Princess Kate‘s reason for not going to Balmoral to see the late Queen Elizabeth II before she died has been revealed in a new book. Although Prince William rushed to the royals’ country retreat in Scotland to be at his grandmother’s side, Kate remained at home.
Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, also did not fly to Scotland along with Prince Harry, with some claiming King Charles asked her not to go as per royal protocol.
But in Charles III: New King, New Court. The Inside Story, author Robert Hardman claims Kate made the decision herself to remain behind with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
The three young Waleses had started at their school, Lambrook, on September 8, 2022 – the same date the Queen died – and the Princess of Wales wanted at least one parent to be at home with them.
Mr Hardman wrote: “It was by luck rather than judgement, but it made it a lot easier to tell Harry that he was coming alone.”
He added: “Like the late Duke of Edinburgh, she [Queen Elizabeth] did not like a queue of family well-wishers flocking to her bedside when ill.”
Her Late Majesty’s death marked the end of a life of service and the longest reign of any British monarch. Members of the Royal Family rushed to be by her side on the day she died, including King Charles and Prince William.
Mr Hardman’s new biography of the King also tells how a member of staff recounted Elizabeth II’s fury after Harry and Meghan announced in 2021 they would use her childhood family nickname for their daughter.
The BBC reported that a Palace source said the Queen was not asked by the Sussexes whether they could use Lilibet, but the Sussexes’ lawyers fired off legal letters to the broadcaster and other publishers, saying the claim was false and defamatory.
However, Mr Hardman wrote: “One privately recalled that Elizabeth II had been ‘as angry as I’d ever seen her’ in 2021 after the Sussexes announced that she had given them her blessing to call their baby daughter ‘Lilibet’, the Queen’s childhood nickname.”
He added Buckingham Palace “rebuffed” attempts by Harry and Meghan to confirm their version of events.
Other revelations in the book include how the Prince of Wales saw Prince Harry’s remarks in his Netflix documentary that male members of the family can be tempted to marry someone who fits the mould rather than someone they are destined to be with as “the lowest of the low”.
William viewed it as “Harry making a blatant attack” on his wife, the Princess of Wales.
