There’s a Reason Why the Queen Reportedly Spent So Little Time with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 19 June 2022

New details are emerging as to why Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and their kids Archie, 3, and Lili, 1, only got a short amount of time—reportedly about 15 minutes—with the Queen during her Platinum Jubilee weekend earlier this month.

According to Us Weekly, the short visit at Windsor Castle had nothing to do with family tension and more to do with saving her strength amid ongoing health concerns, specifically physical mobility issues that sidelined her for many of the festivities of the Jubilee—and other royal events on the calendar as of late, like Royal Ascot.

“She was working very hard to maintain her strength,” royal expert Jonathan Sacerdoti told Us. “I think it’s totally understandable that she was saving her energy as best she could for all the events that she wanted to be at if she possibly could.”

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After June 2’s Trooping the Colour parade and flypast—where Her Majesty made not just one but two balcony appearances at Buckingham Palace—the Sussexes reportedly brought daughter Lilibet Diana (named for the Queen’s familial nickname) by Windsor Castle that evening, where Her Majesty now lives and where she lit beacons to mark the Jubilee that night.

“Harry and Meghan visited the Queen at Windsor Castle with Lilibet and Archie,” an insider exclusively told Us of the meeting. And, while speculation ran rampant at the time that the short meeting was because of recent drama surrounding the Sussexes, Sacerdoti disagrees.

“We’re talking about someone in their nineties and a baby,” he said, telling the outlet that Her Majesty had to conserve her energy for the multitude of events that were to come throughout the four-day event. “We saw that she did manage to appear several times in public, and that’s great.”

After experiencing discomfort at Trooping the Colour Thursday, the Queen was forced to miss a number of events on Friday and Saturday before making a surprise third balcony appearance on Sunday at the conclusion of the Platinum Jubilee Pageant. An insider told Us that seeing Lili and big brother Archie “helped take the Queen’s mind off having to miss some of the festivities.”

“After reluctantly pulling out of Party at the Palace [on Saturday], spending time with her great-grandchildren and seeing Lilibet turn one added some light to her day,” the source explained. “She thinks they’re adorable and gave Lili and Archie gifts.”

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.