“It was very personal. Too bad he came now”

Prince Harry wrote a heartfelt letter to his late grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, but one royal commentator called it a “pity” he couldn’t tell her how he felt sooner.

In the letter, the Duke of Sussex thanked his “grandma” for some of his earliest childhood memories and all the moments with her that he will cherish.

But Dickie Arbiter told Today Extra it was a shame the prince couldn’t have said those things to his grandmother before she died last week.

READ MORE: Surprising reason Prince Charles stayed to study in Australia

“It was very personal. It’s a shame it has come now that the Queen died on Thursday,” he said.

“Why wasn’t he more responsive and loving to his grandmother while she was still alive?”

The arbiter said after Prince Harry’s wife Meghan’s recent interviews in the US about the British royal family and the threat of a revealing book from her husband, it would have been nice if the air had been cleared with the Queen sooner.

“It’s a nice statement, but it’s a little late,” he said.

“It would have been nice if he had been able to say that to his grandmother and that opinion was made public before she died, not after.”

In Prince Harry’s letter, he mentioned “precious moments” with the Queen, such as her “hugging her beloved great-grandchildren”, Archie and Lilibeth, but the Arbiter noted that he may have been “quite economical with the truth”.

“There was a very short visit when they arrived for the platinum jubilee and went back to Frogmore Cottage and eventually left for the United States soon after,” he said.

READ MORE: Prince Harry and Prince William meeting ‘temporary truce’

“They weren’t long visits, they were very short and I think they could have done a bit more given the Queen’s health, especially after his grandfather’s death in April last year.

“All this outpouring of love came a little late in the day. I think people in this country certainly in the UK understand that.’

Watch Dickie Arbiter’s full commentary in the video above

Join the Today show family and give yourself the chance to win great prizes by signing up for our weekly newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox every Wednesday with a special message from Carl and Ali. You can register for free here.