Princes Harry & Andrew, Meghan not invited to Buckingham event
2 Min Read
They are not welcome at the Queen's jubilee balcony.
-
Queen Elizabeth celebrating her Golden Jubilee in London on June 4, 2002
Royal officials on Friday revealed that Queen Elizabeth's son, Prince Andrew, and her grandson Harry along with his wife, Meghan Markle, will not be joining her on the Buckingham Palace balcony for this year's Trooping the Colour, a British military parade.
The Queen decided to limit the invitations for the traditional ceremony to working royals only.
"Only those members of the royal family who are currently undertaking official public duties on behalf of the queen" will join her on June 2, a spokesperson said, revealing that the decision was taken "after careful consideration."
Prince Andrew, after settling a sexual assault lawsuit, has fallen from grace in the eyes of the international community and at home that he was stripped from all military titles and royal patronage over the assault case, in which he was affiliated with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew's most recent public appearance was in March, at the funeral of Prince Philip - many saw this as a sign that Elizabeth still believes that he must play a role in family events, though his appearance caused controversy.
Last year in March, Prince Harry quit royal life and moved to California with his wife, Meghan Markle - both figures have complained about the strenuous life living among royalty, driving them away from Buckingham Palace.
The Queen denying the two a place on her balcony could be interpreted as an ultimatum - that either her grandson and his wife are either royalty or not, and thus their place will be determined accordingly.
However, the queen has invited Princess Anne's second husband, Tim Lawrence, who is not a working royal figure.
There was no immediate word on whether all three would be involved in the other public events to mark the Queen's record-breaking 70 years on the throne.
