Queen Elizabeth II reportedly expressed deep personal regret over Prince Harry's marriage to Meghan Markle, calling the relationship "a complete catastrophe" and labeling the Duchess of Sussex as "evil" in private conversations just weeks before her death, according to multiple sources cited by The Spectator and Daily Mail. The monarch, who passed away in September 2022 at age 96, allegedly made the remarks during a reception at her Balmoral estate in August of that year.
"It was out of character for the Queen to use such a word as 'evil' to describe Meghan, but she saw straight through her," one insider told The Spectator. "It was a startling sentence to hear from the most forgiving woman on Earth." The source added that Queen Elizabeth spoke candidly before dinner, reflecting on Harry's relationship with Meghan by saying, "Harry meeting Meghan had become a complete catastrophe."
The comments reportedly stunned those present. "Everybody's eyebrows hit the ceiling," the source said. The Queen, aware of her declining health, appeared "regretful about how things had panned out," another insider told Daily Mail.
Despite public statements describing Harry and Meghan as "much loved" members of the royal family, the Queen reportedly harbored increasing concern about the couple's behavior, particularly after their decision in 2020 to step back from royal duties and move to California. Biographer Robert Hardman, in his book Charles III, details an incident in which the Queen was "as angry as I'd ever seen her" after Harry and Meghan claimed they had her blessing to name their daughter Lilibet, her childhood nickname.
"I don't own the palaces, I don't own the paintings, the only thing I own is my name. And now they've taken that," the Queen reportedly said, according to a former staff member cited in Hardman's book, according to National ENQUIRER.
The tension followed a string of explosive interviews in which the Sussexes alleged racism and a lack of support from the royal institution. In their 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey and subsequent Netflix documentary series, Meghan described her mental health struggles and claimed that royal family members expressed concern over their son Archie's skin color before his birth.
Still, Meghan has publicly maintained that she had a warm relationship with the Queen. "I've loved being in her company. She's always been warm, welcoming, and inviting," Meghan told Oprah in 2021. Following the Queen's death, Meghan reflected in Variety, "I feel deep gratitude to have been able to spend time with her and get to know her... she is the most shining example of what [female leadership] looks like."
She added, "In big moments in life, you get a lot of perspective," referencing the loss of the monarch and how it shaped her current priorities. Meghan and Harry remained in the UK following the Queen's death, attending the funeral and making a public appearance with the Prince and Princess of Wales to view tributes at Windsor.
Despite efforts at reconciliation, the rift remains. Royal sources have long suggested that the Queen's initial optimism about Meghan had dimmed. Elizabeth Anson, a cousin of the Queen who passed away in 2020, allegedly warned biographer Sally Bedell Smith that the Queen was "very worried" and that Meghan had gone from "charming and thoughtful to increasingly controlling." Anson reportedly believed that Meghan had "engineered" her relationship with Harry.
