Queen Elizabeth Realized She Couldn’t ‘Do Much to Forge a Reconciliation’ Between Prince William and Prince Harry — Author
An author says Queen Elizabeth II knew she couldn’t “do much” to restore things between Prince William and Prince Harry. Ahead, learn what Katie Nicholl said about the “awful family rift” that “marred” the end of Queen Elizabeth’s reign.
‘Turmoil’ of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s exit ‘exhausted’ Queen Elizabeth, according to book
The queen died at 96 on Sept. 8. In the years before her death, she’d been, according to an upcoming book, worn out by the “turmoil” of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s decision to step back as senior royals.
Nicholl quoted a friend of the queen’s in a Vanity Fair excerpt of The New Royals: Elizabeth’s Legacy and the Future of the Crown.
“‘She was very hurt and told me, ‘I don’t know, I don’t care, and I don’t want to think about it anymore,'” the queen’s friend told Nicholl.
Nicholl, Vanity Fair’s royal correspondent, continued. She wrote seeing “so little” of Harry and Meghan’s children, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, 3, and Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, 1, had been a “source of sadness” for the queen.
So was the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s absence from her August grandchildren and great-grandchildren Balmoral Castle “sleepover.”
Author says Queen Elizabeth likely realized she ‘couldn’t do much’ to ‘forge a reconciliation’ between her grandsons
“We know that she [the queen] loved Harry and she was very close to Harry,” Nicholl told GB News via Express following the excerpt’s release. “They always had a very close relationship.”
Queen Elizabeth “always had time” for Harry, she continued. “But this source very close to the late queen who would speak to her regularly, most of the time during Covid [sic] pandemic, that was when she just confided to the source that she was exhausted by it all,” the author explained.
“I think she realised [sic] she couldn’t do much to forge a reconciliation between William and Harry,” she continued. “And I think most people would think it is terribly sad that the twilight years of her reign when she should have been enjoying the time, spending the time with her great-grandchildren, was marred by this awful family rift.”
Nicholl added there appear to be no “signs” of healing in the wake of Queen Elizabeth’s Sept. 19 funeral. “I don’t think what we have seen over the last couple of days is anyway near where we hoped the brothers might be,” she said. “Harry and Meghan are back in LA. And there wasn’t any sit-down dinner or any time, as far as I am told from my sources, to sort things out.”
Prince Harry’s mediator suggestion left King Charles ‘bemused’ and Camilla Parker Bowles ‘spluttering into her tea’
Nicholl’s book also includes how Harry suggested healing the rift with the rest of the royal family. She wrote Harry’s father, King Charles III, and his stepmother, Camilla Parker Bowles, didn’t like his suggestion of a mediator.
Describing “moments of tension” during their 15-minute meeting, Nicholl cited a family friend’s recollection of the conversation. Harry, she quoted the friend as saying, “went in with hugs and the best of intentions.”
“He wanted to clear the air,” they told Nicoll. Harry also suggested that “they use a mediator to try and sort things out.” The idea “had Charles somewhat bemused and Camilla spluttering into her tea.”
The now-queen consort thought it “ridiculous” and told Harry so. “They were a family and would sort it out between themselves,” they added.
The New Royals: Elizabeth’s Legacy and the Future of the Crown hits shelves on Oct. 4, 2022.
