Why Meghan Markle Didn't Join Prince Harry At Balmoral After Queen Elizabeth's Death: Report

Meghan Markle was not able to join her husband Prince Harry at Queen Elizabeth II's Scottish estate Balmoral to say goodbye to the late 96-year-old monarch Thursday due to "tensions" between the Sussexes and the royal family, a report has claimed.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex planned to head to Balmoral together after Buckingham Palace announced that doctors were concerned over Queen Elizabeth's health early Thursday, but their plans swiftly changed, and Prince Harry arrived at the estate without his wife, the New York Post's Page Six reported.

Queen Elizabeth's passing came just days after Markle's bombshell interview with The Cut was published. The duchess told the magazine that Prince Harry had "lost" his father, now King Charles III, after they decided to step back from their royal roles in 2020.

The effect of the interview was reportedly among the reasons why Markle did not join the royal family at Balmoral. International Business Times could not independently verify this information.

"Tensions were so high and there was no way Meghan could have gone to Balmoral," a "highly-placed" palace source, who was not named, told Page Six Friday.

The royal insider continued, "The fact the Sussex camp did say both Harry and Meghan were going — and then quickly retracted that statement — will tell you everything you need to know about the drama behind the scenes."

Prince Harry and Markle "hate being separated from each other, so being alone in Scotland will have been very hard for Harry," the palace source said, before adding, "No wonder why he left so early."

According to the outlet, several members of the royal family, including Prince Harry and his older brother Prince William, did not make it to Balmoral in time to say a final goodbye to Queen Elizabeth, who passed away at age 96 on Thursday afternoon.

Prince Harry and Markle paid somber tribute to the late monarch by converting their Archewell Foundation website to show a black screen with a simple message written in white letters: "In loving memory of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 1926-2022."

Prince Harry reunited with Markle Friday morning at Frogmore Cottage, their home in Windsor, England. The duke is expected to stay there until his grandmother's state funeral, which is thought to take place on Sept. 19, Page Six reported.

It is not known whether Prince Harry and Markle's children, Archie, 3, and Lilibet, 1 — who stayed behind in California as the couple returned to the U.K. this week for a series of charitable events — will join their parents for the funeral.

During Markle's recent interview, she claimed that she and her husband offered to move to a Commonwealth country like Canada, New Zealand or South Africa when they felt they could no longer stay in Britain.

"Just by existing, we were upsetting the dynamic of the hierarchy. So we go, 'OK, fine, let's get out of here. Happy to,'" Markle told The Cut.

The duchess insisted that what they wanted was not something new and that they were not "reinventing the wheel" as a handful of princes, princesses and dukes had the same arrangement that they wanted.

"That, for whatever reason, is not something that we were allowed to do, even though several other members of the family do that exact thing," Markle claimed.

On Thursday, the BBC's long-standing royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell shared his thoughts about Markle and the royal family.

"She might not be terribly warmly welcomed, to be perfectly candid about," he said of Markle's decision not to join Prince Harry at Balmoral.