Prince Harry’s repeated “ambushing” of the royal family had a detrimental effect on the late Queen Elizabeth II’s health in her final year, sources who were close to her have claimed.
The late Queen hated confrontation, and attacks on the family by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are said to have “had an impact” on her frail condition before she died last September.
As well as having to cope with the damaging allegations made in television interviews, she was well aware that further revelations would be made in the Prince’s book, Spare, which was originally due to be published last year.
Friends of the late Queen have left no doubt that it was playing on her mind in her last months.
“This did have an impact on the Queen’s health in her final year. It did take its toll,” said one.
Prince Harry, they said, was a “much-loved grandson”, making the “almost weekly” attacks especially painful.
It comes as royal sources accused him of wrongly blaming the Queen Consort for leaking details of a private conversation with his brother, Prince William, to a newspaper, saying the leak had in fact come via a member of her staff who later resigned.
Royal insiders also accused the Prince of “hypocrisy” for going into details about the personal struggles of the King and the Princess of Wales despite setting himself up as a mental health campaigner.
Meanwhile, the Duke faces a growing backlash from members of the Armed Forces, who believe his disclosure that he killed 25 insurgents in Afghanistan has put not only himself but also serving personnel in greater danger.
The publication of Spare was postponed until January 10 after the Queen’s death, but copies accidentally went on sale in Spain on Thursday, meaning its contents have been widely reported.
The Prince writes affectionately about his grandmother in the memoir, but those who knew her have disclosed that she suffered as a result of the campaign he has waged against his family since moving to California almost three years ago.
One friend of the late Queen said: “She never wanted to deal with confrontation, even going as far back as the start of Prince Andrew’s troubles, and this stuff was shoved in her face on an almost weekly basis.
“It had an impact. She had lost Prince Philip, and then the constant ambushing of the royal family by a much-loved grandson did take its toll. At that stage in your life and your reign, you just don’t need that on top of everything else.”
Another well-placed source said they had “absolutely” no doubt that the allegations made by the Sussexes affected the late Queen’s health.
The first source questioned how the Prince could possibly achieve the reconciliation he says he wants with his family, adding: “He says he wants a reconciliation then he sticks this enormous machete in their backs.”
The source also said the Duchess of Sussex had said she wanted to be part of a family, “but how are their kids going to be part of a family now? It’s out of the question”.
Royal insiders accused Prince Harry of hypocrisy for exposing his father and sister-in-law’s personal struggles.
He has long campaigned for better mental health support and has also railed against others leaking personal details about his private life to the media, but uses his memoir to expose sensitive and private conversations that took place between family members.
Prince Harry reveals in the book that his wife, Meghan, believed the Princess of Wales was suffering from “baby brain”. He suggests the Princess’s hormones went haywire following the birth of Prince Louis, making her forget things.
The Prince also says Charles had confessed that he was “persecuted” as a boy and badly bullied at Gordonstoun, his school in Scotland, claiming he still carried around an old teddy bear that had seemingly been his only comfort in childhood.
He reveals that the King pleaded with him and William not to make his final years a misery, and also discloses details of several dinner table conversations with the Prince and Princess of Wales.
One royal source told The Telegraph: “It is hypocritical for him to talk about other people’s mental health. The King may have spoken about his troubles at Gordonstoun in public, but it’s not for Harry to go into all that. The problem is he just doesn’t have any grown-ups advising him.”
Another said: “It is very hard to understand how he has squared that in his own mind, given his passion for protecting his private life.”
The Duke was asked in an ITV interview, to be broadcast on Sunday, whether he felt he had invaded the privacy of his nearest and dearest without permission.
He replied: “That would be the accusation from people that don’t understand or don’t want to believe that my family have been briefing the press. I don’t know how staying silent is ever going to make things better.”
The Duke was asked by Tom Bradby, the veteran anchor: “Wouldn’t your brother say to you: ‘Harry, how could you do this to me after everything? After everything we went through?’ Wouldn’t that be what he would say?”
He said: “He would probably say all sorts of different things.”