The Cambridges Will Miss Lilibet Sussex' First Birthday

(Image credit: CHRIS JACKSON)

published 31 May 2022

Hiiii, not to freak you out or anything, but Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor is turning a whole year old on Saturday, June 4.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will mark their daughter's birthday during the long Jubilee weekend, which is very auspicious timing, I think you'll agree.

What is less auspicious timing, however, is that Prince William and Kate Middleton will sadly miss the celebrations, since they will be traveling to Cardiff that day as part of their Jubilee duties, the Daily Mail reports. (Since the Duke of Cambridge is likely to become the next Prince of Wales, he and the duchess are being regularly dispatched to the country in order to meet with local people, businesses and organizations.)

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According to the Mail, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will celebrate their little girl at their Windsor pied-à-terre, Frogmore Cottage, the current home of Princess Eugenie and her family—who have "vacated" the premises for the Sussex visit, although it's unclear whether this move is temporary or not.

The party is super conveniently located for the Queen, who recently made Windsor Castle her permanent home. But the stars have to be aligned even further for the monarch to be able to attend her great-granddaughter's birthday: She is unfortunately "increasingly unlikely" to attend the Epsom Derby (known simply as "the Derby"), according to sources who spoke to The Sun. This is due in part to her ongoing "mobility issues," but also due to all three of her horses no longer being set to take part in Saturday's race. Princess Anne—a former Olympic equestrian—will reportedly stand in for her mom at the event.

If the Queen does end up going to chill with her baby namesake, it will be their first-ever in-person meeting. Lili was born in California, her parents' new home. While her big brother Archie was born in the U.K., he hasn't seen his British relatives since the Sussexes moved away.

As for the Cambridges, I'm sure they'll be able to find a way to poke their head in to meet the little girl at some point over the four-day weekend. Both the Cambridges and the Sussexes should normally be in attendance at Friday's Service of Thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral, so they'll be able to catch up then. That said, only the Queen's older great-grandchildren will be there, so the family won't be able to see Archie and Lili on that occasion.

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Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and SELF. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.