Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Kate Middleton, and Prince William attended a royal event together for the first time in two years since the Sussexes stepped down as senior royals and moved across the pond to California. However, just because they were all in the same room together does not mean they took a moment for pleasantries!
While they stepped out to attend the National Service of Thanksgiving at St. Paul’s Cathedral as part of the Platinum Jubilee festivities honoring Queen Elizabeth’s 70-year reign, the couples were oddly not seated next to or near each other. In fact, there was actually no public or photographed reunion between them!
Related: The Royal Family Honors Harry & Meghan’s Daughter Lilibet On Her First Birthday!
Instead, Meghan and Harry were placed next to Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice and their respective husbands, Jack Brooksbank and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. Meanwhile, Kate and William entered the cathedral with Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles and sat next to them during the service. Talk about trying to keep your distance — and it turns out that was intentional! A source explained to Us Weekly:
“Senior members of the royal family were seated in the front row and non-senior members in the second row.”
The insider added that the palace decided “to keep them on opposite sides of [the] cathedral to avoid any unwanted attention” – especially after they were “scrutinized” during the 2020 Commonwealth Day Service, which was Harry and Meghan’s final appearance as senior royals.
Makes sense given that this weekend is meant to be a special occasion for the Queen – and the relationship between Meghan, Harry, Kate, and William has been a hot topic amongst the public. No to mention the fact that things were not great between the brothers for a while ever since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex spilled some piping hot tea about the royal fam last year. So no doubt the institution wanted to keep things running as smoothly as possible for the Queen’s big weekend celebration, even if it meant avoiding a public reunion between the four of them!
This wasn’t the only time Meghan, Harry, Kate, and William were seen not interacting with each other. The parents of two were previously photographed attending the Trooping the Colour on Thursday. However, they did not watch from the Buckingham Palace balcony alongside Will and Kate and instead viewed the event from the Major General’s Office with other extended family members.
And it seems like a chance at a public reunion won’t be happening as Meghan and Harry did not attend the final day of events, the Platinum Jubilee Pageant, on Sunday. The two have been skipping out on several parties over the weekend, including the Lord Mayor’s reception on Friday and Platinum Party on Saturday evening. Granted, it was their daughter Lilibet first birthday, so that is most likely the reason why they did not join in the latter.
Still, it looks Meghan, Harry, Kate, and William have been doing there best to avoid each other no matter what! And who knows if they have taken a second to catch up with each other away from the public eye since they were all so busy with Jubilee events this weekend.
What do YOU think about the situation, Perezcious readers? Sound OFF in the comments!
[Image via MEGA/WENN]
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