Prince Harry pleaded with his family to hold off on making a hugely important announcement, according to Endgame author Omid Scobie. The death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was officially announced at 6.30pm on September 8, 2022, just before Harry was able to touch down in Aberdeen and make his way towards Balmoral.
In his book, Scobie claimed that Buckingham Palace had planned to release a statement earlier, but that Harry “begged” them to hold off, as stormy weather meant his plane had to circle the airport before it could land and he wanted to be with them at the time. However, a decision was made to make the announcement without him.
“When Harry’s plane finally touched tarmac 20 minutes later, he received a text from Meghan urging him to call ASAP followed by a breaking news alert via the BBC News app with the announcement of the Queen’s death,” the extract reads.
A spokesperson for the King later confirmed: “The public was only informed after every family member had been informed.”
Harry wrote in detail about the Queen’s death in his tell-all book Spare, and shared his anger that his father Charles forbid wife Meghan from travelling with him to Scotland: “He said I was welcome at Balmoral, but he didn’t want… her. He started to lay out his reason, which was nonsensical, and disrespectful, and I wasn’t having it.”
Harry said he retorted firmly to his father’s comments about Meghan, saying: “Don’t ever speak about my wife that way…He stammered, apologetic, saying he simply didn’t want a lot of people around. No other wives were coming, Kate wasn’t coming, he said, therefore Meg shouldn’t. Then that’s all you needed to say.”
Indeed, Prince William travelled to Balmoral with his uncles Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, and Duchess Sophie. Princess Kate made the difficult decision to stay at home with the couple’s three children, George, Charlotte, and Louis. The royal youngsters had their first day at their new school, Lambrook, on September 8, and Kate thought it was important for her to be there to support them.
The Queen peacefully passed away at 15.10pm on September 8 2022. Of her family members, only Charles, Camilla and Princess Anne were able to see her before she died; by chance the siblings were already in Scotland for prior engagements.
William, Andrew, Edward and Sophie landed at 3.50pm, 40 minutes after her death. And with the new Prince of Wales at the wheel, they drove to Balmoral, arriving at 5.06pm. Harry, meanwhile, left Luton airport onboard a private jet at about 5.30pm. He was still in the air when the announcement of the queen’s death was made at 6.30pm.
Writing about the moment he found out his grandmother had passed away, Harry wrote: “When the plane started to descend I saw that my phone lit up. It was a message from Meg: ‘Call me when you get this.’ I looked at the BBC website. My grandmother had died. My father was King.” He further stated that when he did finally make it to Balmoral, his aunt Princess Anne led him upstairs to “Granny’s bedroom” so he could pay his respects.
