It was five years ago today that an unprecendented emergency meeting saw senior royals summoned to Sandringham by the late Queen.
Just days earlier in January 2020, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle made the shock announcement that they were quitting down as senior royals, less than two years after their wedding. Their decision led to a gathering between the former monarch, then-Prince Charles, Prince William and Harry, dubbed the ‘Sandringham Summit’.
But surprisingly Meghan did not take part, even though it concerned her future. Instead, Harry flew back to Britain from Canada alone with Meghan left some 5,000 miles away on Vancouver Island, where the couple had spent Christmas with Prince Archie.
Meghan Markle didn’t take part in ‘highly confidential’ royal event amid fears over ‘who was listening in’
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with the late Queen
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Image:
Getty Images)
At the time, it was reported that the Sussexes decided that it “wasn’t necessary for the duchess to join” via telephone. But according to the Daily Mail’s Richard Kay, there was a specific reason as to why there was no open line to Meghan in Canada. He said: “According to palace officials, such an idea was rejected because no one knew for sure who else might have been listening in. This was a highly confidential family discussion, not a conference call,’ says one insider.”
Later in their Netflix series in 2022, Meghan revealed her outrage at not being at the meeting. She explained: “Imagine a conversation, a roundtable discussion about the future of your life. When the stakes are this high. And you as the mom and the wife and the target, in many regards, aren’t invited to have a seat at the table.’ And Harry added: “It was clear to me that they planned out so that you weren’t in the room.”
The meeting was held on January 13, three days after Harry and Meghan’s bombshell announcement. There were just four people in attendance; tellingly the late Prince Philip decided not to take part. He had quietly left the house before Harry’s arrival, driven away in his Land Rover Freelander by Countess Mountbatten, who helped care for him prior to his death.
According to Kay at the time: “Just how strategic this departure was, was not immediately clear. But the fact he left more than an hour and a half before the Duke of Sussex arrived was seen as significant. At 98, he no longer lays down the law as he once did and some courtiers wonder if this was his way of saying ‘this is not my fight’.
“It may also be that by making himself absent he could not be drawn into a situation where the mantra which governed his attitude to royal life – ‘you are either in the family or out’ – was being tested by Harry and Meghan’s wish to be part-time royals.”
Following the summit, the Queen released a highly-personal message. “Today my family had very constructive discussions on the future of my grandson and his family. My family and I are entirely supportive of Harry and Meghan’s desire to create a new life as a young family. Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working members of the Royal Family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family,” she said.
“Harry and Meghan have made clear that they do not want to be reliant on public funds in their new lives. It has therefore been agreed that there will be a period of transition in which the Sussexes will spend time in Canada and the UK.” She concluded: “These are complex matters for my family to resolve, and there is some more work to be done, but I have asked for final decisions to be reached in the coming days.”
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