How Harry Learned About the Queen’s Death from the BBC
In his book Spare, Harry recounted how he didn’t receive a response from William after texting him about their ailing grandmother at Balmoral on Sept. 8, 2022. Without a plan from his brother, Harry booked his own British Airways flight to Scotland. Upon landing, he checked his phone and discovered a text from Meghan urging him to call ASAP, as well as a BBC News alert announcing the queen’s death.
While Harry was in the air, as detailed in Endgame, his team attempted to delay the palace from releasing the death announcement until Harry had been personally informed by the family. A close family source revealed that they had to plead with the palace to wait for Harry’s plane to land, and the palace reluctantly agreed to postpone the statement. Unfortunately, due to stormy weather, Harry’s plane had to circle for a while, and during that time, the palace sent out the release.
According to Scobie, reports suggesting that Charles had informed Harry before the public announcement were merely efforts by the royals to save face, as Harry made no mention of such attempts in Spare.
A friend of Harry’s told Scobie that the palace could have waited a little longer, as it would have been insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but they failed to show any respect for that.
