Prince Harry defied an order from the Queen not to go public with his plans to step aside from the Royal Family with wife Meghan Markle , reports say.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle yesterday announced their intentions to move away from royal life in a statement yesterday and eventually become "financially independent".
Their announcement blindside Buckingham Palace, as senior royals had reportedly been in talks with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex over the plans for their future since around Christmas time.
Harry had reportedly asked for his meeting with his grandmother while she was spending Christmas at Sandringham.
He is said to have first contacted his father just before Christmas about spending more time in North America and Canada, then sent the Prince of Wales a draft proposal then asked to speak to the Queen, according to the Evening Standard.
The young royal asked to speak to the Monarch as soon as he returned from his holiday in Canada with wife Meghan and son Archie.
However the plan was reportedly blocked by courtiers as the Queen said while she would talk with him in future, he must discuss his plan in detail with Prince Charles, first.
The newspaper claims Prince Charles and Harry's brother Prince William were only sent copies of Meghan and Harry's bombshell announcement 10 minutes before it was made public.
The couple announced their plans to step back from royal life and divide their time between North America and Britain in a shock Instagram post yesterday.
The palace swiftly issued a statement following the announcement making it clear the details had not been finalised.
According to royal insiders the Queen herself learnt of her grandson's announcement by watching it unfold on television.
One particular mention in the couple's statement had eyebrows raised as they stated a desire to stay in Frogmore Cottage, which technically belongs to the Queen.
Taxpayers paid £2.4 million to renovate the cottage, which the couple moved into just nine months ago - moving out of Kensington Palace which gave way to rumours of a rift with the Cambridges.
The couple are now facing calls to pay back the public cash spent on Frogmore.
