Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s close confidante Tom Bradby claims the Palace told the couple that there were plans for a ‘slimmed down monarchy’ and they ‘weren’t really a part of it.’
The ITV News presenter insisted that it was ‘certainly not true’ to suggest the royal household was ‘blindsided’ by their decision to step down from senior roles within the monarchy.
He said it was only the timing of their bombshell announcement that angered Her Majesty, which came after they returned from a six week trip to Canada during a break from royal duties.
His comments come as The Queen holds crisis talks with Prince Charles and Prince William to hammer out a deal to keep them in the royal family, and Meghan fled across the Atlantic to be with baby Archie.
Bradby, is now considered to be close friends with Harry and Meghan and his brother William, and spoke to the Duke and Duchess during an ITV documentary where they told of their struggles of living in the spotlight.
The ITN News at 10 host’s claims of a ‘slimmed down monarchy’ – in which Charles is said to want to cut the number of working royals – is said to be one of the key reasons why Harry and Meghan decided to step down.
And it has also been suggested that a portrait released by the monarch to mark the start of a new decade may have been the final straw, confirming to the Sussex’s that they were considered to be on the ‘sidelines.’
But blaming the decision to walk away from royal duties on the issue of a ‘slimmed down’ royal family may be seen as just a convenient excuse to leave their life behind in the UK and start a new life in North America.
Bradby said: ‘It’s certainly not true to say the palace were blindsided by this. The couple’s view was they came back and wanted to talk to the family about their plans.
‘It had been made clear to them in their absence there was going to be a slimmed down monarchy and they weren’t really a part of it.’
The Queen drives through Sandringham today as she holds crisis talks with Prince Charles and Prince William to hammer out a deal to keep Harry and Meghan in the royal family
The ITV News presenter said that it was ‘certainly not true’ to suggest the royal household was ‘blindsided’ by their decision to step down from the senior roles in the monarchy
Mr Bradby said Harry and Meghan wanted to speak to the family about their plans when they returned from Canada
He added that the couple were asked to put down their suggestions on paper – but initially declined to do so for fear of a press leak.
But when some details of their decision leaked, the couple decided to go public without alerting the other Royals they were doing so.
He added: ‘Harry has been talking to his family for some weeks at least about all this and certainly my understanding of what happened is he was asked by some members of the family or at least their officials to put some of these ideas in writing.
He said I really don’t want to do that because it normally leaks, and they were very insistent in order to go forward and discuss it properly it had to be put in writing. He did put it in writing and it did leak.
So i don’t think they got much heads up as to the actual announcement but they certainly knew what was going on.’
He continued: There needs to be a peace deal really soon, this is so toxic, there is so much anger, it looks like it might get worse not better.’
The Queen was ‘deeply disappointed’ and ‘hurt’ by the release of the statement announcing their plans to step down, and had begged them to delay announcing their ‘nuclear’ plans.
Prince Charles and Prince William only got a copy of the statement ten minutes before it went live on their secretly developed website sussexroyal.com.
Mr Bradby spoke to the couple during an ITV documentary (pictured) where they told of their struggles of living in the spotlight
Meghan told Tom Bradby in October that they are just ‘surviving’ intense media attention and the scrutiny they face is unfair
The photograph considered to be the final straw showed the Queen, 93, alongside the Prince of Wales, Duke of Cambridge and six-year-old Prince George.
It was taken in Buckingham Palace’s throne room on December 18, while the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were away in Canada.
ITV News Correspondent Chris Ship said: ‘The portrait that Buckingham Palace released to mark the start of the decade.
‘It was the Queen and the three future kings – and there was also a bit of video of them stirring the Christmas pudding.
‘I’m not saying they were cutting Harry and Meghan out because it was a brutal fact that Harry was never part of that line of succession but start of a decade it felt like the royal family was very much focusing on the future – the Queen and her three heirs.’
The Queen didn’t have any photos of the couple or baby Archie on display during her Christmas message.
The photograph of the Queen, 93, alongside the Prince of Wales, Duke of Cambridge and six-year-old Prince George was taken in Buckingham Palace’s throne room on December 18, while the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were away in Canada
In 2016 this image was released showed Prince George standing on foam blocks during a Royal Mail photoshoot for a stamp sheet to mark the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II
2019: Queen Elizabeth II, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge and Prince George preparing special Christmas puddings in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace, London, as part of the launch of The Royal British Legion’s Together at Christmas initiative
The photograph was only the second time that a portrait of Her Majesty and her three heirs has been issued.
The first was released in April 2016 to mark the Queen’s 90th birthday, with the picture then printed on commemorative stamps.
A similarly ‘slimmed-down’ image of the royal family was presented during the Queen’s Christmas speech last year following reports that Charles, 71, wanted to cut down on the number of working royals.
His plans were believed to have been accelerated last year when the Duke of York stepped back from public life following November’s ‘car crash’ BBC interview over his links to US padeophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The photo came just two weeks after the royals marked the festive season with another series of photos. The Queen, Charles, William and George made Christmas puddings in Buckingham Palace pictured in front of a Christmas tree adorned with regal corgi and crown decorations.
The Daily Mail has learnt that Meghan (left on a previous trip) returned to North America, where their eight-month-old son, Archie, had been left with his nanny. The news of her travel plans come as her and Prince Harry (right) announced they would be stepping back from their Royal duties
Meghan Markle’s mother Doria Ragland was spotted for the first time on Thursday since her daughter and son-in-law Prince Harry dropped the bombshell news that they were quitting their royal duties
Bradby is now considered a close friend of the royal family, having known William and Harry for many years. He spoke to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in October during their royal tour of Africa.
The interviews fuelled speculation that they were considering their futures, as they spoke of their struggles with their public roles.
Meghan revealed how she and Harry are just ‘surviving’ intense media attention and the scrutiny they face is unfair.
The Duchess of Sussex has told of the unbearable pressure of life in the spotlight, saying she had ‘no idea’ of the struggles she would deal with as a member of the royal family.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spent their first Christmas with baby Archie at this £10million waterfront mansion on Vancouver Island and may be heading back to the west coast of Canada
She even revealed her friends warned her not to marry Harry because the media focus would ‘destroy your life’, admitting that since the wedding and during her pregnancy she felt ‘vulnerable.’
Prince Harry, who said his wife has faced ‘relentless propaganda’, also told the programme of the pressure he felt trying to ‘protect’ his family from unwanted media attention, because he doesn’t want a ‘repeat of the past.’
He also spoke about his relationship with his brother William, admitting that they are travelling on ‘different paths’ in what is the first public acceptance of a rift.
The searingly honest interviews came following months of controversy involving Meghan and Harry, who came under fire for their privacy demands over Archie’s christening, their use of private jets, and Meghan’s Wimbledon appearance when she banned fans from taking photos.
The couple also waged war on the media, announcing they were suing the Mail on Sunday over its publication of Meghan’s estranged father’s letters, and began legal action against the Sun and Mirror news groups over allegations of phone hacking dating back to the early 2000s.
Today it emerged that Prince Harry will follow Meghan to Canada as soon as possible after she fled across the Atlantic to be with Archie having left him with their nanny and her best friend following their Christmas break.
The couple want to spend more time together in North America in a move that has ‘simply astonished’ aides as the Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William called crisis talks to hammer out a deal to keep them in the royal family.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are understood to have left Archie in Canada after their six-week trip and the eight-month-old is being cared for by their nanny and Meghan’s best friend, Jessica Mulroney.
Ms Mulroney lives in Toronto but it is not known if she was with them in the £10million waterfront mansion in Vancouver they occupied between Thanksgiving and the new year.
Meghan flew from London to Canada in the hours after the Sussexes shocked the world and quit as senior royals, the Daily Mail revealed last night.
The couple horrified and shocked Harry’s family including the ‘hurt and furious’ Queen, who had begged them to delay announcing their ‘nuclear’ plans. Prince Charles and Prince William only got a copy of the statement ten minutes before it went live on their secretly developed website.
Last night Her Majesty held a series of calls involving herself at Sandringham, Charles at his Scottish home Birkhall, William at Kensington Palace and Harry – without Meghan – at Frogmore Cottage.
But as the abdication crisis rumbled on the Duke of Sussex was also plotting to fly out of Britain, it has emerged, although it is not yet confirmed when he intends to join his wife in Canada.
Meghan may stay there for the foreseeable future and Harry will not be apart from his wife and son for long – but he must also be at Buckingham Palace for an engagement next Thursday.
On a day of behind-the-scenes drama, the monarch convened an extraordinary series of calls between herself, the Prince of Wales, Prince William and Harry.
She told them to come up with a ‘workable solution’ to the crisis within days, and tasked aides with presenting a series of options to put to the unhappy couple.
Insiders last night predicted that Harry, 35, and Meghan, 38, would be allowed to keep their royal titles and also enjoy a measure of the independence they have demanded.
But they added that the couple’s string of demands had sparked a genuine crisis which will not be easy to solve.
As a sign of how serious and sensitive the issue has become, Home Secretary Priti Patel has been asked to take part in the negotiations.
She will be tasked with ensuring the couple’s ongoing security is not compromised, but she also has to monitor the cost to taxpayers if they split their lives between the UK and North America.
Yesterday palace insiders were still reeling from the Sussexes’ decision to release a bombshell statement on Wednesday night, in which they announced their plans to step back as senior me
Kate Middleton is seen arriving at Kensington Palace for her 38th birthday celebrations, which are set to be tempered by decision of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to step back from family roles. The Queen, pictured on Christmas Day, has been trying to broker a deal to keep Harry and Meghan in the royal family
Members of the Royal Family and work to become ‘financially independent’.
Although the Queen, Charles and William had been told of their plans a week earlier, the couple ‘detonated the nuclear button’ by announcing their intention and launching a glossy new website without warning anyone.
In a terse statement in response, Buckingham Palace made clear its displeasure.
It said it understood the couple’s desire to do things ‘different’ but stressed these were complicated matters that needed to be worked through carefully.
Senior royal aides made clear the Queen was deeply hurt by her grandson’s actions, while other family members had reacted furiously to Harry and Meghan’s arrogance.
Yesterday, however, sources told the Mail that after an emotional 12 hours, matters had calmed and everyone was ‘working with a clear head’.
‘One of the things the family has learnt over the years is that if you don’t move quickly and leave things like this that the fester,’ said a source.
‘And that would benefit no-one in this case.’
It is understood the Queen initiated the series of calls involving herself at Sandringham, Charles at Birkhall (his Scottish seat), William at Kensington Palace and Harry – without Meghan – at Frogmore Cottage.
As a result they agreed to instruct staff, led by their respective private secretaries, to work ‘with pace’ on a series of proposals which would allow the couple to find a solution they were happy with.
‘The bigger the crisis, the calmer the Royal Family seem to get,’ said an insider.
‘There is a pragmatic attitude that seems to run through the Queen and Prince of Wales.
One source told the Mail yesterday that Harry had privately been consulting friends about his plans as far back as late spring
The Queen, who is in Sandringham, wants the situation resolved as quickly as possible. Prince Charles (left), currently in Scotland, was also involved in the conference call along with Prince William (right), at Kensington Palac
‘They are not railing against whether the situation is right or wrong, they just know this needs to be dealt with.
‘They have accepted it and are trying to resolve it.
‘The interesting bit will be the next part when, presented with a series of possible scenarios.
‘Will they [the Sussexes] accept them or will they brief that they are being forced to do something against their will? And no-one knows the answer.
‘Is there any version of a solution that they will deem acceptable?
‘They have talked in broad brush strokes about what they want, this hybrid model of being a member of the Royal Family, but even they haven’t nailed down the fine detail and may say that they don’t like what is being put on the table.
‘What does being a progressive royal mean?’
Sources said that nothing was set in stone but that lessons had been learnt from the past, and despite the late Princess of Wales giving up her HRH title, people still blamed the Royal Family for that decision.
‘I don’t think anyone wants to go down that road with her son,’ they added.
One source told the Mail yesterday that Harry had privately been consulting friends about his plans as far back as late spring.