On June 2, the royal family will gather (along with thousands of British citizens) to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s 70th year on the throne. Several events (/possibilities for royal-watching) will take place during the four-day celebration, including Trooping the Colour.
Trooping the Colour, in case you’ve forgotten, is the annual celebration of the sovereign’s official birthday, and it happens every year, not just on Jubilee years. The event features a parade of over 1400 parading soldiers, 200 horses, and 400 musicians, as well as members of the royal family who traditionally gather on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to watch and be watched.
In May, it was revealed that the Queen is changing things up this year and will only allow *working royals* to join her on the balcony during the Jubilee, which means that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will not be among the VIP balcony guests. While this may appear to be high drama in the royal family, it isn’t. As it turns out, Harry and Meghan didn’t want to be a part of the balcony crew in the first place, as per Yahoo.
According to The Sun, Omid Scobie, Harry and Meghan’s biographer, stated in a recent Yahoo News piece that the Sussexes were not “cut” from the balcony group. In fact, Scobie said Harry had actually “spoken with his grandmother about the possibility of not attending Trooping the Colour long before” the decision was reported in the media.
Harry and Meghan’s anti-balcony stance is also unrelated to any royal family feud. They simply felt it would be “inappropriate” for them to participate in the big balcony photo op now that they’ve stepped back from their roles as working royals, according to the Sun report.
They are, however, apparently “keen” to be present for other major events during the Jubilee weekend, such as the Queen’s Service of Thanksgiving on June 4th, so there is that.
