The Duke of Sussex was reportedly left "saddened and disappointed" after his request for a wreath to be laid at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday in 2020 was refused, despite his 10 years of military service including two tours of Afghanistan.
The request came just months after Harry and Meghan stepped back from their royal duties and moved to California. When the Sussexes announced their departure from the Firm, Harry was stripped of his military appointments, including his role as Captain General of the Royal Marines.
Wreath left unused at Royal British Legion headquarters
It was reported at the time that Harry's wreath had been prepared, but after his request was rejected, it remained unused in a box at the Royal British Legion's Kent headquarters. In Harry and Meghan's unauthorised biography, Finding Freedom by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, it is claimed his request was turned down because he was no longer a "frontline royal".
A source close to Harry told the authors he was "saddened and disappointed by the decision". They added: "Ten years of service and a lifetime commitment to the military community and this is how it's been acknowledged by his family."
Private tribute at Los Angeles National Cemetery
Instead, Harry and Meghan chose to pay their own tribute and were photographed laying a wreath at the Los Angeles National Cemetery and placing flowers on the graves of two Commonwealth soldiers. The wreath was inscribed: "In Memory of the Men Who Offered Their Lives in Defense of Their Country". On it, Harry had written: "To all those who have served, and are serving. Thank you."
Royal author Robert Lacey also documented the late Queen's decision to deny Harry's request to have the wreath laid, arguing that most people would consider Harry's wish to have a wreath laid on his behalf entirely reasonable and a mark of respect — yet the Queen is said to have rejected the request the moment it came to her attention.
Queen's swift refusal and Harry's essay
"It took her 'all of two seconds' to issue a refusal," Lacey writes, referring to an article by royal editor Rebecca English. The article stated the Cenotaph ceremony was "sacrosanct" to the Queen, who ensured nothing happened without her knowledge. While Harry's grandmother greatly admired her grandson's military accomplishments, his request to lay a wreath, or have one laid on his behalf, demonstrated "a lack of understanding of what it means for him to be a non-working royal", according to Lacey's book Battle of Brothers.
The author further claimed that Harry's seemingly modest request revealed he "had still not grasped the consequences of his momentous choice to sign off from royal duties."
Harry marked Remembrance Sunday last year with a poignant essay - titled The Bond, The Banter, The Bravery: What it means to be British – in which the duke acknowledged that although he 'currently' lived in the US at the time, he reflected that "Britain is, and always will be, the country I proudly served and fought for." He described Remembrance as 'not simply a minute’s silence' but 'a call to collective responsibility'. In the essay, Harry called on people to remember "not only the fallen, but the living" who carry the "weight of war" and urged them to knock on veterans' doors and "join them for a cuppa…or a pint" to hear their stories and "remind them their service still matters".
