The relationship between Prince Harry and his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, was always presented to the world as a special, almost unbreakable bond. He was the rebellious grandson, the one who made the monarch smile with his spontaneity and easygoing character.
A favoritism that seemed to forgive everything. However, the palace walls keep secrets and tensions that, over time, have started to come to light, showing that the breaking point in their idyllic connection happened much earlier than the public imagined.
Wedding preparations, an event that should be synonymous with joy and unity, became the unexpected battleground that planted the seed of distance. Far from being a bed of roses, the organization of the wedding between Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018 revealed the first serious cracks in the structure of the House of Windsor.
A ten-minute conversation that changed everything
The information, which sheds a new and somber light on those days, comes from a highly trusted source: Lady Elizabeth Shakerley, the queen's cousin and a renowned high-society event planner, who passed away in 2020. In a private conversation with journalist Sally Bedell Smith, Lady Elizabeth confessed the deep displeasure the sovereign felt after a specific episode with her grandson.
According to her account, Prince Harry was "surprisingly rude to his grandmother for ten minutes" over the wedding plans. The cause of the Duke of Sussex's anger hasn't been fully revealed, but the monarch's reaction was one of pure dismay.
Elizabeth II, the most respected figure in the monarchy, felt ignored and hurt for not having been consulted on key decisions for an event of such magnitude. "I was very shocked when the Queen told me about it", Lady Elizabeth admitted, reflecting the gravity of the moment.
The broken protocol and growing distrust
The queen's discomfort wasn't due to a single outburst. It was an accumulation of gestures that she interpreted as a blatant lack of respect for the protocol and the institution she represented. One of the most contentious points was Harry's decision to ask the Archbishop of Canterbury directly to officiate the wedding, bypassing the Dean of Windsor, the figure who traditionally holds that authority in St. George's Chapel. This move, made without prior notice, was seen as a deliberate break with tradition and a challenge to authority.
Other details added to this tension that, although minor in appearance, contributed to a strained atmosphere. Shortly before the wedding, Harry and Meghan had tea with the queen. With the curiosity of a grandmother, Elizabeth II wanted to know the details of the wedding dress.
However, Meghan Markle chose to keep the secret, a decision that, while it may seem personal, in the context of royalty was interpreted as another gesture of distrust and an attempt by the couple to control every aspect of their narrative, apart from family customs.
Meghan's attitude clashed directly with Elizabeth II's personality and values. The growing rivalry between Meghan and Kate Middleton, which was already an open secret in the palace, didn't help calm the waters either.
These disagreements weren't isolated incidents, but the first tremors that foreshadowed the "Megxit" earthquake. The cracks that appeared during the wedding planning grew deeper and deeper, revealing a clash of visions between the Sussexes' desire for independence and the weight of an ancient tradition. The image of unity projected to the world on May 19, 2018, hid an internal fracture that already seemed irreparable.