King Charles was ‘disrespectful’, did not want Meghan Markle to visit Queen Elizabeth on death-bed: Prince Harry

Prince Harry was deeply upset when his father, King Charles, requested that Meghan Markle not accompany him to Balmoral on the day Queen Elizabeth II passed away.

On September 8, 2022, when Harry was invited to Scotland to bid a final farewell to his grandmother, Charles reportedly told him that Meghan should not join him, despite both of them being in the UK at the time.

The revelation comes from the Duke of Sussex himself as Harry penned it in his memoir, Spare.

In his memoir, Harry describes how Charles explained his reasons, which he found disrespectful and unreasonable.

"He said I was welcome at Balmoral, but he didn't want... her. He started to lay out his reason, which was nonsensical, and disrespectful, and I wasn't having it," the Mirror UK quoted Harry as writing in his book.

Harry mentioned feeling angry and responded sharply, asking his father not to speak about his wife in that manner.

Charles, according to Harry, stammered and apologised, explaining that he didn’t want too many people at Balmoral, especially as Kate Middleton) wouldn’t be attending either, and thus felt Meghan’s presence was unnecessary.

"He stammered, apologetic, saying he simply didn't want a lot of people around,” Harry wrote.

Harry also shared that he faced difficulties reaching Balmoral that day as communication from the rest of the Royal Family was limited. He was left to arrange his own travel to Scotland. The prince ultimately arrived too late to say goodbye to the Queen.

‘My father was King’

He recalled discovering his grandmother’s passing through a message from Meghan and a news update on the BBC.

“It was a message from Meg: 'Call me when you get this.' I looked at the BBC website. My grandmother had died. My father was King," Harry added.

Later, in February 2024, Harry visited to support Charles after news of the King’s cancer diagnosis. He also made a solo trip in September to attend the WellChild Awards but did not meet his father or brother, Prince William.