Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Prince William, and Prince Harry, recently, discussed what’s going to happen next after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced last week that they will be stepping down from being senior royals. The Buckingham Palace, then, updated everyone by saying that Her Majesty described the talk as “very constructive discussion.”
The statement also revealed that Queen Elizabeth supports Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s decision. But, she did point out that the process is complex. So, the final decisions will be “reached in the coming days.”
“Today my family had very constructive discussions on the future of my grandson and his family,” the statement read. “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.”
This is not the first time that Queen Elizabeth had to summon senior royals to discuss a family matter. In 1995, Her Majesty summoned both Prince Charles and Prince Andrew to her Norfolk estate to talk about their failed marriages with Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson.
Unlike her compassionate approach towards Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Queen Elizabeth was tough towards Prince Charles and Prince Andrew, forcing them to make a final decision right then and there. The monarch even demanded both of his sons to initiate their divorce proceedings.
“The Queen had summoned her children to what you can only describe as a summit, at Sandringham,” veteran royal reporter Phil Dampier said. “The monarchy itself was in peril, it was at such a low ebb. It was in such a terrible state that they had to do something. That was the turning point when the Queen said, enough is enough, you must now divorce. We have to draw a line under this. Someone overheard the conversation, they’d discussed the fact that she was telling Charles and Andrew that they needed to get divorced.”
Prince Charles and Princess Diana got married in 1981 and finalized their divorce in August 1996. Their union was plagued with infidelity issues. The Princess of Wales, then, infamously said: “There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.”
Meanwhile, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson got a divorce in May 1996 after being married for 10 years.
