Prince Harry was ‘fighting back tears’ after Commonwealth Day

PRINCE HARRY was “fighting back tears” after he and his wife Meghan Markle were snubbed on his final royal engagement, a historian has claimed. Today, members of the Royal Family are expected to attend the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey. The service will celebrate the people and cultures of the 54 Commonwealth nations which span Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Pacific.

While Queen Elizabeth II won’t be in attendance, the service will mark the monarch’s Platinum Jubilee and celebrate her relationship with the Commonwealth. The traditional event was cancelled last year, for the first time in half a century, due to pandemic restrictions. Members of the Royal Family appeared on BBC’s televised special, A Celebration for Commonwealth Day, a programme which virtually paid tribute to the Commonwealth and its history.

 

The year before, the monarch was joined by Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Significantly, it was Harry and Meghan’s final outing as senior royals. Harry and Meghan rocked the Royal Family when they stepped down from their senior roles two years ago. Their exit caused a rift between them and the family, which was further exacerbated after their tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex bid farewell to life in the Firm following the Commonwealth Day Service. The year before, the couple had taken part in the Queen’s formal procession into the church, but this time they were ushered to their seats ahead of Her Majesty’s entrance. Robert Lacey, author of ‘Battle of Brothers’ claimed that the Sussexes were expecting to process into the church behind Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles and Prince William in recognition of their status within the family, despite the fact they had quit.

 

He claimed that the decision to leave them out left Harry “fighting back tears”. Mr Lacey claimed in his book: “In 2018 and 2019, Harry and Meghan had walked down the aisle in the main procession. “But, in 2020, they were being shunted aside on their final appearance as working royals in Britain. “As now glaringly ‘junior’ members of the family, the Sussexes would simply have to shuffle their way to their seats and take their place on the sidelines.

“The subservience of a ‘spare’ could not have been more strikingly illustrated.” In an 11th-hour move, William and Kate also did not join the Queen’s procession, even though they had been due to according to the order of service. Mr Lacey, a consultant on Netflix series The Crown, wrote: “Within minutes of each other, the two princes and their wives slipped quietly into their seats, then sat waiting for the Queen and Prince Charles to process in senior splendour down the aisle.

 

“The only problem was that 2,000 orders of service had already been distributed round the Abbey, explaining that William and Kate would enter and process with the main royal party — and making no mention at all of Harry and Meghan. “So there was the snub in black and white — set out for all to see. “Observers also noted that Harry’s face was ‘quite tense and unsmiling’ — and that when William sat down close to him, he barely greeted his brother.

“Throughout the service, Meghan megawatted away with her best TV smile but, as the ceremony progressed, Harry appeared to grow gloomier. “According to one observer, ‘his accelerated blinking even suggested he might have been fighting back tears.'” Soon after, Harry and Meghan moved to the US. The couple now reside in the affluent enclave of Montecito, California with their two children — Archie, two, and Lilibet, who was born in June last year.

 

Harry has returned to the UK twice since their exit, neither time with his wife or children. The Queen’s upcoming Platinum Jubilee celebrations have placed royal tensions back into focus, with uncertainty over when or if Harry and Meghan will return. In January, it emerged that Harry had filed a claim for a judicial review over a Home Office decision that has prevented him from personally paying for Metropolitan Police protection. The Duke is said to want to return to the UK with his wife and children, but does not “feel safe” to do so without such protection.