Did King Charles Call Prince Harry To Inform Him About Queen's Death? New Book Says 'No'
Prince Harry was "crushed" when his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, died and was informed late about her passing, according to a new book.
Royal biographer Omid Scobie, co-author of "Finding Freedom," dished more information about the late monarch's death in his new book "Endgame." He claimed that the Duke of Sussex was not informed about his granny's passing before it was announced to the world based on his conversation with palace sources in an excerpt obtained by People.
"With Her Majesty's death already confirmed to the prime minister an hour before Harry left, and all other senior family members now gathered in Scotland processing the news, royal press secretaries were ready to share the news with the world," Scobie wrote. "The Palace claimed Charles tried to call Harry (sources later told me there was never any proof of this) and that there was no more time left to delay."
The biographer added that there was a "tug-of-war" between Prince Harry's camp and Buckingham Palace on whether to announce the big news without Prince Harry being informed first. The Sussex team reportedly "had to beg for them to wait for his plane to land, and they reluctantly agreed to hold the statement back for a little bit."
The palace reportedly announced the news at 6:30 p.m., 20 minutes before Prince Harry's plane arrived at the tarmac. The Duke of Sussex received a text from his wife, Meghan Markle, when the plane landed urging him to call ASAP, followed by a breaking news alert from a BBC News app announcing Queen Elizabeth's death.
Scobie went on to claim that the palace only briefed reporters that King Charles personally called Prince Harry to keep his reputation.
"Palace 'sources' later briefed certain papers that Charles had personally shared the news with his younger son, but this was just a move to save face," Scobie claimed. Prince Harry's pal reportedly told him, "Harry was crushed."
"His relationship with the Queen was everything to him. She would have wanted him to know before it went out to the world. They could have waited just a little longer, it would have been nothing in the grand scheme of things, but no one respected that at all," the royal biographer added.
A "highly-placed" Buckingham Palace insider, who wasn't named, previously told Page Six that King Charles called his youngest son to fly to Scotland in the morning.
Another report from The Telegraph claimed that King Charles informed Prince Harry that the Queen died five minutes before the official announcement and he was the "last to know."
Queen Elizabeth died on Sept. 8, 2022, just over a year after her husband, Prince Philip, passed away. Prince William, Prince Harry and King Charles reunited at the late monarch's funeral.
