Royal | News - Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
Prince Harry allegedly left Prince Philip so “horrified” with one of his bombshell decisions that the late Duke ended up leaving a secret meeting with the royals. The Duke of Sussex stepped down as a senior working royal in early 2020 after spending time in Canada as their rift with the Royal Family grew deeper.
On January 8, the Sussexes announced their shock decision to quit their royals duties, with a secret meeting, now known as the Sandringham Summit, taking place five days later, on January 13. Now a new documentary has shed light on what really happened at the summit and what impact Harry and Meghan’s decision had on the monarchy. Various royal experts told Channel 5’s Megxit: Inside the Sandringham Summit that the late Duke of Edinburgh was left “horrified” over Harry’s decision to ditch his royal duties and ended up leaving the secret meeting, which was attended by the late Queen Elizabeth, King Charles and Prince William.
Royal author Andrew Morton said, as per OK!: “Prince Philip is someone who doesn’t take fools gladly, and he was horrified that they had come to a situation where the Royal Family were deciding whether to split up or not.”
Journalist Emily Andrews said: “Philip was so angry that he refused to even be there.
“I was told that he just couldn’t bring himself to see his grandson; he thought it was a huge dereliction of duty.”
Following their decision to step down in January 2020, the Sussexes released a statement, which read: “After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution.
“We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen.
“We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to honour our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages.”
On the same day that the Sandringham Summit took place, Buckingham Palace released a statement on behalf of the late Queen.
It read: “Today my family had very constructive discussions on the future of my grandson and his family.
“My family and I are entirely supportive of Harry and Meghan’s desire to create a new life as a young family. Although 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.
“Harry and Meghan have made clear that they do not want to be reliant on public funds in their new lives. It has therefore been agreed that there will be a period of transition in which the Sussexes will spend time in Canada and the UK.
“These are complex matters for my family to resolve, and there is some more work to be done, but I have asked for final decisions to be reached in the coming days.”