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Days after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle revealed their plans to step back from their royal roles, a meeting was held at Queen Elizabeth II’s Norfolk estate. The Sandringham Summit — which was held on January 13, 2020 — saw the coming together of the late Queen, then-Prince Charles, Prince William and the Duke of Sussex. Meghan, who was in Canada at the time, did not participate in the meeting. Shortly after the four royals gathered, the Queen released a statement confirming that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would be stepping down.
In the following years, details of what was discussed remained largely under wraps. Now, however, Harry has given his perspective on the history-making meeting.
Writing in his memoir, which was published on Tuesday, the Duke describes sitting down to discuss his fate with his grandmother, father and brother. He details the five options he was given but claims he did not leave with the result he had initially hoped for.
He recalls a royal aide suggesting that he and his brother take a walk to cool their heads, a recommendation the Prince accepted.
At the time, it was reported that Harry and William set off from Sandringham House for a “long walk to clear the air”.
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The Sunday Times said that the Duke of Sussex and then-Duke of Cambridge “did not part shores as friends”.
However, in his book, Harry suggests the walk was not as tense as it was initially made out to be.
“We went up and down the yew hedges. The day was freezing. I was wearing only a light jacket, and Willy was in a jumper, so both of us were shivering,” he writes. “I was braced for a lecture. It didn’t come. Willy was subdued. He wanted to listen. For the first time in a long time my brother heard me out, and I was so grateful.”
Harry claims he told his brother about a past member of staff “sabotaging” Meghan, a current staff member whose friend was “taking payments for leaking private” stories and his visit to Scotland Yard.
“Willy frowned,” the Duke writes. “He and Kate had their own suspicions. He’d look into it. We agreed to keep talking.”
In the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Netlfix series, Harry said it was his decision to leave after plans for a half-in, half-out approach to royal life were rejected.
He claimed his father said things that “just simply weren’t true” as his grandmother, the Queen, looked on quietly.
He recalled how the meeting went, saying: “It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me and my father say things that just simply weren’t true, and my grandmother quietly sit there and sort of take it all in.”
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“It became very clear, very quickly that that goal was not up for discussion,” he said.
Harry also claimed a joint statement was put out after the meeting without his permission in his and his brother’s name. The statement denied a story that William had bullied the couple out of the Royal Family.
He alleges the Palace were happy to “lie to protect my brother,” adding: “There was no other option at this point. I said: ‘We need to get out of here’.”
Over a year after the summit, Harry laid bare his rift with William, telling Oprah Winfrey: “The relationship is space at the moment. And time heals all things, hopefully.”
And the Prince’s new book — full of further royal revelations — is understood to have had an effect on his UK-based family, particularly his older brother.
According to Omid Scobie, William is said to be “devastated” by Harry’s latest remarks. Writing for Harper’s Bazaart his week, the royal commentator and co-author of Finding Freedom cited an inside source as saying: “He’s not ignoring the things his brother has shared. The dust needs to settle, but … this has been food for thought.”
Neither Kensington Palace nor Buckingham Palace has commented on Harry’s claims.
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