Royal Expert Claims Meghan Markle And Prince Harry's Time At Jubilee Didn't Go As Planned
Although the queen missed several events as part of her Platinum Jubilee, per CNN, the long-reigning monarch ended the celebratory weekend on a high with a surprise appearance on the balcony at Buckingham Palace. The Jubilee celebrated 70 years of the queen ruling over the U.K., but in the weeks leading up to the event, rumors swirled that former senior royals Meghan Markle and Prince Harry would somehow try to steal her thunder when the time came. Clearly, the beloved leader remained open-minded regardless.
The Irish Sun reported she sent a car and security detail to pick the couple up from the airport, with a source confirming simply, "The queen believed it was the right thing to do." Queen Elizabeth met her namesake great-granddaughter, Lilibet, over the weekend too, per Page Six. The Sussexes spent plenty of time with the queen during her Jubilee, particularly given how she had to sit out certain events. But, despite how well everything seemingly went, there are certain people who believe Meghan and Harry weren't welcome.
The Sussexes weren't well received by the other royals
Meghan and Harry might feel great about their meeting with Queen Elizabeth but, according to one royal expert, their efforts to reconcile with other members of the royal family didn't go down well. Christopher Andersen acknowledged to Us Weekly that, overall, the long weekend was "a glorious celebration of the queen as a person and of the monarchy." However, when it came to the Sussexes mingling with other royals, they weren't well-received, predominantly because the couple stepped down as senior royals and haven't attended an official event with the rest of the working royals in over two years.
Most pertinently, Meghan and Harry were "sidelined" from Trooping the Colour, the annual public celebration of the queen's birthday. Since they're no longer working royals, the Sussexes were prevented from standing on the balcony at Buckingham Palace. Likewise, when they attended the thanksgiving service, Meghan and Harry were placed in the second row in a bid "to avoid any unwanted attention," per an insider. Thus, Andersen claimed, "They went there hoping to mend fences and ran into a brick wall," adding, "I'm sure they expected to have a warmer welcome than what they received."
A source told Hollywood Life the Sussexes felt their reconciliation with the queen, and in particular her meeting their daughter, Lilibet, for the first time, "went beautifully." As the insider clarified, the whole point of the trip was to spend time with the queen and celebrate her, which Meghan and Harry felt they accomplished.
Piers Morgan also claimed the couple got a cold reception
Christopher Andersen isn't the only one who believes Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's royal reunion didn't go down as well as they'd like us to believe. The duchess' most committed agitator, Piers Morgan, claimed during a recent episode of "Piers Morgan Uncensored" that the couple got a "frosty" reception in London. Per The Mirror, Morgan revealed palace insiders told him there was "lots of tension" behind the scenes at the Jubilee, especially since the Sussexes refused to fraternize with other royals at Trooping the Colour.
"The rest of the family went into the garden and were milling around and they just disappeared," he explained. The fact the queen didn't attend the thanksgiving service made things worse, because according to Morgan, she's the only one pushing for a proper reconciliation. The TV personality courted controversy when he tweeted a suggestion that Prince Louis was making faces during the celebrations because he didn't want to see Meghan (the little boy was actually reacting to noisy planes overhead).
"Let it go mate," wrote one commenter, while another wondered, "why do you hate her?" There were those who agreed with him though, with one user writing, "The whole of the UK more like!" Morgan defended his explosive tweet during a chat with the New York Post. Claiming he was just saying what everyone else was thinking, the former "Good Morning Britain" host even described the Sussexes as "global laughing stocks."