Prince Harry’s Message to William During the Queen’s Last Hours Went Unanswered: Royal Author

A royal author recently revealed some new details about the private chat between Prince Harry and his brother, Prince William, during Queen Elizabeth’s last days. The author alleged that Harry texted William, but received no response from him, even though the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were in London when they learned about Her Majesty's deteriorating health.

As it so turned out, they were in London for an award ceremony when they got the news from King Charles, as detailed in Craig Brown's book, Voyage Around the Queen. Soon after, Harry reached out to William via text, asking if he and Kate Middleton were planning to visit Balmoral to be with the Queen. However, Brown claimed that there was no response from the older royal. Harry also wrote about the same in his memoir, Spare. As reported by the Mirror, he wrote, "I immediately texted Willy to ask whether he and Kate were flying up. If so, when? And how? No response. Meg and I looked at flight options."

Brown's book also disclosed that Charles had specifically requested Harry to come to Balmoral alone, leaving Meghan Markle behind. Earlier, it was also reported that a dramatic dispute took place between Harry and Buckingham Palace over the latter's decision to announce the Queen’s death before Harry was informed. The Palace claimed that Charles tried to reach Harry but Harry's flight was delayed due to severe weather. “His [Harry's] team literally 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,” a close source confirmed.

Harry later got a text from Markle asking him to call her right away. He then saw a breaking news alert on the BBC News app announcing the Queen’s death. Discussing Harry's reaction to the same, a source said, “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,” as reported by People. 

Meanwhile, reflecting on his relationship with the Queen, Harry once said, "I’ve spoken more to my grandmother in the last year than I have done for many, many years." He added, “My grandmother and I have a really good relationship and an understanding. And I have a deep respect for her. She’s my Colonel-in-chief, right? She always will be.” In the documentary Our Queen at Ninety, Harry praised the Queen for her many years of service. As reported by Us Weekly, he said, “I look at the Commonwealth and think, ‘Look how much it’s achieved.' She should be incredibly proud of what she’s led, what she’s achieved, and what she’s created amongst a huge amount of people from different ethnic backgrounds, different skin colors, different experiences, different islands — whatever it be. Hats off to her, it’s incredible.”