Prince Harry “blew up” his relationship with the late Queen and was “rude to her for ten minutes” over his wedding plans with Meghan, it has been claimed.
Lady Elizabeth Shakerley, a society party planner who was a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth, is said to have spoken to her about Prince Harry’s relationship with the future Duchess of Sussex. Lady Elizabeth died in November 2020, aged 79.
The late Queen was left “really upset” over not being consulted on the plans for the day, in remarks shared by the journalist Sally Bedell Smith, a close friend who has now recounted the exchange on her blog.
The former monarch is also said to have voiced concerns about tensions between Meghan and the Princess of Wales.
• Queen ‘called Meghan’s wedding dress too white for divorcee’
In February 2018, Lady Elizabeth, known to her friends as Liza, reportedly said that she had met Meghan, describing the American actress as “full of charm”.
However, the couple made clear that Meghan did not want Lady Elizabeth, the Queen’s favoured party planner, to organise the nuptials, and Harry wrote to her explaining they were “going another way”.
“He said, ‘I am close to my grandmother, and she is content with this.’ When I spoke with the Queen, she said she is not at all content”, Lady Elizabeth reportedly said.
• Lady Elizabeth Shakerley obituary
Lady Elizabeth added: “Meghan could turn into nothing but trouble. She sees things in a different way.”
The late Queen was said to have been “dismayed” that Prince Harry asked the Archbishop of Canterbury to perform the marriage service at St George’s Chapel without first asking permission from the Dean of Windsor.
Lady Elizabeth with the then Prince of Wales and Queen Elizabeth
SEAN DEMPSEY/PA
“Harry has blown up his relationship with his grandmother,” Lady Elizabeth said. “She said she was really upset. I was shocked when the Queen told me this, how she was so saddened. I had no idea about the conversation, that he was rude to her for ten minutes.”
She added: “They [Harry and Meghan] had tea with her the day before yesterday. She was trying to find out about the wedding dress, and Meghan wouldn’t tell her.”
A fortnight before the wedding in May 2018, Lady Elizabeth had another discussion with the late Queen, whom she affectionately nicknamed “Jemima”, amid rising tensions in the royal household.
“The number one lady — I call her Jemima — says the jury is out on whether she likes Meghan,” she said. “My Jemima is very worried. Harry is besotted and weak about women. We hope but don’t quite think she is in love. We think she engineered it all.”
Lady Elizabeth added that “Meghan and William and Kate are not working well”, adding: “That is what the Queen said, particularly about the two girls.
“It’s worrying that so many people are questioning whether Meghan is right for Harry. The problem, bless his heart, is that Harry is neither bright nor strong, and she is both.”
The conversations were published on Bedell Smith’s Substack, Royal Extras.
Lady Elizabeth was the grand niece of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and her godfather was King George VI. Her parents were Viscount Anson and Anne Bowes-Lyon.