Prince Harry and Meghan Markle returned to their Windsor home of Frogmore Cottage this afternoon, leaving the rest of the Royal Family to attend a reception without them following the Service of Thanksgiving for the Queen.
The Duke of Sussex was seen smiling next to his wife while being driven in a Range Rover with another car carrying security personnel behind them, after what was the couple’s first joint royal engagement in two years.
They had been at St Paul’s Cathedral for the service, but were kept apart from Prince William, Kate, Prince Charles and Camilla after royal aides ensured they sat on the other side of the aisle – and they later left separately.
Timeline of Harry and William at St Paul’s today
- 11.04am: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive at St Paul’s Cathedral and are greeted by the Lord Mayor
- 11.05am: Harry and Meghan walk into the cathedral
- 11.06am: Harry and Meghan meet clergy members
- 11.07am: Harry and Meghan are led to their seats
- 11.08am: Harry and Meghan take their seats next to Jack Brooksbank and Lady Sarah Chatto
- 11.15am: Prince William and Kate arrive and are greeted by the Lord Mayor
- 11.16am: William and Kate walk into the cathedral
- 11.17am: William and Kate meet members of the clergy
- 11.23am: Procession of clergy begins
- 11.25am: William and Kate walk down the aisle with Prince Charles and Camilla in the royal procession
- 11.27am: William, Kate, Charles and Camilla are shown to their seats
- 11.30am: Service begins
- 12.20pm: Service ends and William, Kate, Charles and Camilla leave their seats
- 12.21pm: Harry and Meghan leave their seats
- 12.24pm: Charles, Camilla, William and Kate leave the church and get into cars
- 12.27pm: Harry and Meghan leave the church and get into a car
- 12.32pm: Charles, Camilla, William and Kate arrive for reception at Guildhall
- 2.28pm: Harry and Meghan are photographed arriving back at Windsor
The Sussexes did not attend a reception straight after at the nearby Guildhall which featured a series of other Royal Family members and politicians including Prime Minster Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel.
It comes as Buckingham Palace revealed the Queen would not be attending the Epsom Derby tomorrow, instead watching it on TV from Windsor Castle.
She was also forced to pull out of today’s Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral, with Buckingham Palace saying she was suffering from ‘discomfort’ following her appearances yesterday.
The Queen appeared twice on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to watch Trooping the Colour and the flypast of 71 aircraft and then travelled back to Windsor Castle to light the first in a chain of more than 3,500 Platinum Jubilee beacons.
At the Guildhall reception on Friday, the Duchess of Cambridge is said to have told an attendee the Queen is ‘fine’ but had found yesterday ‘very tiring’.
Gill Smallwood, from Bolton, spoke with Kate and asked how the Queen was doing.
Ms Smallwood later said: ‘She (Kate) said ‘yes, she was fine, it was just very tiring yesterday, and she (the Queen) had had a lovely, lovely time’.’
The Queen has been forced to cancel a string of engagements in recent months and most recently missed the State Opening of Parliament in May. Her son, Prince Charles, and grandson, Prince William, stood in for her.
Buckingham Palace officials took great care to try to avoid a repeat of the frosty scenes when the Sussexes and Cambridges sat near each other and left together at their last joint event in March 2020 at Westminster Abbey.
And aides would have been delighted that today’s service in front of 2,000 guests passed without any such incident or negative ‘optics’ given the attempts to ensure today was about the Queen and her 70-year reign.
Kate and William chatted to Prince Charles and Camilla inside the cathedral, but there was no sign of the same rapport with Harry and Meghan who sat in between Lady Sarah Chatto and Princess Eugenie’s husband Jack Brooksbank, and were under strict instructions to keep a low profile during the event.
Harry and William have had a long-standing feud, while Harry has accused his father Charles of cutting him off financially and Meghan claimed an unnamed royal made a comment about Archie’s skin tone before he was born – with the Sussexes having a war of words with the Palace following last year’s bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview.
It was the first time Harry and Meghan, who now live in California, had been on full public view alongside the Windsors since they quit the monarchy for a new life in the US two years ago. Crowds cheered the pair as they arrived, with the couple smiling and waving, but both boos and cheers could be heard as they departed.
Today, Charles officially represented the absent 96-year-old monarch at the service in London which began at 11.30am. The Queen missed the historic event following a last-minute decision announced by Buckingham Palace at 7.30pm yesterday after she experienced ‘discomfort’ during Trooping The Colour events earlier in the day.
There was also no appearance at St Paul’s by Prince Andrew after he tested positive for coronavirus earlier this week. The Queen watched the service from her residence of Windsor Castle, and it was broadcast on BBC One.
Harry and Megan walked down the aisle of St Paul’s hand-in-hand after the service, joined by other members of the royal family and following Charles and Camilla and William and Kate – but did not appear with them outside.
The Sussexes turned to talk to Lady Sarah Chatto, who had been sat next to Meghan, and her husband Daniel Chatto. Senior clerics waited to bid the congregation goodbye and Meghan shared a joke with the Archbishop of York and touched Harry’s arm as he joined the conversation. The trio then laughed before the Sussexes moved on.
Members of the crowd outside St Paul’s sang the National Anthem while they waited for the Royal Family to leave at the end, before Charles and Camilla were the first to walk out as the bells began to toll at the end of the service.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge followed, with Kate waving cheerily to the crowds while chatting to her husband. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex left holding hands and were seen chatting to Zara Tindall and her husband Mike. Both Harry and Meghan shook hands with the Lord Mayor before getting into a car.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex at St Paul’s Cathedral (left) and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the Guildhall (right)
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attend the Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral in London this morning
Prince Harry smiles as he arrives back at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor after attending the service at St Paul’s Cathedral today
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge wave as they depart after attending a lunch reception at London’s Guildhall today
Harry sits next to his wife today while being driven in a Range Rover back to their Windsor residence of Frogmore Cottage
Harry and wife Meghan are driven in a Range Rover back to Frogmore Cottage in Windsor this afternoon
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (left) and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (right) outside St Paul’s Cathedral today
Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex attend the Service of Thanksgiving for The Queen’s reign at St Paul’s Cathedral today
Prince Harry and Meghan arrive to attend a Service of Thanksgiving for the reign of Queen Elizabeth II this morning
Prince Charles and Camilla speak with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge after arriving at St Paul’s Cathedral today
People wave as a car carrying the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge leaves Guildhall following today’s reception
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (left, circled) sit across the aisle from the Sussexes (right, circled) at St Paul’s today
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex leave St Paul’s Cathedral after the Service of Thanksgiving for the Platinum Jubilee today
Members of the Royal Family outside St Paul’s Cathedral including Meghan Markle, Prince Harry and Zara Tindall today
Prince Charles and Camilla lead the royal departures from St Paul’s Cathedral after the service this afternoon
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge leave after attending the Service of Thanksgiving held at St Paul’s Cathedral today
The Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral in London which was not attended by the Queen today
Prince William and Kate leave the church as they walk down the aisle with Prince Charles and Camilla today
Meghan Markle and Zara Tindall outside St Paul’s Cathedral today after the Service of Thanksgiving for the Queen
Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall outside the Service of Thanksgiving for the reign of the Queen today
Peter Phillips, the Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry, Zara Tindall and Viscount Linley outside St Paul’s Cathedral today
Prince Harry and Meghan arrive to attend a Service of Thanksgiving for the reign of Queen Elizabeth II this morning
The Duchess of Sussex smiles after leaving the Service of Thanksgiving held at St Paul’s Cathedral today
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex leave after attending the Service of Thanksgiving held at St Paul’s Cathedral today
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrive for the Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral in London this morning
Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge arrive for the Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral today
Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, and Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank today
Prince Charles and Camilla arrive for the Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral in London this morning
Prince Harry and Princess Beatrice smile ahead of the Service of Thanksgiving to celebrate the Queen this morning
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrive for the Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral in London this morning
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex…