Prince Harry and Meghan Markle today paid a short tribute to Prince Philip following news of the Duke of Edinburgh’s death.
In a post on their Archwell website, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex paid tribute to his grandfather with the two line message: ‘Thank you for your services… You will be greatly missed.’
The 21-word post, which takes up the whole of the website’s main page, was first revealed by their friend Omid Scobie, co-author of their biography Finding Freedom.
Prince Harry’s will return to the UK for his grandfather Prince Philip’s funeral will be a pivotal moment for a divided Royal Family still nursing deep wounds over his and Meghan’s bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview.
In a post on their Archwell website, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said: ‘Thank you for your services… you will be greatly missed’
Harry, Meghan Markle and Prince Philip on Christmas Day 2017. The couple has not been in the UK since March last year
Harry will be attending the event at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, most likely next week, and although there has been no word on whether heavily-pregnant Meghan would join him, it is believed unlikely in the circumstances.
Harry is likely to make the journey to London by private jet from his home near Los Angeles and it is understood he may be permitted to use a diplomatic exemption to waive the normal Covid quarantine rules applying to flights from the USA.
It has been reported that Harry was already largely self-isolating at the £11m mansion near Santa Barbara from when his grandfather entered hospital.
It is thought he will be tested for Covid-19 before departure from the US and upon arrival in the UK, instead of being subject to the normal 10-day quarantine, though travellers are allowed to leave quarantine if they test negative after five days.
It is not known where he will stay during his stay in the UK, nor for how long he will remain after the funeral.
The reunion of the Duke of Sussex with his brother William and father Prince Charles will be awkward enough following his and Meghan’s shocking accusations of racism in the TV show aired only last month.
Despite the obvious rift, the Queen will expect her grandsons to put on a united front, along with the rest of the Royals as a mark of respect for the late Duke of Edinburgh.
Whether the unity will prove more than a public façade remains to be seen, but some royal sources hope that the brothers’ first meeting for more than a year could lead to some kind of reconciliation.
If Meghan were to join Harry for the funeral, a royal rapprochement is considered less likely to happen, particularly after she told Oprah that Kate has made her cry during the run-up to her wedding.
Prince Philip’s death comes just a month after Harry and Meghan gave an interview to Oprah in which they alleged racism in the Royal Family. It aired when Philip was in the hospital
Harry was last pictured with Philip on May 8, 2019, when they were seen posing for a charming photograph with Baby Archie at Buckingham Palace
A source close to the family told DailyMail.com today: ‘Harry will absolutely do his utmost to get back to the UK and be with his family.
‘He will want nothing more than to be there for his family, and particularly his grandmother, during this awful time.
‘Meghan is obviously pregnant so she will need to take advice from her doctors about whether it is safe for her to travel, but I think Harry will definitely go.’
While Harry claimed in the interview to have always had a good relationship with the Queen, it’s unclear what kind of relationship, if any, he now has with Prince William and his father, Prince Charles.
According to CBS host Gayle King, a close friend of Oprah, Prince William, 38, reached out to Prince Harry after the explosive interview, but talks were ‘not productive’.
Harry’s claims that William is ‘trapped’ inside the monarchy are believed to have caused deep offence. Some royal experts believe that William is willing to give his brother a final chance.
The pair would almost certainly have met anyway on July 1 for the unveiling of a statue of Diana in London, but there was always a question mark over that reunion because of Meghan’s imminent due date, which has not been publically confirmed.
It is not clear if Harry had planned to return in June, when Prince Philip would have turned 100, and when a Trooping of the Colour was planned.
Now events have forced William and Harry to meet sooner than expected, and other members of the Royal Family will be hoping that a healing of the brothers’ rift will be a silver lining in the cloud of Prince Philip’s passing.
The Sussexes, who ignored calls to postpone the March 7 CBS interview because Philip was unwell, accused an unnamed royal, not the Queen nor the duke, of raising concerns about how dark their son Archie’s skin tone would be before he was born.
Ms King claimed afterwards that the pair had a contingency plan that if Prince Philip’s condition worsened, the interview would not have aired. That has not been confirmed by TV networks.
The interview was sold by CBS to dozens of countries around the world, and CBS paid a reported $8million for it.
Meghan also claimed that she’d been trapped by the ‘institution’ and was at one point suicidal, but that when she sought help, was told she could not have it.
Meghan is now pregnant with their second child and due to give birth sometime in the summer but she has not disclosed exactly when. The couple has not commented on any plan to return to the UK.
The Queen said after the interview that the allegations were ‘concerning’ but that ‘some recollections may vary’ and the matter was a family one that would be dealt with privately.
Prince Harry was last pictured earlier this month throwing a tennis ball for his dog in Los Angeles
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were seen out and about on March 7 in their £170,000 Range Rover
The Sussexes, who faced calls to postpone the interview because Philip was unwell, accused an unnamed royal, not the Queen nor the duke, of raising concerns about how dark their son Archie’s skin tone would be before he was born.
Since then, they have launched a charity, accepted lucrative business deals with Netflix and Spotify, given public talks, appeared on Zoom conferences, and on March 7, they criticised the Royal Family in a sit-down interview with Oprah that was viewed around the world.
Meghan is now pregnant with their second child and due to give birth sometime in the summer but she has not disclosed exactly when. The couple has not commented on any plan to return to the UK.
Today royal biographer Angela Levin said it was ‘unlikely’ Meghan would join her husband in the UK due to her being pregnant.
According to government guidelines, people travelling to England must self-isolate from arrival into the country for 10 full days. However, arriving travellers can take a test five days after arriving in the country and – if this is negative – may leave self-isolation.
This is the most likely option for Prince Harry unless he claims special status accorded to diplomats.
Harry was last pictured with Philip on May 8, 2019, when they were seen posing for a charming photograph with baby Archie at Buckingham Palace.
Since then they kept up over Zoom, with Harry telling James Corden: ‘We’ve Zoomed them a few times, they’ve seen Archie running around. But my grandfather, instead of pressing ‘leave meeting’, he just goes ‘doof’ [mimics shutting the laptop]. I’m like, okay, bye…’ Harry explained, laughing.
Meanwhile, Meghan spoke about Philip’s illness on Oprah, saying: ‘This morning, I woke up earlier than H, and saw a note from someone on our team in the UK saying that the Duke of Edinburgh had gone to the hospital. But I just picked up the phone and I called the Queen just to check-in. That’s what we do, being able to default to not having to every moment go, ‘Is that appropriate?”
What kind of reception the Sussexes will receive if they return to the UK after their extraordinary interview and behaviour over the last year is uncertain.
Buckingham Palace announced the death of Prince Philip at just after midday today – and described the Queen’s ‘deep sorrow’
The Sussexes’ Oprah interview has further strained their relationship with other members of the royal family, including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (seen visiting Westminster Abbey on March 23)
CBS host Gayle King, who is a close friend of Oprah, claimed afterwards that the pair had a contingency plan that if Prince Philip’s condition worsened, the interview would not have aired. It has not been confirmed by TV networks that that is the case.
The interview was sold by CBS to dozens of countries around the world, and CBS paid a reported $8million(£5.8m) for it.
The Queen said after the interview that the allegations were ‘concerning’ and that she would address them within Buckingham Palace.
While Harry claimed in the interview to have always had a good relationship with the Queen, it’s unclear what kind of relationship, if any, he now has with Prince William and his father, Prince Charles.
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Meghan claimed during the interview that contrary to public reports based on palace sources, she did not make Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, cry during the run-up to her wedding and that it was Kate who made her cry instead.
She also claimed that she’d been trapped by the ‘institution’ and was at one point suicidal but that when she sought mental health help, she was told she could not have it.
The Royal Family has not commented on those claims.
The Duke of Edinburgh spent his final days at Windsor Castle with his wife, who he lovingly called Lilibet throughout their long life together, after a 28-night stay in hospital having been admitted in mid-February for an infection and a pre-existing heart condition.
Her Majesty announced her husband’s death at midday as the Union Flag was lowered to half-mast outside Buckingham Palace and on public buildings across the UK and Commonwealth, while members of the public hugged and wiped away tears as they laid flowers in his memory – and messages of love and support for the Queen and her family.
The Royal Family said in a statement: ‘It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. Further announcements will made in due course. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss’.
Her Majesty, who remains at Windsor Castle, is now expected to enter an eight-day period of mourning. She will not carry out any duties, even in private, while laws will not be given the Royal Assent and affairs of state will also be paused.
As with all royal births, marriages and deaths, a notice announcing Philip’s passing was displayed outside Buckingham Palace. Mourners are already laying flowers at the palace, Sandringham, Balmoral and Windsor Castle, where he is expected to be buried in Frogmore Gardens following a small family service at St George’s Chapel.
A state funeral including a flotilla of boats on the Thames to mark his life looks impossible due to covid restrictions, but the Duke was said to have disliked the idea because he ‘didn’t want the fuss’. Details will emerge in the next few days, with the plan nicknamed ‘Operation Forth Bridge’, but the public have already been urged to stay away to avoid spreading Covid-19.
The Union Flag was lowered to half mast at Buckingham Palace this afternoon just after it was revealed that Prince Philip has passed away shortly before his 100th birthday
A frail Philip was last seen leaving hospital on March 16 and his death plunges the nation and the Royal Family into mourning, and brings to an end Philip’s lifetime of service to Britain and to Elizabeth, the Queen who adored him since her teens. The couple shared their 73rd wedding anniversary last November and he was due to turn 100 on June 10 this year.
Boris Johnson led the tributes and addressed the nation outside No 10 Downing Street shortly after the announcement. He said: ‘We give thanks, as a nation and a kingdom, for the extraordinary life and work of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh’.
He added: ‘Speaking on their golden wedding anniversary, Her Majesty said that our country owed her husband ‘a greater debt than he would ever claim or we shall ever know’ and I am sure that estimate is correct So we mourn today with Her Majesty The Queen.
‘We remember the duke for all of this and above all for his steadfast support for Her Majesty the Queen. Not just as her consort, by her side every day of her reign, but as her husband, her ‘strength and stay’, of more than 70 years.
‘And it is to Her Majesty, and her family, that our nation’s thoughts must turn today. Because they have lost not just a much-loved and highly respected public figure, but a devoted husband and a proud and loving father, grandfather and, in recent years, great-grandfather.’ Mr Johnson also praised his Duke of Edinburgh scheme, which has ‘shaped and inspired the lives of countless young people’.
