Buckingham Palace has reportedly removed its "never complain, never explain" policy in the wake of the family rift with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
- The Queen could start having stories publicly corrected if they are false.
- It comes after several private conversations have been leaked to the press.
- It follows royal news that Prince William sent his well wishes to Christian Eriksen following Euros 2020 collapse
The Queen has always promoted the policy of "never complain, never explain" when it comes to stories about her family in the press.
But it seems Her Majesty could be at the end of her tether.
After days of speculation as to whether she approved of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle using her beloved nickname, Lilibet, for their daughter just months after their bombshell Oprah interview in which Meghan and Harry accused a member of The Firm of being racist, the Mail on Sunday reports that the Monarch is keen to ditch the "never complain, never explain" policy.
The move could mean the Queen will no longer stay silent on "mistruths" and stories that misrepresent conversations that take place among senior members of the royal family.
Meghan and Harry have spoken openly about the royal family to the media
The drastic U-turn from the long-standing policy comes after US journalists claimed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex "asked permission" from Her Majesty to use her childhood nickname, Lilibet.
In reality, the Mail on Sunday claims it was a "telling, not an asking" and that a video call introducing the Queen to Lilibet had not happened, despite reports suggesting it had.
But, an insider reveals this runs deeper than just the Lilibet story.
"This is about whether or not what is being reported is an accurate version of what actually happened," the source explained.
"Friends of the Sussexes appear to have given misleading briefings to journalists about what the Queen had said and that took the whole thing over the edge. The Palace couldn’t deny the story that this was a mistruth."
Despite rising tensions, the Queen put on a brave face and enjoyed a scaled-back Trooping of the Colour on Saturday to mark her official birthday.
Her Majesty proved she's not lost her sense of humour and when presented with a giant cake to mark her official birthday, opted to use a huge sword to cut it, as opposed to a knife.
"There is a knife," suggested one onlooker, to which she curtly replied, "I know there is."
Duchess Catherine looked on with delight as the Queen struggled to cut her cake with the sword. Thankfully Duchess Camilla was on hand to help out.
It's nice to see the Queen in such high spirits after what has no doubt been a difficult week marking what would have been Prince Philip's 100th birthday.
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