Meghan Markle’s announcement ‘crushed’ King Charles as he had ’20 minutes’ to process it

Prince Harry is set to return to the UK next week but Meghan will not be joining him.

Charles is open to a meeting with Prince Harry next month – but not Meghan (Image: Getty Images)

It seems that history is repeating itself as Prince Harry is set to return to the UK next week for a special Invictus Games event at St Paul’s Cathedral whilst Meghan Markle will stay at home with their children in the US.

This mirrors last year when Harry attended his father’s Coronation, and his wife remained at home celebrating their son’s fourth birthday.

It’s said that it was ‘a blow’ Charles when he found out about the developing relationship between his son and Meghan Markle back before they were married and had two kids together.

According tothe Mirror, the then Prince of Wales was “crushed” when he was told about the romance and that it was going to be made public just 20 minutes after he’d found out, two royal authors have said.

Charles had been preparing to meet the King of Bahrain and had been on something of a delicate tour in the Persian Gulf sovereign state in November 2016 when the news was delivered.

Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand said his team had spent months organising the tour, hoping it would be “covered significantly” by the media.

But he was then “crushed” when his tour was overshadowed by Harry and Meghan’s relationship.

The authors claim that Harry gave his dad just 20 minutes’ notice before releasing a statement that confirmed his relationship with Meghan – and then he had a go at the media to boot.

In Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family, they say: “It was a critical moment that had been in the works for months.

“A statement from Kensington Palace condemning the Press and, in the same breath, confirming Harry’s new girlfriend would all but eliminate coverage of Prince Charles’s tour of the Gulf.”

The Mirror also reports the writers said: “The team at Clarence House, which had spent months putting together Prince Charles’ tour in the hopes that it would be covered significantly, was crushed.”