A former royal butler has revealed what he believes was Queen Elizabeth II’s subtle warning about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle before the couple stepped back from royal duties. Grant Harrold, who previously served in the royal household, told Nine Honey that signs of strain were already visible in the Queen’s 2019 Christmas broadcast.
According to Harrold, the Queen’s annual holiday message included photos of senior family members, but noticeably absent were Harry and Meghan. “The Queen has got a picture… I think it’s of William and Catherine, I think of the [now] King and the Queen, but none of Harry and Meghan,” he recalled.
Harrold explained that this stood out because in previous years, the Sussexes had been featured prominently. “The previous years, there were ones of Harry, there was Harry and Meghan [that year,] there were none of them,” he said. In 2018, the Queen even included a photo of Prince Archie as part of her display, but by 2019, the young royal’s parents were missing entirely.
Harrold said the absence did not go unnoticed in his own household. “I remember watching and I remember saying to my other half, ‘Something’s gone on – where’s Harry?’ Nobody had picked it up at that point [but] I think that shows that tremors had already begun.”
The butler suggested that this quiet change may have foreshadowed the couple’s eventual departure from the royal family. Just months later, in early 2020, Harry and Meghan announced they would step back from their official duties. Their decision, later dubbed “Megxit,” was acknowledged by the Queen in a carefully worded statement.
“Following conversations with the duke, the Queen has written confirming that in stepping away from the work of the royal family, it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service,” the monarch said at the time.
While some may view the missing photographs as insignificant, Harrold believes they offered a rare glimpse into private tensions brewing behind palace walls. Whether intentional or not, he argues the Queen’s Christmas message served as an early signal of the seismic shift soon to come in the monarchy.