Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be missing from King Charles' first Trooping The Colour birthday celebration since taking the throne.
King Charles will celebrate his first Trooping the Colour as King on June 17, but his son, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle, will not be in attendance. Harry and Meghan were reportedly not invited to the celebration, according to PEOPLE magazine. The Duke and Duchess currently reside in California with their two kids, Archie, 4, and Lilibet, 2, and will not be trekking across the pond for Charles’ big day. HollywoodLife has reached out to Harry and Meghan’s rep for comment.
Although Charles does not celebrate his 75th birthday until November, the Trooping the Colour celebration is the annual June event that marks a monarch’s birthday. Harry and Meghan have distanced themselves from his family since stepping back from their royal duties and relocating to America in 2020. However, they did attend Queen Elizabeth II’s final Trooping the Colour celebration in June 2022. Queen Elizabeth II died in Sept. 2022, and Harry and Meghan were also both in attendance for her funeral.
Harry also made the trip back to the U.K. in May for his father, King Charles’, coronation, which is when Charles was formally named King with a religious ceremony (he had officially taken the title, though, immediately after Queen Elizabeth II’s death). Meghan was not at the coronation. Instead, she stayed home with the kids, as it was the same day as Archie’s 4th birthday. Harry jetted out of town immediately following the ceremonial part of the coronation to make it home for Archie.
The relationship between Harry, Meghan and the royals has been quite contentious in recent years. Harry and Meghan first spoke out against the family in a 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey. They then went on to release a docu-series in Dec. 2022, which went more in-depth in explaining their struggles with life under the monarchy. Harry further shared his life story in a tell-all memoir, SPARE, released in Jan. 2023.
Meghan and Harry have slammed the royal family for not protecting them, especially Meghan, from the British press. Meghan even admitted to having suicidal thoughts amidst negative public opinion about her. Harry has yet to fully repair his relationship with his father or brother, Prince William.
