In the months after Prince Harry and Meghan quit their royal duties for a new life in California, the late Queen made a major decision over the Trooping the Colour guest list, which is still impacting the annual event
With Trooping the Colour right around the corner, all the senior working royals are expected to step out on Saturday to celebrate the King’s birthday, and revel in the magnificent procession to Buckingham Palace. And while most of the notable royal family members will make an appearance on the day, there will be a select few faces that will be missing.
This is largely due to a rule instituted by the late Queen Elizabeth, following Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ’s exodus from the Firm. Before the Sussexes took a step back from royal life to relocate to California in 2020, the couple attended two Trooping the Colour events: the first in 2018, shortly after their wedding at Windsor Castle, and again in 2019, just one month after the birth of their son Archie.
The annual event came to a standstill in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid pandemic. The celebration still went ahead, but as a very scaled back version in Windsor as opposed to London.
In years past, the late Queen Elizabeth would often invite the royal family at large to join her on the Buckingham Palace balcony for the RAF flypast, but that all changed for the return of the grand Trooping the Colour event in 2022, which coincided with the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
For the first time, the Queen decided to only invite working members of the royal family to the balcony, meaning both Harry and Meghan, along with Prince Andrew, were omitted from the royal line up.
At the time, Buckingham Palace said the monarch’s decision to only include royals carrying out official public duties was taken “after careful consideration”.
The symbolic gesture meant Harry and Meghan, who had left royal life behind, and Prince Andrew, were not able to attend the event in an official capacity. While Harry and Meghan were in attendance at the 2022 event, they kept a very low profile. They watched the parade from a window and were also not part of the carriage procession.
The royals who were lucky enough to receive an invitation from the Queen to join her on the balcony for Trooping was the then-Prince Charles and Camilla, William and Kate, Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex, Princess Anne, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke of Kent, Princess Alexandra, and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence.
The monarch made an exception for Anne’s husband Sir Tim, who is not a working royal, her two youngest grandchildren Lady Louise and James, Viscount Severn, and her great-grandchildren George, Charlotte and Louis.
Deciding to stick to the precedent set by his late mother, King Charles also opted for a striped-back balcony appearance in 2023 and 2024. The balcony appearance in 2023 was one of the smallest groupings in recent royal history, with the King being joined by his wife Queen Camilla, the Wales family, Princess Anne, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, Prince Edward and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, while the Duke of Kent and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester stood off to the side.
In 2024, there were only 15 royals on the balcony, as the King was joined by Queen Camilla, the Prince and Princess of Wales, their three children, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh and their daughter Lady Louise, Princess Anne, her husband, Sir Timothy Laurence, Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent.
While the guest list for the 2025 Trooping the Colour has yet to be confirmed, it is likely that another sparse royal balcony is expected.