When Prince Harry woke up on the morning of Thursday, September 8, he must have thought the day was going to be a good one. The culmination of Meghan Markle and her husband's European mini-tour took them to Manchester, England, Düsseldorf, Germany, and that evening to London for a charity event. That evening, Harry and Meghan were scheduled to attend the Well Child Awards in London, the last event scheduled before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex returned home to California and their two children, Archie and Lili.

Then that morning, they received word from their father, Prince Charles. He told me that the Queen was not well and that he had to go to Scotland, where she was vacationing at Balmoral Castle, her summer retreat.

What happened next is still unclear, but Harry, along with his brother Prince William, his uncles Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, and his aunt Sophie, Countess of Wessex, were not on the plane to Scotland to rush to the Queen's side. (They eventually did not make it, and only Harry's father, King Charles III, and his aunt, Princess Anne, were present at the Queen's passing.) Harry was on a separate flight to Scotland, but according to a source who spoke to Page Six, "None of the royal officials or courtiers actually called Harry to tell him of the monarch's death.

The queen's death was announced at 6:30 p.m. local time, just before Harry landed at Aberdeen Airport from London. Harry arrived at Balmoral just before 8 p.m. and was in a room with his entire family for the first time since he and Meghan left active royal service in 2020. (Meghan remained in Windsor, and William's wife, Kate Middleton, was also supervising the first day of school for their three children that Thursday.)

However, "after much criticism on news sites and populist social media about Harry's exclusion from the flight to and from Balmoral, they seemed to be making an effort to include him," the outlet reported. The day after the queen's death, Charles III, in his first speech as the new monarch, offered an olive branch, or so he said, to his son and daughter-in-law. The following Saturday, in an unprecedented show of solidarity, William sent a last-minute email to Harry inviting him and Meghan to join Kate for a walk outside Windsor Castle. Insiders understood that this was William's bid to mend fences," wrote Page Six.

Hopes were raised but then dashed by drama-"protocol got in the way," the magazine reported, specifically over the uniform fiasco (despite 10 years of military service, including two tours of duty in Afghanistan, Harry was not allowed to see the Queen's casket on Wednesday, September 14, from Buckingham Palace from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, he was not allowed to wear his military uniform. Harry was allowed to wear his uniform on Saturday, but was not allowed to wear the ER (short for Elizabeth Regina, Regina is Latin for Queen) insignia on his shoulder. Even Piers Morgan, who is not a fan of Harry and Meghan, thought it was disingenuous. If they let Prince Andrew wear the ER on his shoulder, why not Harry too?" and "I have no criticism of Harry's behavior in recent years, but this is his grandmother and he served his country bravely. "

Adding to the tension, awkwardly, Harry and Meghan's invitation to a state reception for heads of state and royalty from around the world on Sunday, September 18, was rescinded because the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are no longer active royalty.

Harry and Meghan reportedly returned to California on Wednesday, September 21, two days after the funeral; they flew to England the weekend of September 3, expecting to stay only a week and ultimately stayed 18 days. Despite the ongoing tension, a source told "Page Six" that the couple had been in the U.S. for only one week, and that they had been in the U.S. for only one week. The magazine said that palace sources said that William and Harry spoke at family dinners and gatherings, but admitted that Harry's forthcoming memoir and its unknown contents "have the royal family on edge."

Gail King, a friend of the Sussexes who was covering the funeral in London, told CBS Morning, "Both sides have tried to make this right. Large families always experience drama and turmoil. I don't have any inside information about that, but I can tell you this. It was good to see Harry with his family."