Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s recent absence at an important event has left many baffled.
While some see their decision as disrespectful, others believe they are saving their reputation.
However, there is a possibility that skipping the royal event might have saved the powerful pair from an embarrassing situation.
Last week, a fragile Queen Elizabeth II slowly walked to Westminster Abbey with her entire family to take part in a special tribute to her late husband, Prince Philip.
More than 1,800 people, including Prince Charles, Prince William, his wife, Kate Middleton, and their young children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, attended the ceremony.
Royal aficionados and experts slammed Prince Harry and Markle for being the only prominent royal family members to skip Prince Philip’s memorial service.
Royal expert Ingrid Seward, author of Prince Philip Revealed, did not mince her words as she assets Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s decision.
Talking to the Mirror, the royal author said it was rude of Prince Harry not to be present nor to release a statement.
She also bashed them for not sending flowers and not marking the day.
She claimed that their silence speaks volumes and added: “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, and no spokesperson spewed out long sentences of undecipherable wordage. There were no flowers with the florist’s name proudly displayed. No comments from Archwell. Nothing. Not even a word from their supporters on various social media accounts.”
She continued with the criticism by saying: “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.”
She called out the powerful pair for missing out on another opportunity to allow Queen Elizabeth to bond with their son, Archie, and finally meet baby Lilibet Diana.
Seward shared: “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 favorite son, the Duke of York, who guided her to her seat.”
The Sussexes opted against returning to travel to the UK to honor the Duke of Edinburgh‘s life mainly due to security concerns.
However, the royal expert questioned that decision by saying: “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.”
She concluded by: “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.”
However, some royal pundits say they might have saved themselves from a potentially embarrassing situation.
There is a big possibility that Meghan Markle, who has political aspirations, did not want to be seen near Andrew.
Queen Elizabeth left many in shock as she entered the royal church with her disgraced son, Andrew, who is knee-deep in a sex scandal where he was forced to pay millions to the victim.
Andrew took center stage as he escorted his mother to her seat and remained focused during the emotional ceremony.
A reliable source spoke to PEOPLE Magazine and revealed that Queen Elizabeth was defiant and took the embarrassing decision to have her favorite son with her while knowing that Prince Charles and Prince William were against it.
Prince William and Prince Charles have taken measures to make sure that Andrew no longer hijacks important public events and bring shame to the royals in the future.
