Prince Harry flew from Luton to Balmoral after his father said the Queen’s health was worsening, but by the time his plane landed, news of her death had broken.
Princess Anne asked Prince Harry a heartbreaking question after he realised he missed the late Queen Elizabeth II’s death.
The Duke of Sussex was in London with wife Meghan Markle when the-then Prince Charles informed them the Queen’s health was worsening on September 8, 2022. According to royal author Robert Jobson, Charles however “banned” Meghan from travelling to Scotland.
Harry claims his father later informed him “no wives” were travelling to see the Queen, with Princess Kate remaining in London with her children. Harry is said to have opted to take a private jet at this point.
He boarded a charter plane from Luton Airport, scheduled to land in Scotland at 8pm. By the time his plane landed however, news had already broken of the Queen’s death.
In his memoir Spare, Harry writes: “When the plane started to descend I saw that my phone lit up. 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.”
After Harry arrived at Balmoral, he is said to have been met by his aunt, the Princess Royal, who had been staying with the 96-year-old monarch at the Scottish estate. Harry recalls the devastating question Anne asked when he arrived.
He added: “She asked if I wanted to see Granny. [I answered,] ‘Yes, I do.’
Harry said his grandmother’s bedroom seemed “unfamiliar” when he went to see her. He described the moment as “difficult” but said he “kept on thinking how I’d regretted not seeing my mother at the end,” reported US magazine.
Hary, 40, says he was “in awe” of his grandmother for working through to her final days. The Queen met then Prime Minister Liz Truss just 48 hours before her death.
Truss succeeded Boris Johnson as Prime Minister on September 6. She resigned however just 49 days later – the shortest term of any PM.
September 19 marks the two year anniversary of the late Queen’s funeral.