Being on the Buckingham Palace Balcony Isn’t What Matters to Harry and Meghan, Source Says
They just want Archie and Lili to see the Queen.
![Prince Harry Meghan Markle](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/7Ftfhhmm7mHgJaS9SmamTW-415-80.jpg)
For Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, it was never about being on the Buckingham Palace balcony during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee next month. All the couple cares about, reports the Mirror, is that kids Archie and Lili get to see the Queen—Archie for the first time in two and a half years, and Lili for the first time ever.
The Queen made the decision that only working members of the royal family would join her on the balcony for Trooping the Colour on June 2, meaning that the Sussexes—as well as her disgraced son, Prince Andrew—would not join her for the occasion.
“They didn’t ask to be on the balcony, so I think that’s the thing,” commentator Loni Love told E! News, via the Mirror. “I think this is more about Prince Andrew and making sure he’s not on it than Harry and Meghan. They just added Harry and Meghan so it wouldn’t look [like] they snubbed Andrew.”
In a statement from the Sussexes released shortly after the Queen’s balcony decision was released by Buckingham Palace, a spokesperson said, “Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, are excited and honored to attend The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations this June with their children.” (The Platinum Jubilee, set for June 2 to June 5, will also coincide with the first birthday of Harry and Meghan’s daughter Lilibet Diana, named for Her Majesty’s familial nickname.)
Talks of the couple attending the Platinum Jubilee began buzzing after the Sussexes visited the Queen at Windsor Castle on April 14, en route to The Netherlands and the Invictus Games there. And, Love says, it’s the Queen—and making sure their kids meet her—that is what matters most to Harry and Meghan.
“The thing that Harry and Meghan reportedly want to do is make sure that their grandchildren [sic] meet the Queen,” she says.
And who wouldn’t swoon for a Lilibet meets Lili moment during the Queen’s big celebration?
Stay In The Know
Marie Claire email subscribers get intel on fashion and beauty trends, hot-off-the-press celebrity news, and more. Sign up here.
Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.
-
Our Complete Quiet Luxury Shopping Guide
30 quality closet classics that always have—and always will—endure.
By Emma Childs Published
-
Kaia Gerber and Cindy Crawford Medal in Mother-Daughter Olympic Matching
The pair touched down in Paris wearing coordinating navy looks.
By Julia Marzovilla Published
-
Prince Harry Reveals Royal Family Rift Was Worsened by Tabloids
"Yeah, that’s certainly a central piece to it."
By Amy Mackelden Published
-
Prince Harry Reveals Royal Family Rift Was Worsened by Tabloids
"Yeah, that’s certainly a central piece to it."
By Amy Mackelden Published
-
Meghan Markle "Fears" Being "Heckled" If She Returns to U.K.
"The last thing she needs is the stress of going back."
By Amy Mackelden Published
-
Prince Harry on Why He Won't Bring Meghan Markle Back to the U.K.: "It's Still Dangerous"
He fears for his family's safety.
By Iris Goldsztajn Published
-
Critics Claim Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Tried to "Upstage" Prince George
"He wants to steal the thunder with his Invictus Games announcement."
By Amy Mackelden Published
-
Meghan Markle Put “Her Own Neck On the Line” to Support Embattled Prince Harry at the ESPYs Earlier This Month
“She chose to be there for her husband.”
By Rachel Burchfield Published
-
Meghan Markle “Really Enjoyed Being Back In Front of the Camera” While Filming Her Forthcoming Netflix Cookery Show
“She was totally in her element.”
By Rachel Burchfield Published
-
It’s Not In King Charles’ Nature to Upstage Daughter-in-Law Meghan Markle and Her Lifestyle Brand American Riviera Orchard with Competing Retail Products, Royal Commentator Says
Lest we forget the so-called “royal jam rivalries” earlier this year…
By Rachel Burchfield Published
-
Prince William and Princess Kate Apparently Made a Joint Decision Regarding Prince Harry As They Are “Very Consciously Focusing on Positivity and Recovery”
Though Kate’s health is improving, in her own words, she’s “not out of the woods.”
By Rachel Burchfield Published