencing her appearance at the Platinum Jubilee celebrations the summer before her death, Harry also praised Queen Elizabeth for her decades of hard work, saying:
“[I told her I] admired her for having fulfilled her duties until the very end.”
Whoa. Such an interesting thing to hear coming from him considering he left his senior working royal duties pretty young in life! After the sad goodbye, the Duke of Sussex reportedly walked out of the room and called Meghan to let her know he’d arrived safely.
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As we know, after her death, Harry and Meghan joined forces with the rest of the royal family to participate in a 10-day mourning period. This included a notable appearance with Prince William and Princess Catherine AKA Kate Middleton outside of Windsor Castle — their first time together as a foursome in months. Considering the ongoing feud between the couples, a royal source told Page Six at the time:
“We are all very grateful — both sides putting all things aside for the Queen.”
It sure didn’t amount to the reconciliation many hoped it would, though, and tensions have only been rising since. Elsewhere in the controversial tell-all, Harry proudly called the Prince of Wales his “beloved brother and archnemesis,” so that’s about all you need to hear to know how things are going between these two.
It’s devastating that Harry wasn’t able to say goodbye to his grandmother while she was alive… not too unlike a farewell from another royal matriarch: Princess Diana. Reactions?! Let us know what you think (below).