Prince Harry 'defied the Queen' over announcement to step back as senior royal

9 January 2020, 16:47 | Updated: 9 January 2020, 16:51

The Duke of Sussex defied the Queen announcing his plan to quit as a "senior" royal, sources close to the family have said.

The Queen had apparently been clear that Prince Harry should not go forward with any announcement, after he asked to meet her upon his return from Canada earlier this month.

According to the Evening Standard, The Duke of Cambridge had made an attempt to reconcile with his brother in the Autumn, but never visited Harry at his home in Frogmore Cottage.

Harry and Meghan made their bombshell announcement last night with a post on Instagram, reportedly only giving Prince Charles and Prince Williams a copy of the statement 10 minutes before it went out to the public.

The newspaper claimed that Harry had originally spoken to Prince Charles about his plans to spend more time in Canada and America before Christmas, but was told to come back with a more detailed plan.

When he sent another draft to his father in the new year, but was again told to rethink his plans - particularly over funding.

After returning from their six-week long break, Harry then asked for a summit with the Queen and was told although she was happy to meet him she would not broach the subject of Harry's decision to quit until he had spoken in detail with his father.

But the meeting was apparently blocked by courtiers, but the Queen was firm in her orders to her grandson to not announce the plans publicly.

Senior sources close to the royal family have said that the royal couple "will be punished for this".

It has so far received 1.4 million 'likes'.

The couple have said they intend to split their tie between the UK and North America, thought to be California where the Duchess can be closer to where her mother is.

A source said: "Meghan really wants to live in California, it’s where she is from and where her mother lives.

"She likes the lifestyle and the privacy there.”