Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, were notably absent from the Royal Balcony during the Platinum Jubilee in London on Thursday, as the Queen Elizabeth II celebrated 70 years on the throne.
Meghan and Harry arrived in the UK yesterday for the Platinum Jubilee celebrations after travelling from their home in California in the United States, but the pair, were not eligible to be present on the balcony with Her Majesty as they are no longer working royals with official public duties.
The announcement that neither Harry nor Meghan would be present on the balcony was made last month by a spokesman for Buckingham Palace who stated, “After careful consideration, the Queen has decided that this year’s traditional Trooping the Colour balcony appearance on Thursday 2nd of 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.”
Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan announced they would be stepping back from their royal duties at the end of March in 2020 and since then, Buckingham Palace officials have considered going even further, reportedly looking earlier this year at ways to remove remaining royal duties.
While he has sought independence from the rest of the royal family, Harry has still demanded to be provided with a police security detail while in the United Kingdom and launched a legal challenge earlier this year, claiming private security would not have access to intelligence information.
Since splitting with the rest of the Royal Family, the popularity of the woke Royal couple has also plummeted, with a recent poll showing only 32 per cent of Britons surveyed by the polling firm YouGov viewed the couple in a positive light.
Also absent from the balcony was the Queen’s son Prince Andrew, who also left his royal duties following his father Prince Philip’s memorial service earlier this year. Andrew was the subject of controversy over his prior relationship with deceased paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts née Giuffre also accused Prince Andrew of sexually assaulting her when she was 17, but the matter was later settled out of court and Prince Andrew continues to maintain he had done nothing wrong.