New details have emerged about a moment that reportedly showed just how strained things had become between Prince Harry and his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II after Megxit.
A former Buckingham Palace switchboard operator has described an unusually uncomfortable phone call during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the insider, Harry rang the Queen at a time when emotions across the Royal Family were already running high. What stood out was the Queen’s reaction when she was told who was calling.
Palace protocol required operators to ring the Queen’s private line, announce the caller, and wait for her acknowledgement before putting the call through. The operator said this acknowledgement never failed to come. Until this call.
“When I announced that Harry was on the line, there was just a stony silence,” the former staff member recalled in comments reported by the Daily Mail. The pause was reportedly so uncomfortable that the operator thanked the Queen on her behalf and connected the call anyway. “It was memorable because the Queen would never not acknowledge you,” the insider added.
The call is said to have taken place during one of the most difficult periods of the pandemic. At the time, the Queen was dealing with her husband Prince Philip’s declining health, while tensions linked to Harry and Meghan Markle stepping back from royal duties were still unresolved.
The account follows fresh reporting by royal author Sally Bedell Smith, published on her Substack Royal Extras. Her work draws on private conversations with Lady Elizabeth Anson, a close friend of the late Queen. In those exchanges, Lady Elizabeth reportedly claimed Meghan was “nothing but trouble” and suggested the Queen was far from happy in the run-up to the Sussexes’ wedding, after a series of incidents raised concerns within the Palace.
Together, these revelations paint a picture of a relationship that had grown deeply strained, with that brief silence on the phone said to mark a quiet but telling turning point.
