Royal snub? Meghan Markle and Prince Harry missing from Queen's annual Christmas speech photos
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were notably absent from the collection of photographs that the Queen Elizabeth II had surrounding her while recording the annual Christmas message.
In a released picture of the Queen, she is seen sitting next to a table that is decorated with framed pictures of her family in the Green Drawing Room. Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla, can be seen in one of the pictures which had marked the 50th anniversary of his investiture as Prince of Wales.
A really adorable family picture of Prince William, Kate Middleton, and their three children- George, Charlotte, and Louis can be seen placed in the center. There is also a picture of King George VI from 1944 and also one of the Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip from the Queen's personal collection.
However, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's picture along with their baby, Archie, is nowhere to be seen amongst the Queen's photographs. This comes after a rough year for the new parents as they had admitted to be struggling in the public eye. Harry and Meghan had also turned down spending a traditional Christmas with the Queen to enjoy a festive holiday in Canada.
We had previously reported that Harry and Meghan had opened up about their fragile state of mind in an ITV documentary titled 'Harry & Meghan: An African Journey'. In the documentary, Meghan revealed that she had attempted to cope by putting on a "stiff upper lip" but the intensity of media interest in her personal life had become too much to take at times. Her husband, the Duke of Sussex, has also contemplated leaving the United Kingdom and settling abroad—a huge digression from royal family norms.
According to royal commentator Ingrid Seward, the Queen's picture selections seemed like an unintentional snub to the couple. As reported by Mirror, Seward shared, "It does seem to represent the idea of a slimmed-down monarchy. All the media problems with Harry and Meghan must have worried her. However, she would never be so underhand as to deliberately omit their picture."
Last year, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were seen in a picture along with Prince William and Kate Middleton while the Queen read her Christmas message.