As Prince Harry’s Land Rover swept through the gates of Sandringham House, the favored country estate of his grandmother, the queen, he grew increasingly nervous. The Duke of Sussex had entered uncharted territory, write Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand in Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family. Just days earlier, the sixth-in-line to the throne and his wife, the American TV actress Meghan Markle, had bypassed the palace and announced their intention “to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family.”
The time had come to “carve out a progressive new role” within the monarchy, the Sussexes concluded in an Instagram post. In particular, they would “work to become financially independent,” while retaining their royal duties and patronages. This forced the queen’s hand. Her Majesty called a meeting, which was dubbed “the Sandringham Summit” by the press. In attendance were the queen, Harry, his father, Charles, Prince of Wales, and his brother, William, the Duke of Cambridge.
Somewhat befittingly, they convened in the Long Library — so named because the Edwardian study, replete with oak furnishings and classical busts, had once been an American-style bowling alley. The Windsors have long made a habit of melding the old with the new, the traditional with the modern. But on this occasion, it had proven untenable to recast the Los Angeles–born Meghan in the starring role of a dutiful, reserved British aristocrat. In a little over 18 months from their wedding day, Harry and Meghan’s honeymoon with the British public was over. The couple had all but vacated the country. And for those who cared enough to notice, Megxit had already begun. Where had it all gone wrong?
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