Prince Harry just broke his silence on his "secret" meeting with the Queen

He shared that it was "great to see" his grandmother.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

He shared that it was "great to see" his grandmother.

It's long been rumoured that Prince Harry has something of a distant relationship with his grandmother The Queen. 

In 2020, he left the UK and stepped down from his role as a senior Royal. He moved to the US with his wife Meghan Markle and son Archie, where they now work to fundraise money for charities and campaign on certain issues, as well as signing TV and book deals with the likes of Netflix and Penguin.

It's long been suggested that Her Majesty wasn't too pleased with the decision to move, and subsequently detail the reasons they left in a tell-all Oprah Winfrey interview a year later.

Allegations of racism were made against the Royal family during the interview.

Yet now, two years on, Harry has seen his Grandmother one-on-one for the first time since they moved. (While it is thought that he saw HM for Prince Philips funeral earlier last year, it is also believed that he has not met with her in private).

The Prince and his wife Meghan Markle visited Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle on Thursday during their first joint visit to the U.K. since 2020.

Speaking to the BBC about the meeting - which was kept under wraps until after it'd happened - he said it was "great to see" his grandmother at her Berkshire Estate last week. 

He was on his way to Holland for the Invictus Games but found the time to stop by and see both the 95-year-old and his father, Prince Charles, too.

It's thought that they were only there for 15 minutes but made the most of seeing them both.

During the meeting, they are thought to have discussed Harry's work for the Invictus Games and when the Queen will finally be seeing her two grandchildren, Archie and Lilibet, again, after nearly two years of lockdown preventing her from seeing them.

It's thought that the couple promised the Queen she will get to hug both Archie and Liliber "in the near future" during the brief meeting.

On the games, he later shared that his Grandmother "had plenty of messages for Team UK [taking part in the Games]."

"It was great to see her and I'm sure she would love to be here if she could," he added. 

It's further been shared that both Harry and Meghan "have been invited to appear on Buckingham Palace balcony at Platinum Jubilee" - a big step and the first time the couple would have appeared with the rest of the Royal family since their move, dubbed "Megxit".

While it's thought that the couple wouldn't appear as official Royals, they would stand alongside the working Royals such as Prince Charles, Camilla, William, and Kate.

Some aides have called the move a "leap of faith", following what is believed to have been a period of fractured relations, drama and family tension since the move.

Ally Head
Senior Health, Sustainability and Relationships Editor

Ally Head is Marie Claire UK's Senior Health, Sustainability, and Relationships Editor, nine-time marathoner, and Boston Qualifying runner. Day-to-day, she works across site strategy, features, and e-commerce, reporting on the latest health updates, writing the must-read health and wellness content, and rounding up the genuinely sustainable and squat-proof gym leggings worth *adding to basket*. She's won a BSME for her sustainability work, regularly hosts panels and presents for events like the Sustainability Awards, and saw nine million total impressions on the January 2023 Wellness Issue she oversaw. Follow Ally on Instagram for more or get in touch.