The annual Trooping the Colour celebrations, also known as the King’s Birthday Parade, are set to take place on Saturday (June 14), but Prince Harry is not expected to attend
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will not attend Trooping the Colour this year (file)(Image: Samir Hussein, Samir Hussein/WireImagevia Getty Images)
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were sent a ‘significant’ message ahead of Trooping the Colour several years ago, a royal expert claims. Also known as the King’s Birthday Parade, this event takes place on a Saturday in June each year and sees more than 1,400 soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians travel from Buckingham Palace to Horse Guards Parade in London, England.
Regiments of the Household Division take part to mark the official birthday of the British sovereign, and members of the Royal Family will make their annual balcony appearance at Buckingham Palace. This year, the event will take place tomorrow (Saturday, June 14).
In 2023, “for the first time in his life”, Prince Harry was not invited to attend and, with only working royals expected to put in an appearance at this year’s Trooping the Colour, it’s believed there the King’s youngest son and daughter-in-law will be notably absent once again.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, who is currently fifth in the line of succession to the British throne, famously stepped down from official duties alongside his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex in January 2020.
Since then, there has been much speculation ahead of all official royal events as to whether the couple will be in attendance.
Richard Eden, palace Confidential broadcaster and diary columnist at Daily Mail, said in a television appearance in 2023:”[This is] the first year of his life that Harry hasn’t been invited at all. With Harry and Meghan, we’ve always had a sort of ‘will they, won’t they’ before every big royal occasion.
“Well, it seems like the palace has tackled this this time by just not inviting them at all. So, you know, it’s significant.
“When Harry and Meghan quit royal duties, I think officials were very keen to stress that they would still be invited to occasions such as Trooping the Colour so the fact they haven’t been invited is very significant.”
A snippet of the interview was shared on the popular social media platform TikTok, where Royal enthusiasts were keen to share their thoughts.
One person claimed: “Easier not to invite… too many demands and stipulations” while another said: “Tired of headlines WILL THEY COME? Now we don’t have to wonder! Great decision, Palace!!”
A third said: “First time for everything” while someone else theorised: “I don’t think he would attend anyway.”
Another person commented: “Which part don’t you people understand? [They’re] not working royals and they walked out of the circus. Leave them alone, it’s not like they were gonna come [either].”
It has not been confirmed as yet by Buckingham Palace which royals will appear on the balcony for the RAF flypast – a much loved element of Trooping the Colour – but it’s expected that only working royals will be in attendance, which would rule Harry and Meghan out.
Prince Harry, 40, and Meghan, 43, have been together for nine years. The couple said they were set up with one another on a blind date by a mutual friend in July of 2016.
Their relationship was made public in November of that year, and their engagement was confirmed 12 months later on November 27, 2017 by King Charles III, who was then the Prince of Wales.
They were married on Saturday, May 19 2018 in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. The couple share two children together, Prince Archie Harrison and Princess Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.