Platinum Jubilee: Will Prince Harry, Meghan Markle be given ‘frosty’ welcome at St Paul’s?

Some experts are predicting the royal family will react to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at next week’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in a specific way.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will join The Queen at St Paul’s Cathedral next week for a thanksgiving service as part of her Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

It is unclear how Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, will be received at the celebrations in honour of Her Majesty’s 70th year on the throne, in what will be the first time they are seen in public with the royal family in two years.

The last time they were together as a family in March 2020, photographs of the pair leaving the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey captured some sour looks among the royals.

A ‘frosty’ reception among the royal family at Westminster Abbey back in 2020. Picture: Phil Harris, Getty Images

Royal biographer Angela Levin told The Daily Mail the Service of Thanksgiving was likely to be “very stressful for the royals, especially for William and Catherine, who feel they (the Sussexes) have badly let down the royal family”.

“It will be just as frosty as the Commonwealth Service in 2020. The brother will look serious and I suspect Meghan’s Hollywood smile will be fixed,” she said.

Levin said seating arrangements would be a “big issue”, suggesting the Sussexes could be placed in the “naughty corner” with Prince Andrew.

This will be first public outing for the Duke of York since his father Prince Philip’s memorial service in March. He is understood to be visiting the Queen daily at Windsor.

The Queen’s celebrations to mark her 70th year on the throne will kick off next week. Picture: Joe Giddens, AFP

Another commentator Richard Fitzwilliams suggested Her Majesty would make a special effort to make the Sussexes feel part of the Jubilee after they were not invited to join the family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for the Trooping the Colour to kick off the celebrations.

There are suggestions the Sussexes are only attending to satisfy a Netflix deal and potentially help repair royal relationships to benefit Meghan’s future political ambitions.

Their children Archie, 3, and Lilibet, almost 1, are unlikely to attend. But the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s eldest children Prince George, 8, and Princess Charlotte, 7, are expected to join.

It is unclear how Prince William and Prince Harry will greet each other at next week’s St Paul’s service as part of the Platinum Jubilee. Picture: Dominic Lipinski, AFP

The Service of Thanksgiving will be held on Friday at St Paul’s Cathedral and is expected to feature some of the Queen’s favourite Bible readings, prayers and hymns, as well as a new composition by Judith Weir, the Master of the Queen’s Music. The song will put new music to words from the third chapter of the book of Proverbs.

It is understood arrangements are being made to help the Queen attend service but it is unclear what they are. There is speculation she may avoid climbing the steps of St Paul’s.

Originally published as Platinum Jubilee: Will Prince Harry, Meghan Markle be given ‘frosty’ welcome at St Paul’s?