King Charles III’s Secret Heartbreak Over Meghan and Harry Revealed: Is Meghan to Blame or Are Royals Too Strict?

Following reports that Queen Elizabeth had concerns about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s relationship before their royal wedding, a new story claims the monarch endured even more heartbreak in the years following their nuptials. Just before Prince Philip died, Harry and Meghan gave their most explosive interview to date, and the queen considered their inflammatory comments a royal family betrayal.

Royal insider Sally Bedell Smith published a statement by the queen’s cousin, Lady Elizabeth Anson, in her Substack, Royal Extra on June 29, 2025. In the post, Anson reportedly told Bedell Smith the monarch had concerns about Harry and Meghan’s marriage before the 2018 event took place.

Now, according to The Daily Beast, a former royal courtier shared further information about the queen’s reaction to the couple’s 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, less than a year after they left their royal roles behind. Reportedly, the couple deeply hurt the monarch, who was dealing with her husband, Prince Philip‘s, prolonged illness.

Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah aired on March 7, 2021. One month later, on April 9, 2021, Philip died at 99.

The insider claims, “Ultimately, the queen felt betrayed by Harry, and when he and Meghan attacked the institution that she spent her whole life serving in the Oprah interview, that betrayal was complete. It was absolutely shocking to those of us who knew him that he would do that, not least because her husband was on his deathbed.”

In their interview, Meghan and Harry voiced serious concerns about the House of Windsor, including allegations of racism and claims that the royal family failed to protect them from relentless media scrutiny. Per PBS, Buckingham Palace issued a single response addressing the racism allegations: “While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.”

The royal insider continued, “Allegations of racism dismayed [the queen]. To accuse an unidentified person within the family of racism, thereby casting the shadow of suspicion over everyone, was unforgivable in her eyes.”

The statement concluded, “That was what ultimately prompted her to issue the ‘recollections may vary’ statement. Things were never the same after that. It was a horrific series of betrayals at the end of her life.”

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle reportedly visited Queen Elizabeth twice before her death in September 2022. The couple first saw the monarch in April 2022, during a trip to Europe for the Invictus Games. The second time was in June 2022 for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.