Meghan Markle's team has previously rejected royal biographer Tom Bower's wider claims about the Sussexes as 'deranged conspiracy and melodrama,' as renewed attention falls on his allegation that she was considered 'unwelcome' at Balmoral as Queen Elizabeth II lay dying in September 2022.
Bower claims the then Prince Charles objected to the Duchess of Sussex travelling to Scotland with Prince Harry. The allegation appears in Bower's biography Betrayal: Power, Deceit and the Fight for the Future of the Royal Family, which revisits the turbulent final hours before the Queen's death at Balmoral on 8 September 2022.
While Harry has separately confirmed that his father told him Meghan should not travel to Balmoral, Bower's account of Charles' alleged reasoning has not been confirmed by Buckingham Palace.
The Balmoral Claim Behind Meghan Markle's 'Unwelcome' Deathbed Rumour
Bower wrote that Charles, then Prince of Wales, was told his mother was critically ill and travelled to the Scottish estate. According to the author, he later contacted Prince William and Harry, telling them to travel to RAF Northolt, where an aircraft was waiting to take members of the family to Scotland.
At Frogmore Cottage, however, Harry and Meghan were said to be discussing whether they would travel together. Bower alleged that Charles intervened after learning that Meghan intended to accompany her husband.
'When Charles heard that Meghan intended to come, he called Harry. That was unacceptable, said Charles,' Bower wrote.
The author claimed that the issue stemmed from what he described as Meghan declining invitations to visit the Queen at Balmoral during her lifetime. He wrote that the Duchess was therefore 'unwelcome' as the Queen lay dying and alleged that Charles felt sharing his grief with Meghan would be 'unthinkable.'
Those are serious assertions about an intensely private family moment. However, there is an important distinction between Bower's account and Harry's own version of events.
In his 2023 memoir Spare, Harry recalled Charles telling him that Meghan should not come to Balmoral, meaning the request itself has been acknowledged by Harry.
Bower goes further by attributing specific motives to Charles, including Meghan's alleged refusal of previous Balmoral invitations. Those details remain Bower's account.
That distinction matters, especially when a story involving the late Queen's final hours is being repackaged years later as something more definitive than the available evidence supports.
Bower further alleged that Charles told Harry that Catherine, then Duchess of Cambridge, would remain in Windsor as well. The explanation was reportedly intended to assure Harry that Meghan was not being singled out.
The biography also claimed that William became frustrated by the delay and instructed the aircraft to leave without Harry. Harry later travelled separately to Balmoral, arriving after the Queen had died aged 96.
How Meghan Markle's Team Hit Back at Bower's Claims
Harry and Meghan have previously responded forcefully to Bower's wider portrayal of the couple. In March, following the publication of extracts from Betrayal, their spokesperson issued a sharply worded statement challenging the author's credibility and approach.
'Mr Bower's commentary has long crossed the line from criticism into fixation,' the spokesperson said. 'He has made a career out of constructing ever more elaborate theories about people he does not know and has never met.'
The statement continued, 'Those interested in facts will look elsewhere; those seeking deranged conspiracy and melodrama know exactly where to find him.
It is a blistering line, and one that leaves little room for polite royal-world ambiguity. However, the statement addressed Bower's book and commentary more broadly rather than providing a point-by-point rebuttal of his account of 8 September 2022.
Harry's own account confirms that Charles objected to Meghan travelling to Balmoral, but it does not independently establish Bower's claim that she was deemed 'unwelcome' because she had declined previous invitations.
IBTimes UK cannot independently verify Bower's account of Charles' motives, so those details should be treated with caution. The renewed focus on the allegation also sits alongside earlier public moments between Meghan and Queen Elizabeth.
During her 2017 engagement interview with Harry, Meghan described the Queen as an 'incredible woman.' She also spoke warmly of their first meeting, including the late monarch's corgis, which were said to have quickly warmed to her.
Meghan and the Queen later carried out their first joint public engagement in Cheshire in June 2018. The pair were photographed laughing together during the visit, an image that became a notable counterpoint to later narratives about discord inside the family.
That does not settle what happened at Balmoral four years later. It does, however, show why broad claims about a relationship as complex as this one deserve careful attribution rather than certainty. In royal reporting, the most dramatic version is often the one that travels fastest.
