Prince Harry was close to Queen Elizabeth, despite having stepped down from his royal duties.
The Duke of Sussex had always worked to maintain his relationship with his grandmother despite the turmoil surrounding Harry and wife Meghan Markle’s departure from the royal family, which has caused rifts between the couple and other royal family members, including Prince William.
Through video calls, Harry updated the Queen on his life and that of his kids, Archie and Lilibet. On his way to the Invictus Games in the Netherlands in April, he stopped by the Queen’s residence at Windsor Castle.
When the family was in the UK earlier this year for the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, he also introduced the monarch to his 1-year-old daughter Lilibet, who shares the name Lilibet with the Queen.
The Queen, for her part, has had to walk a fine line between pity for the couple and firmness in support of her position as the monarch.
A royal insider said in the newest PEOPLE Royals, out on Friday, “One thing about the Queen is she has to manage being a grandmother but also how it affects the wider institution.”
The Queen’s appearance in Harry’s 2016 promotional video for the Invictus Games is one of the few public instances that perfectly captures their relationship.
Harry approached Queen Elizabeth while they were both seated on a floral sofa in Windsor Castle and showed her a quick video on his phone. On it, Michelle Obama and then-President Barack Obama were seen making fun of him regarding the upcoming Invictus Games. They sarcastically predicted that the United States would triumph at the Paralympic-style games that Harry started for military personnel years ago. One of the servicemen gathered around the Obamas let out a triumphant “Boom” to underline the prediction.
Harry, however, and his grandmother had different plans: The Queen shrugged her shoulders and said with her trademark understatement as the cameras started to roll: “Really, boom? Please.”
Six years later, it is obvious that few, if any, members of the Queen’s extended family would have the courage and humor to approach her and request her participation in such a prank.
Harry’s action highlighted their mutual respect as well as his grandmother’s willingness to display a different side of herself for him in front of the public.
A friend has said of the relationship between the monarch and the Duke of Sussex, “If Harry asked, the Queen would say yes— as she adores him.”
That’s awesome that the two of you share such a special relationship. My maternal grandmother, Bernice (I used called her Granny P), and I were really close, too. I really miss her. I’m so much like her. I have her temperment in that I’m very laid back/easy going (I do have a lot more fire/spice than she did), I hate drama/nonsense, I mind my business, I don’t bother anyone, I have her physique, and I’m not a woman who is a slave to the green-eyed beast (envy). i even inherited my gift of clairvoyance from her (which I know that I have proven to even the biggest skeptic). My gift is just much more sensitive and much stronger than hers, which I believe is out of necessity. GOD knew that I’d need it for survival. It’s like my grandmother gave birth to me, instead of my mom, because my mother and I couldn’t be more different. Even though I’ve tried understanding her and getting along with my mom, we are like oil and water. We will never be able to get along because she is a snake. I’m sorry but she is. I don’t trust her as far as I can spit. Since my grandmom died in 1991 (November 5th), I’ve literally had NO ONE but the man above.
As far as the Obamas go… I know that wagon-hitching imp, his bison, their daughters, and that walrus Joanne are going to get theirs for what they did to me. I have no doubt that they are going to pay and pay dearly for their blatant abuse of power and for promoting their own personal agendas….trying to destroy me because they are psychotic with envy and they (black people) think I’m supposed to be a martyr for the advancement of black people (which I think they must have lost their ever loving minds to think I’d be willing to do so). Most black people can’t stand me because of envy, they think that I’m a traitor, and think that I think that I’m better because I reject the values, norms, beliefs, and customs of the African-American culture. I sorry but think that they are toxic, counter-productive, and down-right butt-backwards….and I have been vocal about how I feel. They can’t stand me, yet I’m supposed to be willing to die for them. Yeah…OK. WHATEVER. The only people I’d be willing to die for are my children and my man.