Meghan Markle and Prince Harry may be at war with certain Royal family members, but that didn’t stop them from wanting to introduce their one-year-old daughter Lilibet to her namesake, great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth.
However, the Queen was not about to let them off the hook so easily and banned them from taking any photographs of the meeting.
She was most likely worried about the pictures ending up on a U.S. television network or in People magazine after an expensive negotiation with the couple.
It’s not surprising either, considering Harry and Meghan have a Netflix crew following them around, and Harry is set to release a memoir sometime this year which will reportedly contain dirty laundry about his brother Prince William, father Prince Charles, and step-mother Camilla Parker Bowles.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were told they could not bring a photographer to the meeting
A source told The Sun, “Harry and Meghan wanted their photographer to capture the moment Lilibet met the Queen. But they were told no chance. It was a private family meeting.”
While Meghan and Harry were relegated to looking out of a window during Trooping the Colour along with children and attended the thanksgiving service at St. Paul’s Cathedral, they did not appear at any other events.
Tom Bower, an investigative journalist, told the Daily Mail, “Meghan must have been furious when she heard that photographs of their Windsor meeting were forbidden.”
He continued, “Banned from the balcony for Trooping the Colour, no shot of her with the Queen in St Paul’s, and then the final blow was no shot of Lilibet with her great-grandmother. Finally, the Palace is playing a good hand.”
The couple was seen leaving London early before the Queen even made her final appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony.
Harry and Meghan threw a first birthday party for Lilibet at Frogmore Cottage
However, they did throw a first birthday party for their daughter Lilibet on the grounds of Frogmore Cottage. It was a garden party with balloons, games, picnic snacks, and a cake made by the same baker who made their wedding cake.
The Sussexes were not seen anywhere near Prince Charles or Prince William and his family, though it’s unclear if they met in private. With how busy Prince William and Kate Middleton were during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, they most likely did not.
William and Kate snubbed Meghan and Harry’s birthday party invitation
Harry and Meghan reportedly invited Prince William, Kate, and the kids to Lilibet’s birthday party as an “olive branch” however, the couple did not appear and went to concert rehearsals at Cardiff Castle instead.
Clearly, relations are still as icy as Antarctica, with a source telling Page Six, “Things are still fraught — William is still wary of spending any time alone with Harry as you never quite know what may be reported back afterward.”