Days after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle shocked fans with their stepping down announcement, the Duke of Sussex was summoned to crisis talks with his family.
He sat down with the Queen, Prince Charles and his older brother William, who were all reportedly furious, to discuss what happened next.
In what was dubbed the ‘Sandringham Summit’, the senior royals sat around a table at the Queen’s Norfolk home to work out the logistics of the new lives Meghan and Harry had set their sights on.
The Duchess had returned to Canada before the meeting took place, and while she was originally due to dial in it was later decided that Harry would face the music on his own.
However things didn’t exactly go smoothly, and the Queen said the semi-royal idea the couple had in mind simply wasn’t going to work.
A source told Finding Freedom authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand: “It was untenable. If Harry and Meghan had been semi-working royals, there would have had to have been oversight in everything they did in their independent sphere, a committee to approve events and deals.”
She also explained that they weren’t allowed to use the word ‘Royal’ in their branding, which meant closing their hugely popular Sussex Royal accounts.
They were reportedly disappointed with the final ‘Megxit’ rulings.
But as soon as the meeting was over, Harry had an important task before he called his wife to let her know how it went.
He wanted to brief his staff before talking to Meghan.
In their book, Scobie and Durand write: “When the meeting was over, Harry immediately debriefed Sussex aides before sending a text message to Meghan.”
After saying her goodbyes to her family, the Queen started working on a public statement which she released that evening.
Her message included the first official sign of change, as he used the couple’s first names rather than their official titles, a break from protocol when it comes to palace statements.
She said: “Today my family had very constructive discussions on the future of my grandson and his family.
“My family and I are entirely supportive of Harry and Meghan’s desire to create a new life as a young family.
Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working members of the Royal Family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family.
“Harry and Meghan have made clear that they do not want to be reliant on public funds in their new lives.
“It has therefore been agreed that there will be a period of transition in which the Sussexes will spend time in Canada and the UK.
“These are complex matters for my family to resolve, and there is some more work to be done, but I have asked for final decisions to be reached in the coming days.”