The Duke of Cambridge reportedly blew up as he lost his cool when his younger brother opened up to their father and grandmother about plans to quit the royal family.
- Dec 15, 2022
AceShowbiz - Prince Harry revealed his brother, Prince William, "screamed and shouted" at him during a meeting over his royal future and he found it "terrifying." The Duke of Sussex detailed how he had a meeting with senior members of his family, including his sibling, their father, King Charles - who was still the Prince of Wales at the time - and grandmother Queen Elizabeth early in 2020 to discuss his and wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex's plan to step down from official duties.
Harry claimed his brother couldn't hide his anger while his dad said things "that simply weren't true." "It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me and have my father say things that simply weren't true, and my grandmother quietly sit there and sort of take it all in," Harry said in the fifth episode of his Netflix docuseries "Harry and Meghan" - which was released on Thursday, November 15.
Meghan, 41, claimed she wasn't even invited to the meeting. She said, "Imagine a conversation, a round-table discussion about the future of your life when the stakes were this high and you as the mum and the wife and the target in many regards aren't invited to have a seat."
Her 38-year-old spouse insisted it was "clear" his family had planned the summit without her, and he eventually left "without any solidified action plan" because his proposal was instantly dismissed.
He said, "I went in with the same proposal that we had already made publicly. But, once I got there, I was given five options. One being all in, no change. Five being all out. I chose option three in the meeting, half in, half out. Have our own jobs but also work in support of the Queen. But it became very clear very quickly that that goal was not up for discussion or debate."
Harry - who has Archie, three, and 18-month-old Lili with Meghan - felt the meeting created a "wedge" in his previous close relationship with William. He said, "It created this wedge between myself and my brother. He's now on the institution's side. And part of that I get, I understand."
"That's his inheritance so to some extent, it's already ingrained in him that part of his responsibility is the survivability and the continuation of the institution. I think from their perspective, they had to believe that it was more about us and the issues we had as opposed to their partner and the media and that relationship that was causing so much pain for us. They saw what they wanted to see."
And Harry insisted he didn't blame the queen - who died in September - for how things turned out. He said, "You have to understand from a family perspective, especially hers, there are ways of doing things and her ultimate mission slash responsibility is the institution."
"People around her are telling her, 'by the way, that proposal or these two doing XYZ is doing to be seen as an attack on the institution' so she is going to go on the advice that she's given."
And Harry was particularly infuriated when Buckingham Palace put out a statement afterwards dismissing speculation of a rift between the two brothers, insisting he never saw it before it was made public, despite it being signed by both him and William.
He said, "That day, a story came out that part of the reason why Meghan and I were leaving was because William had bullied us out. And once I got in the car after the meeting, I was told about a joint statement that had been put out in my name and my brother's name squashing the story about him bullying us out of the family."
"I couldn't believe it. No one had asked me permission to put my name to a statement like that. I rang M and I told her and she burst into floods of tears because within four hours they were happy to lie to protect my brother and yet for three years, they were never willing to tell the truth to protect us."
