Megxit, Prince Andrew scandal taking a toll on Queen, says source: 'She's exhausted physically, emotionally'
While most people in their 90s focus on living their retirement life as peacefully and as stress-free as possible, the reigning British monarch has had no such luck with her one of her son being embroiled in a scandal with a pedophile and recently, her one of her grandsons stepping down as a senior royal member and flying overseas to live his life with his American-born wife.
At 93, Queen Elizabeth II has had a terrible year. Even as she prepared to hand over her royal duties to her son, Prince Charles, the next in line to the throne, she has had no respite from having to deal with one scandal after the other.
“She’s exhausted, both physically and emotionally,” a source told US Weekly. “She’s approaching her 94th birthday in April and should be at a stage in her life where she can ease up and be supported by her loved ones.”
First the monarch faced disappointment from her son, after Prince Andrew went against advice of the members of the royal family and sat down for a disastrous BBC interview about his friendship with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. After discussing with her other son, Charles, who was on tour in New Zealand at the time, in November last year, the Queen fired the Duke of York from his royal duties.
In addition, she also stripped him off his annual £249,000 (approx $322,000) Sovereign Grant allowance.
Even as the family was focused on healing from the fallout from Andrew's scandal, Harry and Meghan Markle announced just two months later that they will be stepping down as senior members of the monarchy and work to become financially independent. Soon after their announcement, the couple flew overseas with their son, Archie, and settled down in Canada.
Ever since their unprecedented announcement, the speculation regarding every detail of their transition has been incessant. “The drama’s never-ending,” the source added. “She’s so frustrated."
(Getty Images)
The latest controversy was surrounding a statement released by Harry and Meghan on their official website in response to the Buckingham Palace banning them from using the phrase 'royal' in any of their future brand names. Many experts were of the pinion that the response read like a passive aggressive snub against the Queen.
“While there is not any jurisdiction by The Monarchy or Cabinet Office over the use of the word ‘Royal’ overseas, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex do not intend to use ‘Sussex Royal’ or any iteration of the word ‘Royal’ in any territory (either within the UK or otherwise) when the transition occurs Spring 2020," part of the statement said.
Harry and Meghan's seemingly passive-aggresive reaction reportedly left the Queen immenseley disappointed. “She’s praying that, over time, Harry will start to see things more clearly,” the source said. “Whether that will actually happen remains to be seen.”