Royal fans told the monarch she was “pushing her luck” after Palace officials made the “archaic” decision to reject the Duke of Sussex’s request to have a wreath laid at the Cenotaph in London. Instead, Harry and Meghan, who now live in the US, were forced to lay a wreath at the Second World War Commonwealth graves at the Los Angeles National Cemetery.
{%=o.title%}
But fans of the couple immediately leapt to their defence, saying the decision to ban Harry, who spent 10 years in the armed forces, was “spectacularly cruel”.
One said: “Some are blessed that common decency would not allow this disrespect of his time served with honor, one would hope the queen would lead in that manner!”
Another said: “The way the Queen is treating Prince Harry is totally archaic.
Prince Harry’s request to lay a wreath at the Remembrance Sunday ceremony was refused (Image: GETTY )
“I love the Queen that’s no secret but she’s pushing her luck with this horrible decision. Especially to a war vet, her own grandson too.
A Twitter user added: “They reject Prince Harry’s request to lay a wreath of Remembrance and for some reason felt the need to make it public.“For why? To let us know he wasn’t welcome? Humiliate him? This is spectacularly cruel. The timing is s**t too, it pulls focus from the Fallen.”
The outrage comes after royal courtiers refused Prince Harry’s request on the grounds that he is no longer a working member of the Firm, according to The Sunday Times.
The Queen, 94, was reportedly not told about her grandson’s wish.
FOLLOW EXPRESS.CO.UK BELOW FOR LIVE UPDATES
Palace officials rejected the Duke of Sussex’s request to have a wreath laid at the Cenotaph in London (Image: REUTERS )
1pm update: Martin Bashir urged to provide answers
The graphic designer who created documents for Martin Bashir has called for the former Panorama reporter to provide “answers” about his famous interview with Diana, Princess of Wales.
The BBC has said that Mr Bashir, now the BBC’s religion editor, is seriously ill with COVID-related complications.
The allegations centre on claims by Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, who says he was shown “false bank statements” by Mr Bashir which were used to help gain access to Diana for the interview.
Graphic designer Matt Wiessler told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he was “absolutely gobsmacked” to discover that “a board of governors meeting, there to look into what Martin had done” had made him “the scapegoat”.
“I don’t know how you can plausibly tell a story that a graphic designer is to blame.
“And I’ve been living with this for 25 years. And when I saw this, this decree that went out… I was pretty angry … because I thought it was utterly unfair.”
12.28pm update: Queen heartbreak as claims she looked ‘lost and diminutive’ during Philip illness emerge
The Queen looked “lost and diminutive” when her husband and close companion Prince Philip fell ill during a milestone occasion, a biography has claimed.
Writing in her newly released biography, ‘Prince Philip Revealed’, author Ingrid Seward explained how the Queen appeared to notice when her husband was absent due to illness back in 2012.
She wrote: “When he was taken into hospital after the river pageant for the Diamond Jubilee, suffering from a bladder infection, the Queen looked diminutive and lost at the service of thanksgiving two days later.”
11.12am update: Prince Albert’s devastating assessment of Grace Kelly laid bare
Prince Albert offered a heartbreaking judgement of his late mother, Grace Kelly, in archived footage, as what would have been her 90th birthday approaches.
Thursday marks what would have been her 90th birthday, but the Princess tragically died in a car accident in 1982.
Many times Prince Albert – Monaco’s current crown prince – has mused on his idyllic upbringing under Grace.
He has offered messages to his mother in the years following her death, hoping she is proud of him.
When asked how he would describe Grace from his memory, Albert said: “She was the most warm, gracious, engaging person.
“Of course, she was very close to all of us. She was an incredible mother.
“She was an incredibly generous person in heart and spite. She touched the lives of so many people in so many different ways all over the world.”
10.30am update: Queen ‘finally draws line’ as monarch puts foot down on Meghan and Harry’s royal demands
The Queen has put her foot down and sent a clear signal to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry about what role they will be having in the future as she denied the Duke of Sussex’s request to lay a wreath on his behalf on Remembrance Sunday.
Royal commentator Morgan Stewart said the Queen has “finally the line is drawn” on the type of demands Harry and Meghan can make.
Royal Family tree (Image: EXPRESS)
9.10am update: Prince Harry’s friends leap to his defence
The Duke of Sussex’s military family is one of the most important things to him and will always remain so, those close to Harry have said.
They denied accusations a private visit by Harry and the Duchess of Sussex to the Los Angeles National Cemetery on Remembrance Sunday was a publicity stunt.
“If you listen to the podcast that he did at the weekend, he talks about wearing the poppy and wanting to recognise Remembrance Sunday, not only for all those people historically, but also for the people he knew that he lost,” someone close to Harry said.
“I don’t think that’s someone who does something like Remembrance Sunday as a publicity stunt.”
They added: “It’s probably not surprising that having served on the front line, having done tours of duty, having been in the military for 10 years, having created Invictus, supported Walking with the Wounded and all others, that the military community, the military family is probably one of the most important things to the duke, and will always be so.”
8.42am update: Ex-royal butler claims Prince of Wales hid double life from Diana
Prince Charles hid his whereabouts from Princess Diana when meeting up with Camilla during their marriage a former royal butler has claimed.
Princess Diana was concerned about where Prince Charles was while they were apart, according to Paul Burrell, who was a butler for the Prince and Princess of Wales. During last night’s episode of ITV’s The Diana Interview: Revenge Of A Princess, the former royal staffer alleged that Prince Charles lived a different lifestyle when they weren’t together at Highgrove in Gloucestershire.
Princess Diana, who was mainly staying at Kensington Palace, would call him throughout the week asking where Prince Charles was.
He said: “The Princess would ring me up during the week and say ‘where’s Prince Charles?’ and I’d say ‘I can’t really say, you’ll have to ask him.’”
The former royal butler added there were “two very different lives” at Highgrove – the royal household of Charles and Diana at the time.
8.15am update: Prince Harry and Meghan hired star photographer for war graves visit
Prince Harry and Meghan have been accused of “treating Remembrance Sunday like a PR opportunity” after hiring a fashion photographer to capture them visiting war graves.
The couple enlisted celebrity snapper Lee Morgan to take pictures of them visiting the only two Second World War Commonwealth graves at the Los Angeles National Cemetery.
Morgan has previously worked with rap star Kanye West and also shoots nudes.
7.40am update: Princess Diana knew Prince Charles and Camilla were ‘true love match’
Princess Diana is said to have known how in love her then-husband Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, were, leading her to “get her story out there” in the iconic BBC Panorama interview.
Royal expert Jennie Bond told Lorraine Kelly that Diana informed her of what she would say on Panorama five months before the show aired.
She said: “She’d told me an awful lot that was in Panorama five months before, we had a long meeting, just the two of us at Kensington Palace in her sitting room.
“And so what was in Panorama was largely known to me, but she asked me to keep it in confidence.”