Royal Palace hits back over claim Prince Harry was ‘last-to-know’ about Queen’s death

Royal Palace aides have reacted to the claims that Prince Harry had been given just five minutes’ notice of his grandmother’s death before it was made public.

A newspaper report said the devastated royal had been the last to know about her passing – and was even told after Prime Minister Liz Truss. The Daily Telegraph suggested this was a further example of the rift between the prince and his family.

In a rare statement, a spokesman for the King stressed: ‘The public was only informed after every family member had been informed.’

The Mail understands that while it is true that Harry was told shortly before the news became public, the reason for this was because he was on a flight to Scotland and therefore not contactable.

Last night, the original story had been taken down from The Telegraph website. An amended one was then published claiming that Harry was not treated differently from other family members.

It comes as a friend of the Sussex yesterday described the decision to exclude Prince Harry and Meghan Markle from last night’s ‘reception of the century’ at Buckingham Palace as ‘beyond bonkers’.

The friend claimed that the Sussexes will feel ‘excluded’ after they were apparently ‘uninvited’ to a state event for 1,000 world leaders and foreign royals attending the Queen’s funeral.

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle received an invitation to the event, hosted by King Charles and the Queen Consort. But officials at Buckingham Palace later insisted the reception was for working royals only, it is understood.

A friend of the Sussexes told The Sunday Times: ‘It is beyond bonkers if they’re not there. Everyone is coming in from around the world to pay their respects to the Queen.’

The confusion over Harry and Meghan’s invitation points to issues with communication between the Californian-based couple and the Royal Family, according to the Daily Telegraph.

It follows an apparent U-turn over Harry’s right to wear a military uniform despite being a non-working royal.

Prince Harry was reportedly left ‘devastated’ after the Queen’s ‘ER’ initials were removed from the shoulder of his military uniform as he held vigil by her coffin last night – after Prince Andrew was allowed to keep the royal cypher.

Prince William (left) wore the ER initials on the shoulder of his military uniform last night, but the cypher was removed from that of Prince Harry’s

The source said yesterday that the flip-flopping over uniform and the Buckingham Palace reception could make him feel as if ‘the majority of the operation is against you. It’s hard — nobody likes to feel like they’re being excluded.’