By Daniela Elser
In public Her late Majesty gave less away than an Easter Island statue in a particularly inscrutable mood.
But in private? Whoo boy.
She reportedly did not hold back and those inside royal circles are now talking, revealing how Queen Elizabeth allegedly truly felt about Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
According to a new report, in her final years, the 鈥渄ying鈥 Queen (who 鈥渃ould hardly see鈥ould hardly stand鈥ould hardly move鈥) was left 鈥榰tterly devastated鈥 by her grandson.
At the centre of the newest claims are the events of early 2021.
Her late Majesty鈥檚 husband of 73 years Prince Philip, aged 99, grand commander of the bbq tongs and steadfast helpmate, was clearly unwell, and the Sussexes had been in the US for nearly a year.
They were ready to let their truth ring out and for Oprah Winfrey to get the scoop of the century.
We all know what happened next – the casting of the Crown Inc as a biased and cold-blooded organisation that had blatantly ignored the Sussexees鈥 suffering.
Outwardly at the time the late Queen鈥檚 response might have been restrained (who can forget the iconic line, 鈥渞ecollections may vary鈥?) but in private she was 鈥榰tterly devastated鈥, 鈥渂etrayed鈥 and 鈥渄ismayed鈥, according to royal friends and insiders who have spoken to The Daily Beast鈥檚 Tom Sykes.
A former courtier has now told Sykes of Her late Majesty鈥檚 anguish over the Sussexes鈥 Oprah revelations while Philip 鈥渨as on his deathbed.鈥
鈥淯ltimately, the queen felt betrayed by Harry, and when he and Meghan attacked the institution that she spent her whole life serving in the Oprah interview, that betrayal was complete,鈥 the courtier said.
鈥淚t was absolutely shocking to those of us that knew him that he would do that鈥.
They went on: 鈥淭he allegations of racism dismayed [the queen]. To accuse an unidentified person within the family of racism, thereby casting the shadow of suspicion over everyone, was unforgivable in her eyes.鈥
(Harry would later, in another TV interview, insist that he and his wife had not accused his family of racism but 鈥渦nconscious bias鈥.)
The courtier commented: 鈥淭hings were never the same after that. … It was a horrific series of betrayals at the end of her life.鈥
That view is one echoed by a friend of the royal family who told Sykes on Sunday: 鈥淵ou have to remember [that] the queen was seriously ill for several years with bone cancer. She knew she was dying, she could hardly see, she could hardly stand, she could hardly move. And then she was completely let down by her grandson. It was utterly devastating for her.鈥
Of the Sussexes鈥 dramatic, San Andreas-like fault with the royal family, a friend of Prince William and Kate, The Princess of Wales, has chimed too, telling Sykes, 鈥淭he family, of course, all blame Meghan 100 percent鈥.
鈥淸Harry] ain鈥檛 the sharpest tool in the box, and they feel he was completely manipulated and that Meghan saw him and realised she could become the most famous person in the world. Then the reality of what their boring royal life would be like sunk in, and she decided to ruthlessly milk it for all it was worth. That is their view.鈥
One person who reportedly experienced, first hand, how bad things were between Her late Majesty and the Duke of Sussex was a Buckingham Palace switchboard operator.
This weekend supremely well connected royal writer Richard Kay revealed an incident that happened during the pandemic when Harry called the Buckingham Palace switchboard to speak to his grandmother.
As the switchboard operator told Kay: 鈥淲hen I announced to the Queen that Harry was her caller there was just a stony silence鈥t was so uncomfortable鈥.
These new details from Sykes and Kay come after emails sent by a cousin of the late Queen were published in which she wrote about Queen Elizabeth鈥檚 private fears about the Sussexes鈥 union and how a 鈥渞ude鈥 Harry 鈥榖lew鈥 his relationship with his grandmother.
Lady Elizabeth Anson was not only related to Queen Elizabeth but they were reportedly so close they finished each other鈥檚 sentences and spoke on the phone weekly.
In emails Lady Elizabeth sent to respected royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith ahead of the Sussexes鈥 2018 wedding, she revealed that Harry had 鈥渞eally upset鈥 Queen Elizabeth and that 鈥渟he was so saddened鈥.
During a tea with Queen Elizabath, the duke 鈥渨as rude to her for ten minutes.鈥
Two weeks before the duke and duchess鈥 2018 wedding, Lady Elizabeth told Bedell Smith that the late Queen was 鈥渧ery worried鈥.
鈥淗arry is besotted and weak about women. We hope but don鈥檛 quite think she is in love. We think she engineered it all.鈥
鈥淭he Number One Lady鈥ays the jury is out on whether she likes Meghan鈥.
(Bedell Smith revealed the correspondence with Lady Elizabeth on her Substack.)
Less than two years later, the Sussexes would be pitching their tent in California and embarking on a new life and in 2022, 鈥淭he Number One Lady鈥 would pass away, reportedly suffering from a rare form of bone cancer. Two days before her death the late Queen posed for the cameras with new Prime Minister Liz Truss for what would be her final photo.
Despite clearly being unwell, Queen Elizabeth still gave nothing away.
Daniela Elser is a writer, editor and commentator with more than 15 years鈥 experience working with a number of Australia鈥檚 leading media titles.