Harry and Meghan asked for ride home on Air Force One after queen’s funeral: report

When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were preparing to return to the United States after Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in September, they tried but failed to get a ride back on Air Force One with President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, a new report says.

The Daily Mail, citing sources close to the decision, reported that representatives for the California-based Duke and Duchess of Sussex contacted the White House to ask if the couple could fly home on Air Force One with the first couple, who had come to the United Kingdom for the queen’s funeral on Sept. 19, 2022.

But the White House immediately said no, sources  told the Daily Mail. The sources said there was barely any discussion on the request, just a general agreement that the issue was a “non-starter.”

“It would have caused such a commotion,” a source told the Daily Mail. “It would have strained relations with the palace and the new king.”

The source is no doubt referring to Harry and Meghan having voiced strong criticism of the monarchy and members of the royal family, including King Charles III and Prince William, in their blockbuster 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey. In that interview, they accused the royal family of being cruel, dysfunctional and racially insensitive. Such criticisms escalated, in interviews after the queen’s death, as well as in their Netflix docuseries and in Harry’s memoir, “Spare.”

The Daily Mail reported that both the White House and Buckingham Palace declined to comment for this Air Force One report. A spokesperson for the Sussexes also declined to comment.

The Sussexes, who are estranged from the royal family, had been in the United Kingdom for charity events when the queen died at her Balmoral estate on Sept. 8. They stayed on until the funeral on Sept. 19. During those 10 days, Harry and Meghan were asked not to attend a reception at Buckingham Palace, where the king and Queen Camilla welcomed world leaders, including the Bidens, and foreign royals.

The Daily Mail, citing current and former officials in the Biden administration and in the U.K. government, said the Sussexes hoped to score a ride on Air Force One as part of their campaign to gain political and cultural  influence in the United States as they’ve settled into their life in California since their acrimonious departure from royal life in 2020.

The Daily Mail said that Harry and Meghan perhaps hoped that being invited to fly on Air Force One would grant them an amazing photo op: The two of them climbing the stairs of the plane, along with the president and first lady.

Months earlier, Jill Biden was invited to attend the Invictus Games in The Hague, the Daily Mail said. Harry created the games for wounded service men and women, has reportedly been on friendly terms with the Bidens and had hosted them at previous games. Jill Biden reportedly was open to the idea of attending the games in April. But the idea of her being at the games went nowhere because it’s believed that her presence also would have created tensions with Buckingham Palace, the Daily Mail said.

The Daily Mail cited other complications for why the White House couldn’t entertain the idea of inviting Harry and Meghan to fly on Air Force One. The president and first lady can invite anyone they want to ride on the jet, but someone has to pay for any guests. The US government pays for official trips, Biden pays for his children and grandchildren to ride on the plane, the Democratic Party pays for travel to campaign events, and news organizations pay for its journalists to travel on board to cover the president’s activities.

But it was unclear who would foot the bill for Harry and Meghan, the Daily Mail said.

Critics of the Sussexes would probably say that the couple expected to catch a ride for free, especially given revelations surrounding their claims in June that they endured a “near-catastrophic,” two-hour car chase around New York City. After attending an awards event, the couple issued a press release, saying they were pursued by “highly aggressive” paparazzi who caused “multiple near collisions” with other drivers, pedestrians and two police officers.

New York City authorities, the paparazzi and other witnesses soon downplayed or outright debunked the idea that the Sussexes were ever in any danger. Police sources soon came forward to say that the Sussexes could have avoided paparazzi following them around the city if they hadn’t been “too cheap” to pay full price for a room at a luxury hotel, instead of staying at the home of a friend.

Page Six cited law enforcement sources who said that their security team could have driven the Sussexes immediately to the hotel after they left their event in midtown Manhattan. Instead, they stayed at a friend’s home after their request for a discounted room was rejected. The reason they led paparazzi around the city for nearly two hours is because they didn’t want the photographers following them to their friend’s home.