From what I can see, there are three big stories coming out of the new British documentary, Megxit: Inside the Sandringham Summit. Well, I’ll say three big stories and one larger narrative. The larger narrative is “the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were telling the truth all along and they were right to give their side of the story, because they were treated poorly.” The actual stories being written about are: Prince William acted like Harry was dead to him because the Sussexes wouldn’t be his scapegoats forever; Meghan was purposefully excluded from even calling into the summit; and this, another repeat about how Prince Philip was beyond pissed off at Harry for wanting to leave.
It’s been over five years since Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, announced their intention to step back as full-time working royals – and at the time, their decision sent shockwaves across the UK. For the couple, things inside the monarchy had become untenable, and something needed to change – but for the rest of the Royal Family, their public announcement that they wanted to adopt a half-in, half-out approach to royal life presented a massive set of issues.
A new documentary on Channel Five – Megxit: Inside the Sandringham Summit – has seen experts and commentators dive into what really happened behind closed doors at the summit, and what the long-term impacts of it have been on the monarchy.
One expert revealed that there was allegedly one senior member of the House of Windsor who was left utterly “horrified” by Harry’s decision to step back: his grandfather, Prince Philip. Royal author Andrew Morton claimed in the new documentary, “Prince Philip is someone who doesn’t take fools gladly, and he was horrified that they had come to a situation where the Royal Family were deciding whether to split up or not.”
Another expert explained the late Duke of Edinburgh’s feelings were so strong that he left Sandringham altogether, rather than come face-to-face with his grandson Harry. “Philip was so angry,” explained journalist Emily Andrews, “that he refused to even be there. I was told that he just couldn’t bring himself to see his grandson, he thought it was a huge dereliction of duty.”
Keep in mind, a year after the Sandringham Summit, Harry revealed that he spoke to his grandparents often since he and his family left the UK. Whatever anger or hurt feelings, his grandparents still spoke to him and he still checked in when he could. Now, I don’t doubt that Philip was upset at Harry, and I don’t doubt that Philip felt like Harry should simply “do his duty,” that “duty” being “do whatever QEII, Charles and William order him to do.” Do I believe Philip was incandescent with rage towards Harry? Not really. I would be willing to bet that Philip was disgusted by the situation – if he had been a younger man, he probably would have tried to manage the crisis himself and personally counseled Harry and Meghan. In any case, Harry has made it abundantly clear that he’s never really blamed his grandparents for anything, he’s always blamed the people around Liz and Phil.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
