Prince Charles, William and Queen Elizabeth Allegedly Hold ‘Crisis Talks’ With Harry Amid Exit Alongside Meghan Markle

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made a major announcement this week when they shared that they will be stepping back as senior members of the royal family, a decision which reportedly sent shockwaves through the rest of the British monarchy.

According to Daily Mail, Harry has since been involved in a four-way conference call with his father, Prince Charles, brother, Prince William, and grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen reportedly wants to find a “workable” role for her grandson and his wife within “days, not weeks,” resulting in the lengthy discussion.

The Evening Standard had reported that the Queen instructed Harry to hold off on making his announcement, though he ultimately did so anyway and gave Charles and William just 10 minutes’ notice ahead of the news. Reporter Tom Bradby said on ITV that this was because the news had already leaked, sharing on ITV on Thursday that Harry had been “talking to his family for some weeks about all this.”

“And certainly as I understand it what happened is he was asked by members of his family — or at least their officials — to put some of these ideas in writing,” Bradby said. “He said, ‘I really don’t want to do that because it normally leaks.’ And they were very insistent in order to go forward and discuss it properly it had to be put in writing. He did put it in writing, and it did leak. So yes, I don’t think [the royal family] got much heads-up as to the actual announcement, but they certainly knew what was going on. I think [Harry] felt once it had been leaked all bets were off.”

Meanwhile, Markle has returned to Canada, where she and Harry had reportedly left baby Archie with Markle’s good friend, Jessica Mulroney and a nanny, PEOPLE reports. Markle and Harry had recently spent the holidays on Vancouver Island with their son.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced their decision to step back as senior members of the royal family on Wednesday, revealing that they will be splitting their time between the U.K. and North America.

“After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution,” the couple shared in a statement on Instagram. “We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen. It is with your encouragement, particularly over the last few years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment.”

Photo Credit: Getty / Neil Mockford