Officials at the U.S. Embassy in London had to send someone from the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Montecito home to inform them that Prince Philip had died.
According to TMZ, the embassy made several attempts to reach the couple to tell them the sad news. His efforts were useless because his calls were made before 3:00 in the morning. Understandably, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were fast asleep. After all, England is eight time zones ahead of California.
The embassy eventually sent the police to his property. An officer contacted someone at the mansion, who then informed the couple to call the embassy immediately. This is how Prince Harry and Meghan Markle found out that Prince Philip had died.
They knew it an hour before Buckingham Palace issued a statement at noon to announce the Duke’s passing on the morning of April 9 at Windsor Castle. At the time of the announcement, it was 4:00 am in Los Angeles. The royal family reportedly wanted the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to learn of Prince Philip’s death from them and not from the media. Hence the reason for the early call.
The 36-year-old flew to London to say goodbye to his grandfather. He joined the procession and the funeral. It was an unexpected reunion for royals who have not seen Prince Harry in person for a year since he and his wife left their royal duties in March of last year.