Princess Kate had a difficult decision to make when the news came that Her Majesty the Queen was slipping away – and she stayed at home while William rushed to be by his grandmother’s side
As the Royal Family rushed to be by the Queen’s bedside in the final hours of her life, Princess Kate was forced to make a difficult decision.
The late monarch was at Balmoral in Scotland when she passed away, with the majority of her loved ones desperately trying to make the 542 mile journey from London in time.
Buckingham Palace announced at 12.50pm that Prince William , Prince Andrew , Prince Edward and Sophie had started to make their way to Scotland. But Princess Kate was not with them.
Kate’s absence came as a surprise – she had forged a strong relationship with the Queen. But she also had to consider her three young children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.
The siblings had only just started at their brand new school, Lambrook, and Kate made the difficult decision to stay at home to be there to support them.
It was later revealed that Prince Harry was pacified by Kate’s decision, having been angered by his father’s decision to ban Meghan from coming to Balmoral. Charles had called his son and instructed him to leave Meghan in London when he came to say his final goodbyes.
Harry wrote about the moment in his memoir Spare, saying his father had told him Meghan wasn’t allowed to attend because “no other wives were coming” – including Princess Kate.
He recounted how Charles called him during his trip, stating: “He said I was welcome at Balmoral, but he didn’t want… her. He started to lay out his reason, which was nonsensical, and disrespectful, and I wasn’t having it.”
Harry retorted firmly to his father’s comments about Meghan: “Don’t ever speak about my wife that way.” He continued: “He stammered, apologetic, saying he simply didn’t want a lot of people around. No other wives were coming, Kate wasn’t coming, he said, therefore Meg shouldn’t. Then that’s all you needed to say.”
The Queen peacefully passed away at 15:10 on 8 September. Of her family members, only Charles, Camilla and Princess Anne were able to see her before she died.
Fortuitously, the siblings were both already in Scotland, having carried out events in the country earlier in the week including the Braemar Royal Highland Gathering, which they attended together over the weekend.
But only Anne was present when their mother slipped away. Charles had briefly stepped away from her bedside to clear his head and had gone out to gather mushrooms. He received the news that she had died as he was driving back to Balmoral when his most senior aide took a call. Charles pulled over and was addressed for the first time as ‘Your Majesty’ – signalling he was now King.
Sadly, no-one else arrived in time. William, Andrew, Edward and Sophie landed at 3:50pm, 40 minutes after her death. With William at the wheel, they drove to Balmoral, arriving at 5.06pm. Prince Harry , meanwhile, left Luton airport onboard a private jet at about 5.30pm. He was still in the air when the announcement of the queen’s death was made at 6.30pm.