Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ‘not shocked’ as they’re ‘erased’ from royal Christmas
Having stepped back as senior royals in 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have spent nearly five years living in Montecito, California, and have been busy carving out their own paths
The Royal Family’s Christmas traditions, from the Sandringham church walk to the King’s speech, are a staple of the festive season. But this year, King Charles shook things up by recording his Christmas message at Fitzrovia Chapel in London, ditching the usual Buckingham Palace setting.
Royal watchers quickly picked up on another tweak: the absence of family photos in the background, which in past years sparked chatter about the inclusion or exclusion of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. This time, with only a Christmas tree adorning the neutral space of Fitzrovia Chapel, there was no room for such speculation.
Chatting exclusively to OK! , ex-BBC Royal correspondent Jennie Bond noted that while the chapel setting was “convenient” for dodging photo analysis, it wasn’t the first time the King’s festive broadcast lacked personal snapshots.
“I think the choice of the chapel was specifically to relate the King’s message to his gratitude for all that the health service does. But obviously it was convenient that it avoided analysis of any photos in the background,” she remarked.
“However neither of his two previous Christmas messages have featured any photos either. So I don’t think anything can be made of this.”, reports the Mirror.
Since stepping down as senior royals in 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been living a blissful life in Montecito, California for nearly five years. They are doting parents to their two children, Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three.
The couple has also been actively involved in various causes close to their hearts and working on projects such as the Archewell Foundation and Archewell Productions. Jennie believes that the absence of Prince Harry and Meghan at the Royal Christmas gathering at Sandringham wouldn’t have come as a “surprised” to them.
“Harry and Meghan have chosen a life separate from the rest of the royal family, and as time goes by, I think Harry becomes more and more set on making a happy, settled life in California with his wife and children,” she explained. “It may be that he and the King exchanged some form of message at Christmas time, we simply don’t know and it is right that it should remain private. So I don’t think they would have been in the least surprised that they didn’t feature in any way in the celebrations at Sandringham.”
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