Prince Harry’s royal family snub – but late Queen was ‘unaware of what had happened’
The Queen reportedly didn’t know that Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, had made a special request that was turned down by courtiers and which left him ‘deeply saddened’

Because Buckingham Palace decided not to honour a wish of Prince Harry’s, he and wife Meghan Markle took matters into their own hands over in the US.

Relations between the Duke of Sussex and the royal family have been incredibly strained for years and are now almost non-existent. Prince Harry remains living in America with wife Meghan Markle and their two children Archie and Lillibet and they have little to no contact with their family in the UK.

During the period when the couple had decided to step down from royal duties in 2020, the Prince reportedly made a special request to Buckingham Palace because he couldn’t attend an important national event. Covid restrictions meant travel was severely restricted and Harry couldn’t return to the UK.

According to the Sunday Times, he desperately wanted a wreath of poppies to be laid at the Cenotaph on his behalf during the Remembrance Day ceremony and made a personal request to the Palace. Apparently courtiers decided to turn him down because he no longer represented the monarchy.

It is reported that the Queen was unaware of her grandson’s wish and that he was left “deeply saddened” by the decision. It was seen as a sure sign that his official links to the family were permanently severed after he stepped down as a serving royal months before. Representatives for Harry and the Palace declined to comment at the time.

Harry with William at the ceremony in 2019 (
Image:
Adam Gray / SWNS)
In 2020 Princes Charles and William attended without Harry (
Image:
PA)
During the sombre London ceremony, Prince Charles and Prince William were seen laying wreaths, with Charles placing one for his mother, who did not attend that year. Harry served in the military for a decade and undertook two tours of duty in Afghanistan, but gave up his posts, including that of Captain General of the Royal Marines, when he stepped away from royal life and relocated to California. He became a campaigner for the Invictus Games – a sporting event for wounded, sick and injured service men and women, which he launched in 2014.

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Being absent from the Remembrance Day event in London, Harry and Meghan decided to lay wreaths made from flowers she had picked from their garden, at the Los Angeles National Cemetery at the graves of two commonwealth soldiers. He also took part in a podcast in which he spoke of the importance of the commemorative day.

In a recording for the Declassified podcast he said: “Remembrance Day for me is a moment for respect and for hope. I wear it [the poppy] to celebrate the bravery and determination of all our veterans. These are the people and moments I remember when I salute, when I stand at attention and when I lay a wreath at the Cenotaph.”