WHEN Palace aides came for Prince Harry, their revenge was served cold – and with clinical brutality.
Some two years after the wayward Duke made wild claims about what his grandmother may or may not have said to him in private, the royal machine is fighting back.
The royal spat — over the naming of the Sussexes’ second child Lilibet — offers a fascinating glimpse into the late Queen’s relationship with her troubled grandson.
It has seen a senior member of Palace staff break cover to tell author Robert Hardman that the Queen was “as angry as I’d ever seen her” over suggestions the naming decision had her blessing.
The author also claimed Buckingham Palace had “rebuffed” calls from Harry and Meghan to issue a statement “propping up their version of events”.
From tongue scraping to saying no, here are 12 health trends to try in 2023
Hardman — who has made a string of behind-the-scenes royal documentaries — has impeccable Palace sources.
Last night Sun Royal Photographer Arthur Edwards said: “Harry’s had a fairly clear run of knocking his family and making claim after claim through his documentaries and his book, Spare.
“But as we are now finding out, not only do recollections vary, some of his claims were somewhat fanciful.
“They say revenge is a dish best served cold and that’s what the Palace has done.”
The furore erupted in June, 2021, after Harry and Meghan’s second child was born at California’s Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.
Rather presumptuous
The Sussexes announced she would be called Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.
Lilibet was the late Queen’s nickname and used only by a tight circle of family and friends.
Bearing the unique name would ensure the baby princess growing up in celebrity enclave Montecito on the Pacific coast would always be linked to her regal great-grandmother.
Indeed, some courtiers had reportedly found the choice of name “bewildering” and “rather presumptuous”.
How to de-clutter if you have a beauty stash to last you a lifetime
Royal watcher Arthur added: “Lilibet was a pet name given to the Queen as a child when she couldn’t pronounce Elizabeth properly.
“Her grandfather King George V affectionately called her Lilibet as he mimicked her trying to say her real name.
“Only a handful of people ever used it, including her parents, sister and her beloved husband Prince Philip.
“So it was very dear to her and she would have expected a member of her close family to seek her permission before using it.”
According to the Sussexes, they had sought the Queen’s approval before confirming Lilibet’s name.
A spokesman for the couple said at the time: “The Duke spoke with his family in advance of the announcement — in fact his grandmother was the first family member he called.
“During that conversation, he shared their hope of naming their daughter Lilibet in her honour. Had she not been supportive, they would not have used the name.”
By all accounts a placid woman, it would take something remarkable to make Elizabeth II lose her temper.
Now, according to Hardman, she flew into a rage.
The Queen had lived her life by the maxim “never complain, never explain” as a way of dealing with the constant speculation about her private life.
Just three months previously, she had been forced to break that rule after Harry and Meghan used the prime-time Oprah Winfrey TV show to make a series of allegations against the Royal Family.
They included suggestions of racism concerning their son Archie.
Meghan said that within the royal household there were “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born”.
In a Palace statement that will go down in public relations history, the Queen was quoted as saying “some recollections may vary . . . ”.
Then, following Lilibet’s birth, the monarch’s aides entered another PR battle with her grandson and his wife.
The BBC reported that a Palace source had told them the Queen was not asked by the Sussexes if they could use the name.
Other sources told news outlets that while the Queen was called by the pair, she hadn’t felt in a position to say no to the request.
Amid the ruckus, the Sussexes unmuzzled their lawyers.
Hardman writes in his new biography of the King that the couple “fired off warnings of legal action against anyone who dared to suggest” they didn’t have the Queen’s blessing. That included the BBC.
In Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story, the author adds: “However, when the Sussexes tried to co-opt the Palace into propping up their version of events, they were rebuffed.
“Once again, it was a case of ‘recollections may vary’ — the late Queen’s reaction to the Oprah Winfrey interview — as far as Her Majesty was concerned.
“Those noisy threats of legal action evaporated and the libel action against the BBC never materialised.”
Hardman also describes Palace staff as being “interested” in Prince Harry’s apparently tell-all memoir, Spare, for “what had been omitted”.
The Sun’s Arthur — who has spent almost 50 years on the royal beat for the paper — revealed: “The whole episode saddens me.
“Once upon a time Harry was such an asset to the Royal Family. The Queen and Prince Philip were incredibly fond of him.
“The Queen gave him permission to serve on the front line in Afghanistan, where he fought for his country bravely and honourably. He was an all-action man.”
The smiles and body language in a short film shot in 2016 showed just how close the Queen and her grandson were.
As founder of the Invictus Games for wounded servicemen, Harry had joined the monarch to promote that year’s event — which was taking place in Orlando, USA — alongside then president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.
Grandmother and grandson were seen on a Palace sofa contentedly looking at images of Invictus athletes.
By Christmas 2019, royal watchers suggested things had got a little frostier.
Their own path
When the Queen made her annual Christmas Day speech there was no picture of the Sussexes nor newborn son Archie on her desk.
Photographs of Harry and Meghan were displayed for the Queen’s 2018 address.
But a year later she opted for photos of only her father King George VI, Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Camilla and a shot of Prince William and his family.
Dickie Arbiter, the former Buckingham Palace press secretary, said at the time: “Their son Archie was born this year. You would have thought there might be a picture.
“It is a very clear omission. I am surprised, but whether there is a clear message being sent out, I don’t know.”
Just 14 days later and so-called Megxit was announced.
Harry and Meghan would be stepping back as senior members of the Royal Family.
When the book Finding Freedom was published in August 2020, it revealed the Sussexes had felt snubbed by the omission of their pictures.
Co-authored by Omid Scobie — with contributions from Meghan through a third party — it revealed the pair were already feeling they “had long been sidelined by the institution and were not a fundamental part of its future”.
When they weren’t among the Queen’s speech photos they considered it “yet another sign that they needed to consider their own path”.
That path led to Montecito, in the California sun, and a lifestyle far removed from stuffy Windsor.
When the Queen died on September 8, 2022, at her Balmoral home in Aberdeenshire, Harry and Meghan were in London.
Harry later insisted he was “not invited” on a plane that took a clutch of royals to be at the Queen’s bedside as she slipped away.
Harry would only arrive two hours later after travelling alone.
Last year Harry told US show 60 Minutes that he had texted his brother William to ask how he was getting to Scotland but wasn’t given the flight details.
Harry told host Anderson Cooper: “I asked my brother — I said, ‘What are your plans? How are you and Kate getting up there?’ And then, a couple of hours later, you know, all of the family members that live within the Windsor and Ascot area were jumping on a plane, a plane with 12, 14, maybe 16 seats.”
Presenter Anderson asked him: “You were not invited on that plane?”
Harry replied: “I was not invited.”
Royal photographer Arthur said: “Look, I’m not surprised Harry wasn’t on that plane.
“The family were probably frightened their words on that flight might end up in a podcast or documentary.”
Arthur says King Charles is desperate for his relationship with younger son Harry to improve.
Little Lilibet — seventh in line to the throne — is thought to have only visited the UK on one brief occasion.
Her father seems as far from the royal fold as ever.
His tell-all books and TV appearances have seen to that.
Judging by the comments in Hardman’s book, the Palace seems ready to rebut any contentious claims in further Sussex media appearances.
For even a prince isn’t too mighty to be put to the sword.
