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Prince Harry Describes His Final Moments with Grandma Queen Elizabeth in Tell-All Book

Prince Harry is opening up about the last conversation he had with his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, in the days before her death—and the emotional final moments he spent with her just after her passing.

Prince Harry at the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.
Karwai Tang/WireImage

In an excerpt from his new memoir, Spare, which was just released, the Duke of Sussex revealed never-before-heard details. Per CNN, Harry shared that his father, King Charles, told him about the monarch’s declining health and that it had “taken a turn” for the worse. 

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Harry.
Anwar Hussein/Getty Images

Back in September, Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, were on their planned European trip when they learned of the queen’s condition. The couple was supposed to attend the 2022 WellChild Awards in London. Instead, Harry caught the first plane to Scotland to be with his grandmother, where she was receiving medical treatment at Balmoral Castle.

While he was on the plane to Scotland, the duke kept thinking about the last conversation he had with his grandmother. “Four days earlier, long chat on the phone. We’d touched on many topics. Her health, of course. The turmoil at Number 10,” Harry said in the book.

Before the plane had a chance to land, Harry learned of her death through an article published by the BBC. “Granny was gone. Pa was King,” he said.

King Charles Visiting Wales CAT
Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Harry shared that it was “difficult” to see his grandmother one last time when he arrived at Balmoral Castle—and that he also wished she was finally reunited with her late husband, Prince Philip

“I braced myself, went in. The room was dimly lit, unfamiliar—I’d been inside it only once in my life. I moved ahead uncertainly, and there she was. I stood, frozen, staring,” he wrote of the private moment. “I stared and stared. It was difficult, but I kept on, thinking how I’d regretted not seeing my mother at the end. Years of lamenting that lack of proof, postponing my grief for want of proof. Now I thought: Proof. Careful what you wish for.”

Spare is now available to read and purchase everywhere.

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Assistant Editor, News And Entertainment

Karelle McKay is the Assistant Editor of News and Entertainment at PureWow. Before she started writing about all things pop culture, she was a literal couch potato who loved...