King Charles III told his son Prince Harry that Meghan Markle was not “welcome” to join the rest of the royal family at Balmoral, the Sun reported. If true, the report would solve the mystery of why Meghan was announced to be going to Balmoral with Harry on Thursday and then just as suddenly revealed she wouldn’t be. A source told the Sun: “Charles told Harry it was not right or appropriate for Meghan to be at Balmoral at such a deeply sad time. It was pointed out to him that Kate was not going and that numbers should really be limited to the immediate family. Charles made it very, very clear that Meghan would not be welcome.” Kate Middleton, William’s wife, stayed behind in England to look after their three young children, who were just starting at a new school that day. Harry eventually made the trip alone, even though, the Sun claims there was enough room on the plane Prince William, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and his wife Sophie took north — and, with Harry at his British base at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor, any of the royals living nearby she could have shared a car with him at the airport. Sun tells Harry he was “denied” a seat on the plane. As it was, the announcement of Queen Elizabeth’s death at Balmoral came while Harry was still in the air on a private jet, while the rest of the royal family were all at Balmoral. Harry finally arrived at the former monarch’s home in Scotland an hour and a half after the announcement and left Balmoral early on Friday morning to catch a commercial flight from Aberdeen – the first British Airways flight of the day – back to London. “It was so sad to see him without the other royals to comfort him. I really hope the queen’s death will help them heal their rifts.” — Airplane passenger A passenger told The Sun: “He just rocked for the entire hour-long flight and was obviously thinking about his beloved grandma. It was so sad to see him without the other royals to comfort him. I really hope the queen’s death will help them heal their rifts.” Ultimately, only Charles and Princess Anne are believed to have been with the Queen as she died – Charles has a Scottish home nearby and Anne lived at Balmoral. Anne, Andrew, Edward and Sophie stayed at Balmoral Friday, while Charles, William and Harry returned to England. Charles’ blunt demand that Meghan stay away is in stark contrast to the top-notch olive branch he offered the couple on Friday afternoon in his first televised speech as King. “I also want to express my love for Harry and Meghan as they continue to build their lives abroad,” Charles said in his speech from Buckingham Palace. But William and Harry remain estranged and the family is still distrustful of Harry and Meghan, given what they have said and alleged in previous interviews about their treatment in the royal family. The royals are also nervous about what further bombshells Harry might drop in his forthcoming memoir. As one of the royal family’s agents told the Telegraph: “It’s very difficult to spend a lot of time with someone who you know is going to publish a tell-all book about you. “I think people appreciate that the Queen was Harry’s beloved grandmother, but she was the chief executive of the institution that they have spoken against.” A source also told the paper: “I think the general reaction to Harry and Meghan’s behavior has been one of disbelief, to be honest. Even if you just look at the last few weeks, they have once again had the duchess make candid comments in interviews. They seem pretty detached from reality, living in a sort of LA bubble. It’s really incredible.” Now there are questions about what roles Harry and Meghan will play and how important those roles will be at Queen Elizabeth’s funeral. Last night, William and Harry, the Sun he said, they returned to their neighboring cottages in Windsor, but the newspaper reported that “there was little, if any, communication between them.”
