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The Queen made all the major decisions when dealing with the two biggest controversies in the last years of her life, including on Meghan and Harry, and Prince Andrew. But she would have also been advised by the then Prince Charles, a royal expert says.
This is the view of Daily Express’s Royal correspondent Richard Palmer, who was speaking on our Royal Roundup earlier today.
He says it was made very clear to him and other royal reporters that the Queen was still in charge and she was still making the key decisions.
Mr Palmer said: “Over the last couple of years of Queen Elizabeth’s life I think courtiers faced a difficult balance. I say courtiers, I mean palace officials, people working for the Royal Family.
“They faced a difficult balance because they didn’t want to portray the Queen as an infeebled old lady who was being held prisoner by members of her family or by her advisers and it was made clear to me that ultimately this was the Queen’s decision.”
He added: “The Queen was still in charge. That was certainly the case dealing with the two biggest controversies in the last years of her life – Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, and the Sussexes.
“So, it was made very clear, and I’m sure it was to other reporters that the Queen took these decisions, with the advice of people who work for her.
“But also, with the advice of the family – particularly Prince Charles as he then was and the Duke of Cambridge, as he then was, Prince William.”
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And Mr Palmer said: “It wasn’t clear who had ordered her not to meet them.
“My guess is that would have been the then Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, and possibly Prince William, possibly via their private secretaries.”
He was asked whether he thinks King Charles will be annoyed that Prince Harry has decided to make this public, given that the Queen had such a private life.
He replied: “I’m sure the king will not have welcomed some of the things that were said in those last three programmes
“I’m pretty sure that he wants it all to go away. There’s no sign of the rift in the family being fixed at all.
“The rift has deepened hasn’t it really.”
The rift is expected to get even deeper when Prince Harry’s memoir, which is entitled Spare, comes out next year.
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