26 January 2024 , 15:07
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When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced they wanted to step back as senior members of the Royal Family and work towards financial independence, shockwaves were felt across Britain.
The Sussexes were accused of blindsiding even the late Queen Elizabeth with their announcement - something they strenuously deny - and the senior royals got together for what is now known as the 'Sandringham Summit' where it was decided just what the couple's future would look like.
When bringing the senior royals together to discuss what should happen next, a royal author has claimed that Queen Elizabeth was keen for the family to get together and break bread beforehand, but Prince William is alleged to have snubbed his younger brother and refused to attend the lunch.
The senior royals came together to discuss Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's new roles (Ian Vogler/Daily Mirror)
The brothers' relationship has gone from bad to worse (Getty Images)Author Robert Lacey made the claim in his book Battle of the Brothers, which was published in 2020. Lacey alleged that in the end, Harry simply shared a meal with his grandmother, after his furious brother refused to eat with them.
"The Queen had suggested the family should gather for lunch before their big pow-wow in the library that afternoon, but he refused his grandmother's invitation.
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"He would obviously turn up at 2 pm for the meeting, he said, but he only wanted to talk business. The Prince himself has not confirmed his friends' speculation that he was so furious with his younger brother that he would not be able to endure the hypocrisy of smiling at him over lunch," Lacey wrote.
Harry himself provided a behind-the-scenes look at the Sandringham Summit in his memoir Spare, where he detailed how the life-changing meeting had gone down from his perspective. While he made no mention of the meal that Lacey alleged his elder brother had rebuffed an invitation to, he noted that he had "got there early, hoping to have a chat with Granny" but his father and brother quickly joined them.
The Duke of Sussex also described that after the meeting was complete, he and William took a moment to themselves to chat, and during his depiction of the conversation he painted a very different picture than one of fury from William.
"I was braced for a lecture," Harry wrote, "It didn't come. Willy was subdued. He wanted to listen. For the first time in a long time, my brother heard me out, and I was so grateful."
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