Meghan's joke to Kate at Trooping the Colour was met with 'yawning silence'
Trooping the Colour, also known as the King's Birthday Parade, is a major event in the Royal Family's calendar. This year, it will showcase the House of Windsor at its finest during one of their most challenging years in recent history.
Both Kate and King Charles are currently battling cancer. While the King has been given the all-clear by his medical team to attend, it remains uncertain whether Kate, the Princess of Wales, will be present.
Kate has been keeping a low profile as she focuses on her recovery. However, two familiar faces that definitely won't be seen at the Buckingham Palace flypast are Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Despite being regular attendees before their move to America, the Sussexes, now non-working royals, won't be partaking in the day's ceremonial pomp and pageantry.
However, during the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations, the couple did make an appearance despite their new status. They did not, however, appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony with the rest of the royals to watch the RAF flypast and wave to the crowds below, reports the Mirror.
Interestingly, Meghan's first appearance on the balcony after joining the Royal Family was reportedly a bit awkward behind the scenes, as revealed by Prince Harry in his bestselling memoir, Spare.
The episode took place back in the summer of 2018, not long after Harry and Meghan's star-studded Windsor wedding. Once the flypast had concluded and the royals returned to the inside of Buckingham Palace, Meghan attempted a joke with Kate that was met with an awkward "yawning silence", according to Harry.
For this occasion, Meghan caught the eye in a pastel pink dress and matching hat, standing tall by her husband who was decked out in his military attire. Although Meghan was seen chatting amiably with Kate, William, and Camilla, Harry says that there was a lot more tension behind closed doors.
Writing in Spare, Harry recalls Meghan being asked by Kate what she thought about her debut Trooping the Colour event, to which Meghan made a lighthearted comment - "Colourful". Despite the benign nature of Meghan's remark, it wasn't well-received as Harry writes: "A yawning silence threatened to swallow us all whole".
Using his book as a platform, the Prince gives his account of the disputes and strained relationships between Meghan and his family in the run-up to the nuptials, likely fuelling the uneasy atmosphere at the Trooping the Colour event.
He points fingers at Kate and William for "stereotyping" his other half, arguing that their behaviour erected unnecessary barriers. He even alleges that his brother labelled her as being "difficult".
The Duke also recounts a disagreement between Kate and Meghan over bridesmaid dresses leading up to the wedding, including an incident where Kate winced when Meghan asked to borrow lip gloss at an event.
Despite attempts, there's still frostiness between the two couples with William and Kate not seeing Harry during his recent visit to the UK to commemorate 10 years of the Invictus Games.
However, following the revelation of Kate's health issues, it was reported that Harry and Meghan had privately "reached out" to William and Kate. They also extended their support with a public statement for Kate and echoed her requests for privacy as she undergoes cancer treatment.
"We wish health and healing for Kate and the family, and hope they are able to do so privately and in peace," quoted the couple's statement.
