The Mail on Sunday revealed on 27 June that while Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been invited to Queen Elizabeth II's platinum jubilee, which is due to be held in 2022, they may well have to find another place to sit as the Buckingham Palace balcony may be off limit to them.
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According to the newspaper's information, the Queen's staff plans to only allow active members of the Royal Family to come up to the balcony. This would automatically disqualify Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, as the couple retired from official duties with great fanfare in March 2020.
Active royals being shortlisted
According to a source close to the organisation of the Queen's 70th birthday celebration on the throne:
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been invited, and I'm sure the Queen is looking forward to seeing them on this occasion.
The balcony sequence will be arranged as the time draws nearer, but there is a certain limit to the number of family members who can attend, and I would tend to think that active members of the royal family, who contribute to its running, would be better placed on the list than the Sussexes.
Twice as many appearances on Jubilee years
Elizabeth's platinum jubilee will be celebrated throughout 2022, but will reach its paroxysm in a four-day celebration between 2 and 5 June 2022, which will be declared a public holiday.
Traditionally, the anniversary of the Sovereign of England's accession to the Throne is celebrated each year with a parade known as 'Trooping the Colours,' followed by an appearance on the Buckingham balcony. In a Jubilee year, the Royal Family closes the celebration by coming out to greet the crowd from the balcony a second time.
For the Diamond Jubilee in 2012, the royal staff had already reduced the number of people around the Queen, who was surrounded only by Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla Parker-Bowles, Prince William and Kate Middleton, and Prince Harry, who at the time was not married or even engaged. And while Prince Philip was missing from the event, it was only because he was ill.
However, by the time the platinum jubilee is celebrated, the Sussexes may well have regained a place in the hearts of the Queen and her staff, and with it, that coveted spot on the balcony.
