King Charles reportedly picked up the phone and called Harry to let him know that Meghan should not travel to Balmoral with him in the Queen’s final hours – and he did so for one very important reason

King Charles informed Harry that Meghan should not travel with him to Balmoral(Image: Pool AP/ Martin Meissner)

The royal family rushed to Balmoral to be by the late Queen’s side in the final moments of her life. But not everyone was reportedly welcome. King Charles allegedly made the difficult decision to ask Meghan Markle to stay away and allow Prince Harry to visit his grandmother on his own, with the understanding that Princess Kate had also been asked to remain at home.

But in his biography Charles III: New King, New Court, The Inside Story, author Robert Hardman stated that Kate wasn’t actually asked to stay away, but had chosen to do so instead. According to Hardman, the Princess decided to stay in England in order to support her three children, George, Charlotte, and Louis.

Meghan was not invited to join the royals at Balmoral(Image: SIPA USA/PA Images)

On the same day that the Queen passed away, they were due to start at their new school, Lambrook. Kate’s decision inadvertently helped ease the path for King Charles. At the time, Charles still believed his mother still had days, not hours, to live, and he wanted the royals to concentrate on their final goodbyes – and avoid petty infighting.

He had simply wanted Meghan to stay away to avoid family conflict, according to the 2024 book. Harry himself wrote about the moment his father told him Meghan would not be able to join him at Balmoral.

King Charles personally called Harry to inform him of his decision(Image: Getty Images)

In his tell-all memoir Spare , he claimed: “He said I was welcome at Balmoral, but he didn’t want… her. He started to lay out his reason, which was nonsensical, and disrespectful, and I wasn’t having it.” Harry said he retorted firmly to his father’s comments about Meghan, saying: “Don’t ever speak about my wife that way…He stammered, apologetic, saying he simply didn’t want a lot of people around. No other wives were coming, Kate wasn’t coming, he said, therefore Meg shouldn’t. Then that’s all you needed to say.”

The Queen peacefully passed away at 15:10 on 8 September. Of her family members, only Charles, Camilla and Princess Anne were able to see her before she died. Fortuitously, the siblings were both already in Scotland, having carried out events in the country earlier in the week.

But only Anne was present when their mother slipped away. Charles had briefly stepped away from her bedside to clear his head and had gone out to gather mushrooms. He received the news that she had died as he was driving back to Balmoral when his most senior aide took a call. Charles pulled over and was addressed for the first time as ‘Your Majesty’ – signalling he was now King.

Buckingham Palace had announced at 12.50pm that Prince William , Prince Andrew , Prince Edward and Sophie had started to make their way to Scotland. Sadly, they were not in time. They landed at 3:50pm, 40 minutes after her death. With William at the wheel, they drove to Balmoral, arriving at 5.06pm. Prince Harry , meanwhile, left Luton airport onboard a private jet at about 5.30pm. He was still in the air when the announcement of the queen’s death was made at 6.30pm.