đ Prince Harry learned a âcostly lessonâ at the Sandringham Summit â when the Queen rejected a âdisgustingâ plan to turn him and Meghan Markle intoâŠ
When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle returned from their six-week Canadian sabbatical in early 2020, few could have predicted the chaos about to unfold.
On January 7, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived at the Canadian High Commission in London for their first official engagement in the new year â but onlookers suggested Harry seemed distracted.
According to royal author Robert Jobson, the prince was preoccupied with thoughts of his family as he had just informed his father, now-King Charles, that he and Meghan wanted to redefine the terms of their royal responsibilities.
He had pitched a ânew semi-detached set upâ where they could âmake their own moneyâ while keeping their HRH titles in a move that would ultimately split the Royal Family down the middle.
The following day, news broke that the Sussexes were heading back to Canada after a brief visit amid shocking claims that they were reconsidering their place in the Firm.
The speculation that many saw as frankly inconceivable was later confirmed in a statement released on Harry and Meghanâs @sussexroyal Instagram that afternoon.
The pair announced they would step back from senior royal duties and âcarve out a progressive new roleâ within the institution while splitting their time between the UK and the US.
However, Mr Jobson claimed the announcement âhad been made without the Queenâs approvalâ, leaving Her Majesty with the daunting task of resolving what was shaping up to be one of the Firmâs biggest crises to date.
Writing in his book, The Windsor Legacy, Mr Jobson noted how the Duke of Sussex, now 41, âpresumptuously assumedâ that the late Queen would be supportive of their plans to be part-time working royals because of his close bond with her.
Yet while Her Majesty was âsympatheticâ to her grandsonâs challenges, she was allegedly unimpressed with the Sussexesâ plan to âeffectively cash in on their royal statusâ, Mr Jobson continued.
âThe answer from the top was clear: no halfway role was possible. They were either in or out.â
On January 13, 2020, the late Monarch gathered then-Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry to discuss how best to navigate âMegxitâ during peacekeeping talks that were soon dubbed the âSandringham Summitâ by the media.
Meghan, now 44, did not travel to Sandringham from Canada â although she was âreportedly set to join the discussions via video callâ.
However, âtechnical issuesâ prevented her from participating in the meeting that day.
Intimate details of what exactly was discussed during the 90-minute conference in the Long Library remain shrouded in secrecy to this day, but the Sandringham Summit was highly âemotionalâ, Mr Jobson claimed.
The late Prince Philip, once Harryâs beloved âmentorâ, was allegedly so enraged he refused to attend altogether, while William was âstill seethingâ over his brotherâs behaviour and arrived âcomposed but distantâ.
Should royal titles and privileges be stripped when royals choose financial independence?
As senior members of the Firm gathered for these unprecedented talks at the Royal Familyâs Norfolk estate, the world held its breath in anticipation.
The Daily Mailâs renowned royal expert Richard Kay wrote at the time: âNot since the dark days over Diana has there been such a sense of dread and unhappiness shrouding the Royal Family.â
Described by Mr Jobson as a âdefining momentâ for the monarchy that highlighted âthe personal cost of stepping away from itâ, the Sandringham Summit illustrated the Queenâs absolute commitment to her role as its head.
According to the author, the Queen was âadamantâ that the royal couple âmust be stripped of their patronages and banned from using their HRH titles personally and commerciallyâ.
âThe idea of the couple earning millions by cashing in on their royal titles and status was abhorrent to her,â he wrote in his book, Catherine: The Princess of Wales.
Yet her personal sadness at her grandsonâs departure from the royal fold was made clear in a statement issued shortly after the high-profile meeting.
âAlthough 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,â Her Majesty said.
Mr Kay wrote at the time of the announcement: âNot since 1997 in the aftermath of the death of Diana has the Queen issued such a personal bulletin.â
âFor Harry, it was a hard lesson,â wrote Mr Jobson.
While the prince had hoped for an outcome that benefited him and Meghan financially, ultimately, he was âforced to concede far more ground than he anticipated, in exchange for his and Meghanâs âfreedomââ.
Any hopes of a âhalf-in, half-outâ agreement were firmly destroyed by the Palaceâs statement that the Sussexes would be stripped of their HRH titles on January 19.
Harry would lose his military appointments and role as Commonwealth youth ambassador, while the pair volunteered to forgo all access to the Sovereign Grant and public cash.
The ÂŁ2.4million of taxpayer funds used to renovate the coupleâs Windsor home, Frogmore Cottage, would also be repaid by the Sussexes.
Meanwhile, Meghanâs Duchess of Sussex title was now merely âsymbolicâ and would have âzero constitutional importanceâ.
Beyond the practical arrangements agreed that day, the notorious summit marked the tragic beginning of the breakdown of Harryâs relationships with his now-estranged family.
In the years that have followed, Harry has often spoken publicly about his negative views about the summit.
During Harry and Meghanâs 2022 Netflix docuseries, the prince alleged he was âterrifiedâ after his brother started âscreaming and shoutingâ at him.
The Duke also accused his father, Charles, of telling untruths to his face, while the Queen quietly sat there and âtook it all inâ.
During the explosive series, Meghan also spoke about her particular outrage that she was not able to attend the summit, declaring: âImagine a conversation, a roundtable discussion about the future of your life.
âWhen the stakes are this high. And you, as the mom and the wife and the target, in many regards, arenât invited to have a seat at the table.â
Harry added: âIt was clear to me that they planned it out so that you werenât in the room.â
Harry also claimed that the summit was merely âfor showâ as the Sussexesâ outcome had ultimately already been âfixedâ by the Queenâs aides.
Writing in his memoir Spare, the prince made his feelings of anguish and betrayal towards his family clear as he declared: âI love my Mother Country, and I love my family, and I always will.
âI just wish, at the second-darkest moment of my life, theyâd both been there for me. And I believe theyâll look back one day and wish they had too.â