Royal Expert Reveals If Prince Harry's Surprise Visit With The Queen Made A Dent In Their Rift

When an entire family gets in the room, there's bound to be some tension. So, it only makes sense that the same exact thing would happen when the royal family gets together as well. The Queen's Platinum Jubilee will be the first time that the entire royal family will be together since Meghan Markle and Prince Harry decided to leave the royal family and moved to the United States. However, it won't be the first time that Prince Harry and his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, have seen each other.

The Platinum Jubilee marks the Queen's 70th work anniversary, and although celebrations have been sprinkled throughout the entire year, around 22,000 people will be at the "central weekend." There will be singers, dancers, and performers to mark the occasion. The celebration will even be honored with two bank holidays to form a four-day weekend, so everyone wins.

Word is officially out that since the entire royal family will be there, this will be the first time that Queen Elizabeth will meet her granddaughter — Meghan and Prince Harry's daughter, Lilibet (via Newsweek). However, it seems things aren't as good as they seem between Harry and his grandmother. 

Some wounds can't be healed. As it turns out, publicly leaving your very famous family is one of those wounds. Prince Harry saw his grandmother in April on his way to the Netherlands for the Invictus Games, according to Us Weekly. While the trip may have seemed like tensions between Harry and royal family are starting to calm down, royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams believes this particular trip to see his grandmother wasn't enough to fix the "rift" between Prince Harry and Queen Elizabeth. "I'd say the rift very definitely hasn't been healed," Fitzwilliams tells Us Weekly. "That, I'm afraid, is quite clear."

Of course, no one knows what truly happened in this private meeting. It would make sense for there to still be some negative feelings, but despite all the rough waters, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are still reportedly excited to be heading to Britain with their children this summer. "Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are excited and honored to attend The Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations this June with their children," a spokesperson told Us Weekly.

While the entire family — Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Lilibet, and Archie — will all be present at the Platinum Jubilee, all is not well with the family. There's a pretty big sign of that, too. According to People, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their children will not be on the balcony of Buckingham Palace with the rest of the family for the Trooping the Color. That's a big tell that not everything has been resolved within the family just yet.

"After careful consideration, the queen has decided this year's traditional Trooping the Color balcony appearance on Thursday 2nd June will be limited to Her Majesty and those members of the royal family who are currently undertaking official public duties on behalf of the queen," the palace said in a statement, according to USA Today. That means that Meghan, Prince Harry, and Prince Andrew will not make the cut this year.

Despite this one event, having Meghan and Harry with their children at the Platinum Jubilee could be exactly what the family needs to bring everyone back together.

Prince Harry and Queen Elizabeth might have some work to do when it comes to mending their relationship, but apparently they're not in it alone. According to Us Weekly, Princess Eugenie could have been the one to suggest that the ex-royal and his grandma meet up again in the first place. For reference, Harry went to see Elizabeth before he traveled to the Invictus Games. All eyes were on the surprise visit, as it was the first time that he saw the monarch since leaving the royal family for California. 

So why did Eugenie reportedly help out her family members? Well, it's as simple as just being in her personality. "Princess Eugenie is a peacemaker," Jonathan Sacerdoti, a royal expert, told Us Weekly. "Eugenie may have been the person to suggest the meeting ... or to try and help arrange it, make the contact." Furthermore, Harry and Eugenie are said to be quite close, with authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand writing in their book, "Finding Freedom," that the cousins are "the closest of friends," per People. 

It's nice to see that the family is working together to mend the "rift." After all, we could all use some help every now and then.