Platinum Jubilee celebrations: Queen pulls out of derby as Harry and Charles hold ‘secret meeting’
There’s been little public sign of reconciliation between Prince William and Prince Harry at the Jubilee celebrations as an event was skipped and the Queen was absent.
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Prince Harry and Meghan reportedly held a secret meeting with Prince Charles before the Service of Thanksgiving to the Queen.
The pair were spotted leaving Clarence House, followed closely by Prince Charles and Camilla, just minutes before arriving at St Paul’s Cathedral.
Vanity Fair royal correspondent Katie Nicholl said she saw the two couples leave the residence of Prince Charles within minutes of each other.
Harry and Meghan are staying at Frogmore Cottage at Windsor, suggesting their appearance at Clarance House was organised to meet with Charles and Camilla before the service.
It follows reports of a chance meeting between their daughter Lilibet and the Queen following the Trooping the Colour.
Neither Clarence House nor Buckingham Palace have confirmed any private or unscheduled meetings between the royal family members.
It comes as the Queen pulled out of her second appearance after suffering “discomfort” during the first day of the Jubilee.
After watching the Service of Thanksgiving in her honour from Windsor on the second day of celebrations, the 96-year-old will tomorrow miss the Epsom Derby – one of her favourite events on the calendar.
Buckingham Palace confirmed that she would send Princess Anne in her place following Prince Charles standing in her stead at St Paul’s Cathedral.
The Prince of Wales paid tribute to his mother on Twitter, saying: “Thank you, Your Majesty, for 70 years of unwavering and dedicated service.”
Thank you, Your Majesty, for 70 years of unwavering and dedicated service ðŸ™
— The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (@ClarenceHouse) June 3, 2022
The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, along with other members of The @RoyalFamily, attended a Service of Thanksgiving at @StPaulsLondon for The Queen’s #PlatinumJubilee. pic.twitter.com/OTcrxg2lXU
After the church service, Kate Middleton said the Monarch found the Trooping the Colour “very tiring” despite having a “lovely time”.
An attendee of the post-service lunch, Gill Smallwood told PA that she asked Kate how the Queen was doing.
“Yes, she was fine, it was just very tiring yesterday” Kate told Smallwood, before adding that she “had had a lovely, lovely time.”
Phil White, London regional director for The Jockey Club, said it was a “rare occasion” that the Queen would not attend the Epsom Downs.
“But we are delighted she plans to enjoy Derby Day on television,” he said. “We have big plans to celebrate Her Majesty’s contribution to horseracing and the nation, and these will continue in full tomorrow.”
‘NO HOBNOBBING’ FOR HARRY AND MEGHAN
Also appearing to experience some discomfort were Prince William and Prince Harry who haven’t given any public indication of reconciliation.
According to The Sun, palace aides worked behind the scenes for months to choreograph the Jubilee service so Harry and William wouldn’t come face-to-face.
The brothers sat on separate sides of St Paul’s and arrived with their wives at different times. The couples did not make eye contact or acknowledge each other.
The ceremony marked the Sussexes’ first royal engagement with senior members of the family since Megxit.
Harry and Meghan were relegated to the second row as non-working members of the royal family. They were also snubbed in the official Order of Service, which made no mention of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
While most attendees of the church service joined the reception, Prince Harry and Meghan were notable absences. British media reported they snubbed the event to avoid ‘hobnobbing with the family’.
BITTER BLOW FOR THE QUEEN
The Queen is an avid horse lover with an encyclopaedic knowledge of racing. The withdrawal comes as a bitter blow, as the Epsom on Saturday is the only race of the five Classic she has never won.
Camilla said in an interview with ITV last year that the horses are “her passion in life”.
“She loves it and you can tell how much she loves it,” Camilla said. “She can tell you every horse she’s bred and owned, from the very beginning, she doesn’t forget anything.
While the Queen rallied after the parade for the lighting of the beacon, she missed the public reunion of her royal family with Meghan and Prince Harry at St Paul’s Cathedral.
After the service, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex didn’t continue to the reception for politicians and royals.
HARRY AND MEGHAN REUNITE WITH ROYALS
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, meanwhile, reunited with the royals at St Paul’s Cathedral for an extraordinary Platinum Jubilee National Service of Thanksgiving.
Wearing a Dior trench coat and skirt and a matching wide-brimmed Dior hat designed by Stephen Jones, Meghan, 40, smiled as she walked into the church holding hands with Prince Harry, 37.
The former British Army captain was dressed in a morning suit, complete with military medals.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, as they are formally known, arrived mostly to cheers from the crowd outside the cathedral.
Kate Middleton, dressed in a custom Emilia Wickstead yellow dress and matching Philip Treacy hat, and Prince William arrived shortly after in a separate car.
Kate also wore a pair of the Queen’s earrings, which she previously wore to Prince Philip’s funeral and Remembrance Sunday service in 2016.
The young royals were then followed by the king in waiting, Prince Charles and Camilla.
The Sussexes were escorted to their seats in the second row with Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie and their husbands and behind Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex.
The couple have not been seen together publicly since a frosty Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey in 2020 at the height of Megxit.
The former Fab Four were seated across the aisle from each other inside St Paul’s, with one photograph showing Prince Harry looking at the ceiling.
Prince Harry talked to his cousin Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank, who visited the couple in California earlier this year.
The Sussexes opted not to bring their children Archie and Lilibet and it is unclear if they will attend tomorrow’s Party at the Palace or the Pageant on Sunday.
A passage from the book of Proverbs dedicated to the Queen was read:
“Happy is the one who finds Wisdom; the one who gains understanding …. she is a tree of life to those who grasp her.”
There were also prayers for the environment, with young people from around the Commonwealth representing the Queen committing to preserving “the beauty of this earth.”
Prince Charles, 73, stepped up in the absence of the Queen, as bells rung out for the occasion.
The Queen watched the service from Windsor Castle.
Her Majesty, 96, reluctantly pulled out of the solemn event after experiencing “discomfort” following the spectacular Trooping The Colour.
Former UK prime ministers Tony Blair and his wife Cherie and David Cameron and his wife Samantha were among the first guests to arrive.
First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon and her husband Peter and London mayor Sadiq Khan and his wife Saadiya were also in attendance.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrived with wife Carrie, who dressed in bright red. But he was booed by the crowd amid the partygate report.
A host of royals followed led by the Duke of Kent, Prince Edward, and Mike Tindall and Zara Phillips who wore bright pink.
The 16-tonne Great Paul bell, the largest in the UK, was rung continuously for four hours after the service.
Prince William and Kate left first, behind Prince Charles and were headed for a reception hosted by the mayor.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are giving the reception of royals and politicians a miss.
It comes as the Queen met with Lilibet for the first time.
Omid Scobie, an author who wrote the flattering biography of Prince Harry and Meghan titled Finding Freedom, revealed the Queen’s “chance” meeting of Lilibet during a private lunch of royals after Trooping the Colour.
“Those moments with Lilibet are very much private between them and the Queen,” he said of the meeting.
Lilibet – who is named after the nickname the Queen has had since she was a toddler – turns one on Saturday.
The meeting broke the ice for what could have been a tense reunion between Prince Harry and Prince William and their spouses.
Prince Harry was said to be “nervous” ahead of the thanksgiving service occasion, with Mr Scobie saying they were trying to keep a low-profile.
“I spoke with people close to the couple who said that they want to be as low-profile as possible during this trip,” he told the BBC.
“It’s almost hard to believe, but I think yesterday [at] Trooping the Colour was a great example.
“We didn’t really catch sight of them on TV cameras.”
Commentator Piers Morgan said the couple was laying low because “there is already a lot of tension” behind the scenes.
Morgan told Sky News Australia: “The only glue it seems in this whole tension is the Queen and she’s not going to be there.
“So we’re going to have a bit of a drama in a church where there aren’t many of them and the ones who are going to be there don’t get on.”
It was the second day in the “world’s biggest party” to celebrate the Queen’s 70-year reign, which continues until Sunday.
A spectacular lighting of beacons across the Commonwealth added spark to the four-day party in honour of Her Majesty.
The Queen lit the first of 1500 beacons at Windsor Castle, which was then replicated across the Commonwealth.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese lit a beacon in Australia as part of the celebrations.
“The Queen has been a rare constant, an enduring, inspiring growing presence of calm, decency and strength,” he said.
Mr Albanese also joked his birth was “somewhat” delayed when his mother insisted that she be taken via the city to see a tribute to the Queen in 1963 on the way to the hospital.
The Australian tribute added to the glorious pictures of the Queen, which were beamed onto the walls of Buckingham Palace.
An inspiring beacon of trees was also lit up and fireworks went off over Windsor Castle on Thursday night UK time.
Prince Andrew has tested positive for Covid-19 and will not be able to attend any events for the Queen.
However, sources claim he was never going to be able to go to St Paul’s after he controversially insisted on walking his mother to her seat at Westminster Abbey for a memorial for the late Prince Philip.
stephen.drill@news.com.au
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