Meghan Markle and Prince Harry snubbed from Trooping the Colour for second year and won't appear on Buckingham Palace balcony
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have reportedly not been invited to this year's Trooping the Colour, making it the second year in a row that the Sussexes have been left off the event's guest list.
The couple, who stepped down from being working Royals in 2020, attended the Trooping the Colour, in 2018 and 2019. The event was then scaled down dramatically in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and took place at Windsor Castle without a large gathering of the Royal Family.
Harry and Meghan then attended the event again in 2022 when they visited the UK for the late Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee. However, they were then absent from the occasion in 2023.
People Magazine has reported that the exclusion of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex from the guest list is intentional, and that King Charles III opted against extending an invitation to his youngest son.
This year's Trooping of Colour, which marks the official celebration of the monarch's birthday, will be slightly different than usual following the King and Princess of Wales's cancer diagnoses. Due to his ongoing treatment, it's thought that the King will ride in a carriage as opposed to the traditional horseback ride.
He is still expected to make the traditional balcony appearance, alongside other prominent Royal Family members, for the RAF flypast, reports the Mirror. His level of participation will ultimately hinge on his health status and the guidance provided by his medical team.
It has already been announced that Princess Catherine will not be taking the salute at the Colonel’s Review on Saturday, 8 June, the traditional rehearsal for Trooping the Colour. However it's yet to be announced if she will be attended the event itself.
Even as she undergoes preventative cancer treatment, the 42 year old Royal is thought to be weighing up joining the Buckingham Palace balcony spectacle post-Trooping the Colour ceremony if she feels up to it.
Each year, the Trooping the Colour ceremony is held as an official celebration of the King's birthday, even if Charles's real birthday falls on November 14. It is thought that like last year, it'll be the working members of the family attending.
This means a no-show on the Palace balcony for family members such as Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice or Lady Louise Windsor and James, the children of the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, both aged 20 and 16 respectively.
