'Exhausted' Queen Elizabeth's six-word retort when Harry and Meghan quit

When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle took a step back from the Royal Family as senior working members of the Firm in 2020 and relocated to California, it sent shockwaves across the world. One person who was arguably most impacted by the decision was the late Queen Elizabeth, who worked to hold the remaining royals together during the tumultuous time.

While putting on a brave face during public engagements, the late Queen was heartbroken behind closed doors over her grandson’s decision to leave the UK and the family for good. One royal author has claimed that the late monarch was “exhausted” by the situation, which was informally dubbed ‘Megxit’.

Royal expert Katie Nicholl’s book The New Royals: Queen Elizabeth’s Legacy and the Future of the Crown claims that Her Majesty “didn’t want to think about it” when being pressed for her thoughts about the emancipation.

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In the book, it was claimed that an insider - who spoke about the late Queen’s reaction to Harry and Meghan leaving the Firm - said: "She (the late Queen) was very hurt and told me, 'I don’t know, I don’t care.'

The source said she added, "I don’t want to think about it anymore."

Despite being understandably upset over the situation, Queen Elizabeth did her best to maintain some kind of a relationship with her grandson, even when they relocated to the other side of the world.

It has long been claimed that the late Queen would often call Harry and Meghan, and speak to their children Archie and Lilibet over video call.

It is also believed that despite the strained relationships, Queen Elizabeth would still send gifts to her great-grandchildren, as she famously sent Archie a waffle maker so Meghan could make him his favourite waffles for breakfast.

While the late Queen didn’t often see Prince Harry and Meghan Markle after they left the UK, the royal family was able to spend some quality time together when the Sussexes returned to England for the monarch’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022: just three months before Queen Elizabeth passed away.

It is widely believed that during the Jubilee celebrations was the only time the Queen met Harry and Meghan’s daughter Lilibet, who is named after the late monarch’s childhood nickname.

While Queen Elizabeth did spend some time with her great-grandchildren, she was still upset over not seeing them more regularly, and expressed her sadness over them not attending a sleepover weekend at Balmoral Castle.

Katie Nicholl said in the book: "It was a source of sadness to the Queen that she got to see so little of Archie and Lilibet and that Harry and Meghan were not able to join her for a weekend at Balmoral in August when the Queen used to host a 'sleepover' for all of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren."