By Molly Claire Goddard
1:26pm PST, Dec 16, 2025
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In the book
Finding Freedom, authors
Omid Scobie and
Carolyn Durand alleged
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle believed their relatives were "conspiring against them" after
Queen Elizabeth II snubbed them during her 2019 Christmas broadcast. "One didn't have to look further than the family photos displayed during the Queen's Speech on Christmas Day. In the Green Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace, where the Queen delivered her address, viewers glimpsed photos of
Prince William,
Kate Middleton and their children,
[King] Charles and
[Queen] Camilla,
Prince Philip [her husband], and a black-and-white image of
George VI [her father]," they wrote. "Noticeably absent was a photo of Harry, Meghan and their new baby,
[Prince] Archie."
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While
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's feelings were hurt, a royal source told the authors that Queen Elizabeth II only featured family members in "direct line of succession."
However, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex felt it was "yet another sign that they needed to consider their own path."
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In 2019,
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were absent from Queen Elizabeth II's Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace and from the annual family gathering at Sandringham. The pair chose to spend the holiday with the
Suits actress' mother,
Doria Ragland, in Canada.
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In January 2020,
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their exit from The Firm. "Following many months of conversations and more recent discussions, I am pleased that together we have found a constructive and supportive way forward for my grandson and his family," a
statement from Queen Elizabeth II and Buckingham Palace read. "Harry, Meghan and [Prince] Archie will always be much loved members of my family. I recognize the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life. I want to thank them for all their dedicated work across this country, the Commonwealth and beyond and am particularly proud of how Meghan has so quickly become one of the family."
