Prince Harry dumped Royal Family by email: Shocking revelations about the inside story of Megxit

They’ve opted for a new life in La La Land – it’s what they wanted and planned. 

But how long will it be before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – especially the duke – begin to experience niggling regrets? 

As one royal insider – previously a great admirer – said to me recently: ‘Harry has given up everything, literally everything. He has burnt every single bridge back at home. And ­Meghan? Well I rather think she’s got what she wanted…’ 

How fair this waspish conclusion is, remains to be seen. 

But on Tuesday the Sussexes’ brief reign as the Royal Family’s most glamorous and polarising power couple will end as they officially step back from duties. 

And they’re not hanging about. As I revealed in January California was always the plan. 

The move hasn’t surprised the Royal household, but many feel it appears disrespectful to the Canadian people. 

The Sussexes made much of the move to a Commonwealth country – and a British realm. 

It was symbolic of wanting to retain their links with the monarchy. 

Many within the Royal Family and the wider household view ‘H and M’s’ decision to quit royal duties in such a rash fashion as a crying shame – both for the couple and the institution. 

‘It didn’t have to be like this,’ one source sighed as they described as the couple’s ‘complete self-absorption’. 

‘The trouble is that they are so obstinate, stubborn and convinced of the righteousness of their cause, that even if Harry privately regretted it, he wouldn’t want to lose faith and admit they were wrong.’ 

As a long-term observer of the duke, I know that, so far, he doesn’t regret it, not for a second. 

And having talked to insiders on both sides, I can reveal the most ­comprehensive account of the ‘Megxit’ saga so far. I use the word Megxit with some apprehension. 

For while Meghan was the catalyst in Harry’s decision to walk away, this was very much his decision, too. 

Which is why it has hurt – really hurt – Harry’s family, particularly the Queen, so deeply. 

Both she and Harry’s father, the Prince of Wales, were delighted when Harry met Meghan in the summer of 2016 and quickly decided he wanted to share his life with her. 

She was bright, beautiful, independent, and as a hard-working career woman, it was hoped she would ground the insecure Harry who had never found his footing since leaving the army. 

But this relationship wouldn’t be plain sailing. It is a deeply unpopular view with Meghan’s supporters – her critics are accused of racism or misogyny – but she was difficult and demanding with staff. 

And suddenly the same was being said of a newly emboldened and humourless Harry. 

Behaviour that was acceptable in Hollywood did not go down well in a ‘Firm’ that revolves around a certain CEO. 

One of the earliest signs that Meghan was determined to do it her way occurred when the Queen invited her to Chester after her wedding in June 2018. The Queen’s powerful personal assistant, Angela Kelly, sent a ­message that Her Majesty would be wearing a hat – polite Palace code for ‘you should be wearing one too’. 

The message came back that Meghan preferred to go bareheaded. 

The new duchess was clearly unwilling to acquiesce. Harry declared in the run-up to their wedding that ‘what Meghan wants, Meghan gets’ after a row about tiaras. But most assumed it would calm down. 

It didn’t. 

There were tales of screaming at staff, demands about homes, ­retinue and clothing allowances. 

As one aggrieved royal insider told me: ‘People had bent over backwards. They were given the wedding they wanted, house they wanted, office they wanted, the money they wanted, staff they wanted, tours they wanted and had the backing of their family. What more did they want?’ 

Then, of course, William and Harry spectacularly fell out. 

William, I am told, felt uncomfortable with his brother’s new ‘showbiz’ lifestyle. He felt Harry was rushing things with a woman he barely knew. 

Harry accused his elder ‘bro’ of being ‘unsupportive’, while Meghan said Kate was ‘cold’ and ‘uninterested’ in her. 

The ­relationship has become so strained that William and Kate’s children have only seen their new cousin, Archie, twice. 

Of course Harry and Meghan, united against a family they felt didn’t understand them, saw it differently. 

One source told me: ‘They felt that the institution only wanted to trot them out to exploit their popularity when convenient. Otherwise it wanted to constrain because it was jealous and threatened by their popularity.’ 

When they left for a holiday in Canada last autumn, there were just a couple of royal tours in the offing – including Mongolia and South Korea. 

‘They felt the family just couldn’t handle them. They felt trapped and believed senior Establishment figures, including William, were trying to derail them,’ another insider reveals. 

Of course, the rest of the family say this is patently untrue. 

‘Those working for the Queen would have being doing the institution of the monarchy a disservice in not standing up to them. 

‘The monarchy has strict guidelines about what members of the Royal Family can do, particularly commercially, and how public money is spent. As the Queen knows, if you are a public figure on the public purse, then you have limits and responsibilities. Saying no is being responsible to the British taxpayer, not reactionary.’ 

Harry and Meghan were increasingly unhappy. In October, while touring Africa, they complained about press and public criticism. It was then senior members of the Royal Family decided something needed to give. 

The couple’s ­emotional interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby only reinforced that view. 

Many felt Bradby had taken advantage of Harry’s ‘clear vulnerability’. 

So when in mid-November Harry and Meghan decided on that six week family break in Canada – that’s what they told the Queen – she gave her blessing. 

Unknown to anyone, the couple had in fact been ‘plotting’ a life outside of Britain. 

They had assembled a team of US advisers and managers, many of whom had worked with Meghan as an actress. 

They also employed the Canadian website designer responsible for her popular pre-marriage lifestyle blog to create the ‘Sussex Royal’ website to provide them with a window shop to the world. 

Ensconced in that £10million ­Vancouver Island mansion, ­surrounded by Meghan’s friends, such as the Canadian TV presenter Jessica Mulroney, the couple ­developed a siege mentality. 

Shortly before they came back to London in early January, Harry contacted his grandmother and father by email to tell them he and Meghan wanted out. 

Both the Queen and Charles urged him not to rush into anything. 

One family source tells me: ‘They understood that he and Meghan wanted something different and were willing to help but it was complicated. 

‘There were issues like security and funding, visas and tax, which neither of them had thought through. Harry was told to put his request in writing and come up with some ideas. 

‘He thought his family were stonewalling and decided to push the nuclear button.’

Back in the UK, Harry summoned his senior staff to meet the couple at Frogmore Cottage and told them their plans. 

They begged him not to go public and warned him that putting all his cards on the table was a dangerous strategy. 

‘They didn’t even have clue what the term financially independent meant,’ snorts one insider. 

‘Unfortunately he was just too stubborn, blinkered and bitter to see sense.’ He believed he was being forced to play second fiddle to William when it was he – and Meghan – who had the star power. 

‘Yet his father had always made clear that while he favours a slimmed down monarchy, Harry and his family would be a significant part of that,’ my source said. 

Egged on by Meghan, he released his bombshell statement without telling the Queen first. 

One courtier revealed: ‘Her Majesty was shocked. People were angry the Queen had been so disrespected.’ 

Conference calls were held between the various royal residences. One source told me at the time: ‘They have bombed their way to the table but there’s still a desire to find a solution. The Queen knows she has to sort it.’ 

Charles was united with his mother in their resolve. 

Harry and Meghan could not be allowed to exploit their status commercially and their plans for a ‘half in, half out’ approach was unacceptable. Harry was devastated to lose his military and Commonwealth roles, but his biggest frustration was being ordered to walk away from their Sussex Royal brand. 

‘They were obsessed that this was punitive and spiteful. They couldn’t see that the Queen had no choice,’ I am told. 

In the end, the Sussexes capitulated and walked away to start their new life. 

One source close to Meghan told me that people needed to understand that marrying into the Royal Family hadn’t been easy for her. 

‘She grossly misjudged how culturally different the UK is from America. And then you add to that the protocol…,’ they said. 

‘To be fair, she didn’t really have any girlfriends to say to her ‘‘if you don’t wear a hat when you are with the Queen, you are going to mess this up’’. She didn’t understand how bad it was to get something as ­simple as that so wrong. 

‘Harry didn’t know how to handle the situation. He would often go into see his private secretary, Samantha Cohen, begging her to help. It was a bit of a mess.’

Another senior royal source told me Meghan had issued her husband with a stark ultimatum: Archie and me are your family. 

‘Harry had been hopeful of finding a way to marry his desire for more freedom with his royal heritage, but Meghan convinced him there was no other option, She forced him to choose. He has spent three months convincing himself he has done the right thing.’ 

So where to now? There is talk of their own production company, although the coronavirus pandemic has put plans to launch the couple’s charitable activities on hold. 

There will be an announcement on ‘Megxit Day’ on Tuesday but it will largely pass by unmarked. 

‘To be honest, they checked out months ago. They have their eyes on a very different prize,’ sources tell me. 

Behind them is a gaping wound that will take some time to heal. 

‘The Queen doesn’t deserve to be treated in this way. It’s easy to say Harry and Meghan have made their bed, let them lie in it. But what they have done will have ramifications for possibly generations to come.’