Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are leaving for the U.S. in a few weeks to spend the Christmas holiday with Doria Ragland, Meghan's mom. The palace announced that the Sussex family will not be in Sandringham, where Queen Elizabeth holds her traditional Christmas celebrations.
Though the official palace statement revealed that Queen Elizabeth supported Prince Harry and Meghan's decision to skip Christmas in the U.K. this year, sources in the know said that Her Majesty is actually disappointed. Royal correspondent Richard Palmer posted on Twitter that the last 18 months have been challenging for the Sussexes and it has the Queen growing concern for Prince Harry and Meghan.
Palmer also said that no one in the royal family supports Prince Harry and Meghan's "confrontational approach to the media." Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Prince William and their wives do not think it's a good idea for Prince Harry and Meghan to fight the media and there have been some words exchanged to this effect.
The royal source also said that before the official announcement was released, Prince Harry and Meghan didn't tell Queen Elizabeth of their Christmas plans. However, they made the public announcement because of the massive interest in the media about where they would be spending the holidays.
Royal biographer Angela Levin, however, also shared her take on why Prince Harry and Meghan chose to skip Christmas in Sandringham this year. The Sussex pair probably wants to have a quiet Christmas to themselves when the holidays over at the Queen's home can be demanding and regimented.
Levin shared that if the royals spend Christmas with the Queen, they have to observe a few protocols. These included rules like they can no longer eat when the Queen has finished her meal. They cannot also go to bed if the Queen isn't in bed.
With a structure like this, it's understandable for Prince Harry and Meghan to do something different, after a challenging year they've had. They also have a baby who will be spending his first Christmas and it would be hard to observe royal protocols in this situation.
Levin implied that what the Sussexes need at the moment is a relaxing atmosphere for a stressful time like the holidays. Besides, Prince William and Kate also skipped Christmas in Sandringham, with the Queen's permission, when Prince George and Princess Charlotte were barely a year old.
