Prince Harry and Meghan Markle won’t make a Trooping the Colour balcony appearance alongside the Queen and other key royals in June – but they will attend the weekend’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations alongside their two children, Archie and Lilibet.
“After careful consideration, The Queen has decided this year’s traditional Trooping the Colour balcony appearance on Thursday 2nd June will be limited to Her Majesty and those Members of the Royal Family who are currently undertaking official public duties on behalf of The Queen,” a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said.
This means those invited to join her on the balcony will be limited to The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children, The Earl and Countess of Wessex and their children, The Princess Royal and Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, The Duke of Kent, and Princess Alexandra.
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However, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be making an appearance at the special weekend. “Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are excited and honoured to attend The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations this June with their children,” a spokesperson for the couple said.
All family members will be included at the service, according to Buckingham Palace, which suggests the couple may be in attendance at the Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday 3 June.
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The Queen’s Birthday Parade (otherwise known as Trooping the Colour) is a key part of what will be a special four-day UK bank holiday weekend from Thursday 2nd June to Sunday 5th June, to celebrate the Queen’s 70 years of service.
The Parade will be held on the 2nd, starting at 10am, and the colour will be trooped by the 1st Battalion, Irish Guards, and more than 1200 officers and solders from the Household Division will put on a display of military pageantry on Horse Guards Parade, together with hundreds of Army musicians and around 240 horses.
The annual event has now marked the official birthday of the Queen for more than 260 years.
During the Birthday Parade, A Royal Gun Salute will be fired.
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Onlookers will be able to view the display along The Mall as the troops parade to and from Horse Guards Parade on its journey between Buckingham Palace and the parade ground. There will also be the opportunity to watch the event on a large screen at St James’s Park and many more members of the public will be able to watch the spectacle live on television, across the world.
It is once the parade has ended and the Royal Procession has returned to Buckingham Palace, that the Royal Family’s balcony appearance will happen as is tradition.
Due to COVID-19, last year’s Trooping the Colour was scaled down, with Windsor Castle only hosting the Queen and her cousin, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent. Prince William and Kate were notably missing – last appearing in 2019 along with their three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
In 2020, the army also had a smaller-scale parade and celebration at Windsor Castle, with just the Queen present.
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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex joined the Royal Family on Buckingham Palace’s balcony for Trooping the Colour in 2018 and then 2019, as their last appearance before stepping down as senior working members of the royal family and Covid-19 hit.
It was reported by the Mirror last month that Harry and Meghan told the Queen she will get to see her great-grandchildren “in the near future” in a brief visit to London to see her.
They share Archie, who has just turned three, and Lilibet, 11-months.
Watch: Four things you need to know about Trooping the Colour
