Prince Harry speaks for first time about secret meeting with Queen

19 April 2022, 08:29

Prince Harry has spoken for the first time about meeting the Queen with his wife Meghan last week.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex secretly visited the monarch in Windsor on Thursday and also met Prince Charles before travelling to the Netherlands for the Invictus Games.

It is the first time in two years the couple have been seen together publicly on this side of the Atlantic.

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When asked about the Queen, Harry told the BBC: "She had plenty of messages for Team UK which I've already passed on to most of them so it was great to see her. I'm sure she'd love to be here if she could."

The surprise face-to-face meeting has been viewed as an "olive branch" by royal commentators after a turbulent two years following the couple's decision to step down as senior royals in 2020.

The pair were absent from the Duke of Edinburgh's memorial service in London last month.

Harry flew back from California without Meghan, who was heavily pregnant at the time, to attend his grandfather's funeral in Windsor in April 2021.

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His most recent return to the UK was to unveil the statue of his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales, on July 1, 2021 with the Duke of Cambridge.

The duke and duchess moved to the US for a new life of personal and financial freedom.

But they later threw the monarchy into crisis by accusing an unnamed royal of racism against their son Archie before he was born and the institution of failing to help Meghan when she was suicidal during a controversial interview with Oprah Winfrey.

The couple's unannounced return to the UK came amid concerns over the Queen's health.

The monarch recovered from Covid in February and has experienced recent mobility issues.