FOLLOWING Prince Harry’s no-show at Prince Philip’s memorial service, he has now been slammed for being the only senior member of the Royal Family to miss out.
More than 1,800 people attended the service to honour the Duke of Edinburgh, including 27 members of international royalty.
However, The Duke of Sussex stayed at his £11million Californian mansion with wife Meghan and is now being criticised by royal watchers, and the public at his “shameful” absence.
Richard Griffin, who spent 14 years guarding for the late Duke, said Harry’s absence was “a big disappointment for everybody”.
He added: “People were talking about it. Certainly around where I was, people were saying that he should have been here.
“All this nonsense about how he couldn’t get protection, as far as I’m concerned, was a pathetic excuse. He should’ve been here to honour his grandfather.
“At the end of the day, if he was that worried about security, he could’ve stuck with his brother and father, who have got wonderful security, and he would have been more than safe.”
Royal author and editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine Ingrid Seward, who penned Prince Philip Revealed, also added the couple ‘missed an opportunity’ by not attending.
“Harry must have known it would look petulant and rude. And if he did not Meghan would have,” she said.
“The wall of silence was as loud as if they had shouted from the abbey rafters. The normally verbose duke and duchess of Sussex said nothing.”
Read our Meghan Markle live blog for the latest news and gossip…
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Inspiring Invictus Games (continued…)
Ms Wales, who was one of the instructing staff while the Duke of Sussex was a cadet at Sandhurst, said it will be “exciting” to see him in The Hague.
“It’s always good to see cadets doing well, especially members of our royal family, so it will just be great to see him out there.
“It’s amazing what he’s done and what he’s created,” she said.
Reflecting on Harry’s time at Sandhurst, Ms Wales said he wanted to be treated the same as everyone else.
“He was the same as everybody he served with, and he did everything that everybody else did.
“And he wanted to be a part of that whole process and not have any changes, and that’s exactly what he did.
“And as an officer he smashed it,” she said.
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‘Inspiring’ Invictus Games ‘a powerful movement’ says Team UK member
The Invictus Games is “not just a sporting competition” but is also a “powerful” movement, according to one competitor from Team UK, which has gathered for a final training camp.
The Duke of Sussex founded the games to aid the rehabilitation of injured or sick military personnel and veterans from across the globe, by giving them the challenge of competing in sporting events similar to the Paralympics.
After being delayed by the pandemic, the next staging of the international competition will be in The Hague this month.
Former royal army physical training corps instructor Vic Wales, 44, from Newcastle, is taking part in five events – rowing, cycling, archery, powerlifting and athletics.
Ms Wales broke her back in a training accident 11 years ago and was medically discharged.
She told the PA news agency: “Invictus is important. It’s not just a sporting competition. It’s a movement, a powerful one.
“If you come and watch Invictus, you can see the importance of the games and what it means to people.
“It’s not just turning up and playing sports. It’s another chance at life, it’s another chance to rediscover yourself, and it’s not about what you can’t do anymore, it’s about finding out what you can do.”
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Harry & Meghan news you may have missed
Here’s a round up of the Prince Harry and Meghan Markle news you may have missed these past few days:
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Anne only royal with Queen’s ‘exceptionality’
The Royal Family is “falling apart”, a royal commentator has claimed, with Princess Anne the only one who comes close to the Queen’s “exceptionality”.
Columnist Rod Liddle said that watching the service in honour of the Duke of Edinburgh at Westminster Abbey on Tuesday, “you just got the feeling the whole thing is kind of falling apart”.
Writing in The Sun, he said: “The Queen made it work, because she is an exceptional woman.
“I don’t see that exceptionality in the rest of them — Anne, perhaps, excepted.”
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Harry upset about not attending memorial
Prince Harry was ‘really down’ about not returning to the UK for Prince Philip’s memorial service earlier this week, claims a royal expert.
Royal expert Stewart Pearce told the Royally Us podcast last week: “I believe it’s [Harry’s absence] largely to do with the security officials, and that Harry is actually really down about not being able to attend this remarkable day in celebration of his grandfather, for whom he has tremendous love.”
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Queen ‘compartmentalising’ with Harry and Meghan
A royal expert has claimed that considering the relationship the Queen has with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, she is very good at “compartmentalising”.
Speaking on Palace Confidential last week, royal expert Robert Hardman told the podcast: “I think the relationship with Harry is still very strong. There is a real fondness and a bond there, he’s devoted to her.
“And she’s very good at compartmentalising. Talking to people who know her very well, there’s family and there’s business.
“The whole issue of them leaving the Royal Family and their Sussex Royal website, all that kind of thing, that’s business — that gets dealt with separately.
“But in terms of the grandmother-grandson relationship, it’s still very strong.”
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Meghan leaves ‘Taylor Swift Easter egg’ in promo
Meghan Markle left a “Taylor Swift Easter egg” in the promo for her Spotify podcast series, Archetypes.
In the Duchess of Sussex’s podcast series, she will speak to historians, experts and women who have experienced being typecast.
The Duchess released a promo for the series in which she appears to leave a “Taylor Swift easter egg” as clues regarding upcoming guests.
Rachel Bowie and Roberta Fiorito, hosts of the podcast Royally Obsessed, discussed Meghan’s podcast in their latest episode, where Roberta noted how fans of American singer Taylor Swift have been quick to spot an “easter egg” in Meghan’s promo.
Roberta also pointed out that Taylor Swift has “had a lot of experience with these typecast narratives that Meghan mentions” so her appearing as a guest “would be interesting”.
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Thank you for reading my coverage this morning. Joe Gamp will now be looking after the blog until 10pm tonight.
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Harry & Meghan news you may have missed
Here’s a round up of the Prince Harry and Meghan Markle news you may have missed these past few days:
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Harry & Meghan ‘quietly hire’ Sony Pictures executive
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have reportedly hired Fara Taylor as the head of marketing for their production company Archewell.
Variety reported that Taylor previously served as the vice president of global marketing partnerships at Sony Pictures, where she worked on high-profile projects.
She jouned the Duke and Duchess’ company in September 2021.
At the company, she reportedly oversees all global marketing efforts for Archewell’s three divisions: Archewell Productions, Archewell Audio, and the nonprofit Archewell Foundation.
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Harry & Meg ‘100% aware how rude Phillip memorial snub was’
FOLLOWING Prince Harry’s no-show at Prince Philip’s memorial service, he has now been slammed for being the only senior member of the Royal Family to miss out.
More than 1,800 people attended the service to honour the Duke of Edinburgh, including 27 members of international royalty.
However, The Duke of Sussex stayed at his £11million Californian mansion with wife Meghan and is now being criticised by royal watchers, and the public at his “shameful” absence.
Richard Griffin, who spent 14 years guarding for the late Duke, said Harry’s absence was “a big disappointment for everybody”.
He added: “People were talking about it. Certainly around where I was, people were saying that he should have been here.
“All this nonsense about how he couldn’t get protection, as far as I’m concerned, was a pathetic excuse. He should’ve been here to honour his grandfather.
“At the end of the day, if he was that worried about security, he could’ve stuck with his brother and father, who have got wonderful security, and he would have been more than safe.”
Royal author and editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine Ingrid Seward, who penned Prince Philip Revealed, also added the couple ‘missed an opportunity’ by not attending.
“Harry must have known it would look petulant and rude. And if he did not Meghan would have,” she said.
“The wall of silence was as loud as if they had shouted from the abbey rafters. The normally verbose duke and duchess of Sussex said nothing.”
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Harry upset about not attending memorial
Prince Harry was ‘really down’ about not returning to the UK for Prince Philip’s memorial service earlier this week, claims a royal expert.
Royal expert Stewart Pearce told the Royally Us podcast last week: “I believe it’s [Harry’s absence] largely to do with the security officials, and that Harry is actually really down about not being able to attend this remarkable day in celebration of his grandfather, for whom he has tremendous love.”
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Queen ‘compartmentalising’ with Harry and Meghan
A royal expert has claimed that considering the relationship the Queen has with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, she is very good at “compartmentalising”.
Speaking on Palace Confidential last week, royal expert Robert Hardman told the podcast: “I think the relationship with Harry is still very strong. There is a real fondness and a bond there, he’s devoted to her.
“And she’s very good at compartmentalising. Talking to people who know her very well, there’s family and there’s business.
“The whole issue of them leaving the Royal Family and their Sussex Royal website, all that kind of thing, that’s business — that gets dealt with separately.
“But in terms of the grandmother-grandson relationship, it’s still very strong.”
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Harry blasted as ‘pathetic’ for missing Philip’s memorial
Prince Harry is facing criticism after he skipped the Duke of Edinburgh’s memorial, after he blamed his absence on the ongoing row over police protection when he’s in the UK.
Harry’s former biographer Angela Levin blasted his decision as “pathetic”.
She told The Sun: “He is such a changed person.
“It’s difficult to know if he will even regret not attending.
“The Harry I interviewed was caring and kind and instinctive.
“Nowadays, he’s so full of resentment.”
She said the duke “doesn’t seem to have any broader range to care about things unless they are things impacting him and Meghan”.
“Many royals from abroad made the effort, yet Harry’s pathetic excuse is that he didn’t feel safe,” she said.
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Meghan & Harry ‘to attend Brooklyn Beckham’s wedding’
MEGHAN Markle and Prince Harry could attend Brooklyn Beckham’s star-studded wedding – days after snubbing Prince Philip’s memorial, it’s claimed.
Speculation that the Sussexes will attend the bash next weekend is mounting after Spice Girl Mel B revealed Victoria and David Beckham will invite their own guests.
Brooklyn Beckham will marry actress Nicola Peltz, 27, on April 9 at her family’s oceanfront mansion in Palm Beach, Florida.
The destination is a short flight from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s mansion in exclusive Montecito.
The Sun revealed in July 2020 that the Sussexes will be at the top of the Beckhams’ guest list for the wedding.
But Harry is facing criticism after he skipped the Duke of Edinburgh’s memorial, making him the only senior royal to do so.
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Hello, Milica Cosic logging on. I’ll be bringing you the latest news and updates on Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.
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Harry doesn’t want to come to UK ‘without Netflix gang’
A royal biographer has claimed that Prince Harry doesn’t want to come to the UK “without a Netflix gang of photographers”.
Royal biographer Angela Levin has told GB News that despite concerns over his safety after his level of security in the UK was reduced, there is another reason as to why the Duke does not want to return.
Ms Levin said: “I think that there’s another reason. He doesn’t want to come here without a Netflix gang of photographers and people there.
“He needs to make another documentary because they’ve got lots of money and they haven’t really done anything.
“I think that’s what it is, he wants to have that as an excuse.
“He can go around everywhere and do all these things, but you can’t have your royal cake and eat it I’m afraid.”
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Queen Mother would have been ‘displeased’ about a particular action by Harry & Meg
Royal expert Hugo Vickers, who wrote the Queen Mother’s biography, believes there is one thing in particular that Meghan and Harry did that would have displeased the Queen Mother.
He explained: “She would have thought it was extremely rude of Meghan to name her child Lilbet.
“That’s the Queen’s pet name and only very very few people are allowed to use that.”
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Meg & Harry ‘know they look rude’ by ignoring memorial (Continued…)
Royal expert Ingrid Seward added that fears The Duke and Duchess of Sussexes appearance would overshadow the event were not accurate.
“There has been a great deal of criticism about Prince Harry ’s absence from his grandfather’s memorial service. But no reason given as to why he chose not to attend from Harry himself.
“A couple of weeks ago he instructed his spokesperson to say he wouldn’t be going. That was it.
“What a missed opportunity it was not to bring Meghan and the children to join the extended royal family, European cousins and of course Archie’s contemporaries.
“Their appearance would not have diverted attention away from the Queen. It was her day and no one could take that away from her not even her favourite son the Duke of York who guided her to her seat.
“The only explanation is that neither one of them wanted to go. There would have been no security problems. The whole Abbey was bristling with secret service men to guard the biggest gathering of royalty, politicians and top army brass since the London wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
“Harry must have known it would look petulant and rude. And if he did not Meghan would have.
“If it was a pointed snub to the whole royal family and it went sour.
“Of course, the Queen would have been told well in advance. Harry keeps in constant touch with his grandmother for many reasons. I am sure he spoke to his father too. But nothing excuses his absence even if Meghan and the children stayed away.
“He will not get another opportunity to pay his respects in public to the grandfather who always supported him.
“He has upset too many influential people too many times. It is something he will live to regret.”
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Meg & Harry ‘know they look rude’ by ignoring memorial
A royal expert has claimed that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are aware their no-show at Prince Philip’s memorial service could be seen as “petulant and rude”.
Royal expert Ingrid Seward, author of Prince Philip Revealed, told The Mirror she believes their silence speaks volumes.
She said: “The wall of silence was as loud as if they had shouted from the abbey rafters. The normally verbose duke and duchess of Sussex said nothing.
“No spokesperson spewed out long sentences of undecipherable wordage. There were no flowers with the florists name proudly displayed.
“No comments from Archwell. Nothing. Not even a word from their supporters on various social media accounts.”
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Jeremy Vine guests in heated royal row
On Tuesday, The Queen was the focus of a heated clash on Jeremy Vine. Discussions and arguments were made by guests on the show over whether the monarchy and the Commonwealth should be scrapped.
Panelists Marina Purkiss and Mike Parry got into a debate. Ms Purkiss told Jeremy Vine: “The idea of monarchy and the Royal Family all it does is to install classism, elitism, division, inequality.”
Mr Parry asked: “What about leadership…leading by example?”
“They don’t set an example,” argued Ms Purkiss.
“The Queen sets an example because she wears a diamond-encrusted hat, a lovely example!”
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Couldn’t have Harry taken a day off from Netflix to pay his respects?
This is a comment piece by Arthur Edwards.
Prince Harry’s excuse for avoiding the memorial service for his own grandfather because of “security fears” is, quite frankly, lame.
Harry couldn’t be bothered to take a few days off from Netflix, or feeding his chickens in the US, to honour the grandfather who always supported him.
Whether walking with the 12-year-old Prince behind his mother’s coffin, or giving support while Harry was on active service in Afghanistan, Philip was always there for him.
Prince Harry was the one person who should have been in attendance but the message that he sent out was that it was too much trouble.
You lost out, Harry, on a great occasion when the Who’s Who of Europe and beyond turned up to do honour to the man who for many years loyally served the Queen.
Read the article in full here.
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Meghan Markle fans call Kate a ‘copycat’
Kate Middleton has once again been accused by royal fans of copying her sister-in-law Meghan Markle.
During her visit to the Bahamas, Kate posed under an umbrella in the rain.
However, Meghan Markle fans have likened the picture to one taken of Meghan and Harry under an umbrella in 2020.
One fan of Meghan wrote: “This is such a sad but funny attempt at recreating Meghan’s iconic photo in the rain shot”, before another said: “Willie and dupliKate look terrible- doesn’t even compare to Harry & Meghan’s.”
Polly wrote: “Nah! William + Kate – CAN’T DO ANYTHING ORIGINAL for their #RoyalsPanto – always staging copycat Photo-Ops trying to capture the magic of #HarryandMeghan – and Failing.”
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Queen & Philip were ‘disappointed’ after Meghan & Harry snubbed Christmas
A royal expert has claimed that The Queen and Prince Philip were “disappointed” by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle after their absence from Christmas celebrations on year.
Ahead of their exit from the Royal Family, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex spent their Christmas break in Canada in 2019.
Richard Kay, royal expert and columnist told the 2022 Channel 5 documentary ‘Harry & Meghan Vs The Monarchy’: “Christmas is a very, very important part in the Queen’s calendar. She likes to draw her family around her.
“She and Prince Philip were getting older. They knew that there wouldn’t be too many more Christmases and they must have been disappointed.”
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Meg & Harry would have been ‘blanked’ by Queen Mother
MEGHAN Markle and Prince Harry would have been “blanked” by the Queen Mother after they did something “extremely rude”, a royal biographer has claimed.
Yesterday marked 20 years since the death of Queen Elizabeth’s mother – who was well known for coining the phrase – ‘Never complain, never explain’.
And royal expert Hugo Vickers, who wrote the Queen Mother’s biography, says she would have been “so disappointed” with their actions.
He told The Sun: “I think the Queen Mother would have been absolutely horrified in regards to Meghan and Harry’s interview with Oprah.
“Fundamentally a lot of things that were said in there that were not true and very easy to disprove. I’m sure she would be very unhappy.
“The Queen Mother was always someone who if she were unhappy or saw something she didn’t like she would just blank it out and just wouldn’t refer to it. It didn’t happen or the person didn’t exist.
“This was the attitude towards the Duke and Duchess of Windsor – she just didn’t bother with them. They just didn’t exist to her at all.
“I think that’s how she would also feel about Meghan and Harry – they would be ignored, they would be blanked.
“You wouldn’t have been able to get much out of her about what she thought about them.”
