Prince Harry Is Putting the Queen in a Difficult Position

of sussex watch a flypast to mark the centenary of the royal air force from the balcony of buckingham palace on july 10, 2018 in london, england the 100th birthday of the raf, which was founded on on 1 april 1918, was marked with a centenary parade with the presentation of a new queens colour and flypast of 100 aircraft over buckingham palace photo by max mumbyindigogetty images

(Image credit: Max Mumby/Indigo)

published 25 July 2021

Recently, a royal source said that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle want to have their daughter, Lilibet Diana, christened in Windsor and for the Queen to be present. The couple are also reportedly "happy to wait until circumstances allow" for the Queen to attend.
Royal biographer Angela Levin says Harry and Meghan's wish to plan Lilibet's christening around the Queen's schedule might put the monarch in a "very difficult position" since she has missed the christenings of other great-grandchildren.
The Queen wasn't able to attend the christening of Prince William and Kate Middleton's youngest son, Prince Louis in 2018 or of Harry and Meghan's son, Archie Harrison, in 2019.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle might be inadvertently putting the Queen in an awkward spot, some royal experts say.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex recently welcomed their second child, daughter Lilibet Diana (Lili for short, whose first name pays homage to the Queen's childhood nickname) and reportedly want to have her christening in Windsor with her great-grandmother, the Queen, present.

"Harry told several people that they want to have Lili christened at Windsor, just like her brother," a royal source told the Daily Mail's Richard Eden for a recent edition of his Eden Confidential column. The source added that Harry and Meghan are "happy to wait until circumstances allow" to have Lili's christening in Windsor when the Queen can attend.

Even though literally everything about this sounds ultra sweet and considerate (they want to celebrate one of Lili's early milestones back in the United Kingdom, they want to actively work to have a member of Harry's family they've always said they were close to present, and are willing to work around the Queen's very busy schedule to make that happen), at least one royal expert says it's actually potentially the opposite.

Royal biographer Angela Levin, author of Harry: A Biography of a Prince, says the Sussexes' wishes put pressure on the Queen to attend Lili's christening when she hasn't always attended those of other great-grandchildren's.

"That puts her in a very difficult position because she can't say that she is not free for years," Levin told TalkRadio TV (per the Daily Mail). "She didn't go to Louis', the third child of Prince William and Kate. So it's not a spiteful thing."

The Queen missed the christening of Harry and Meghan's two-year-old son, Archie, in 2019 because she had prior commitments. That's not super surprising, considering how jam-packed her schedule is. For context, in 2019, the Queen carried out 295 engagements, a number that already represents a major cutback for the 95-year-old royal. In 2010, she carried out a mind-blowing 444 engagements, with 387 of those taking place in the United Kingdom and 57 during overseas tours, according to analysis by the Sunday Times.

The Queen is known for putting her duty to the Crown first, of course, but she's also known for her fierce dedication to her family, so even if the timing doesn't work out to allow her to attend Lili's christening, the fact that Harry and Meghan want her there doesn't seem like it could possibly be a bad thing. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯