Tom Bower’s Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors has been updated with dramatic claims about Harry’s experience of the day Queen Elizabeth II passed away
Prince William told the pilot of the RAF plane carrying members of the royal family to Scotland to be at the dying Queen's bedside to leave without Prince Harry, a royal biographer has claimed. On September 8, senior members of the royal family raced against time as they clambered aboard a jet to take them from London to Scotland after hearing that the Queen was on her deathbed at her beloved Balmoral Castle.
As chance would have it, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who live with their small children in California, were in the UK at the time, attending charity events. When Harry heard of his grandmother's ill health, he wanted to join his family in Balmoral to be with the late Queen in her final moments.
In an updated version of Tom Bower's Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors, the author writes that Meghan suggested that she should join her husband and other members of his family in the race to get to Balmoral in time, The Mirror reports. However, Bower claims Harry was told that Meghan was not welcome, with Kate not joining William, either.
Read more: 'Spare' sees Prince Harry claim William Prince of Wales attacked him during row over Meghan
William, who was 'unwilling to waste time', is said to have ordered the jet which Harry had been due to take with him and the other royals to leave without him. Bower writes: "At Meghan's suggestion, Harry insisted that he would be accompanied by his wife – and that plan was broadcast to journalists at 1.53 pm.
"Meghan’s expectation was astonishing. For four years she had rejected the Queen’s invitations to visit Balmoral but, in her last hours of life, Meghan eagerly sought to make the journey.
"Firmly, Harry was told that Meghan was not welcome. Unwilling to waste more time, William ordered the RAF jet to take off at 2.39 pm. Harry was left to hire his own plane and make the journey alone.
"He landed in Scotland at 6.46 pm, 14 minutes after the Queen’s death had been announced to the public. She had died at 3.10 pm."
Bower's claims come just days before the release of Harry's bombshell memoir Spare, with the royals bracing themselves for impact. While Harry spares his father, King Charles III, from further fire, it is believed that the Prince and Princess of Wales will not escape unscathed.
In a leaked extract of the memoir, it is reported that Harry sensationally claims that he was physically attacked by William during a heated row over Meghan. In the extract published by The Guardian, the Duke of Sussex alleges a confrontation with his elder brother at his London home in 2019 which left him with a visible injury to his back.
He claims the Prince of Wales grabbed him by the collar and ripped his necklace before knocking him to the floor. Harry further claimed William had called the American actress 'difficult', 'rude' and 'abrasive' – comments which the younger brother said parroted 'the press narrative' about his wife.
The 'extraordinary scene' from Nottingham Cottage is just "one of many" which will be featured in Spare when it is published on January 10, it is reported. The Guardian said it was able to obtain a copy of the book despite 'stringent pre-launch security' surrounding it.
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