MEGHAN MARKLE, the former Duchess of Sussex, appeared on the Buckingham Palace balcony after last year’s Trooping the Colour ceremony but triggered speculation by not being part of the royal welcoming committee.
Trooping the Colour takes place each year to mark the Queens official birthday. This year, as a result of coronavirus, the ceremony will be low key and closed off to the public.
Instead of taking place on Londons Horse Guards Parade it will be hosted in Windsor Castle, where the Queen has been living since the lockdown began.
Last year Meghan appeared on the Buckingham Palace balcony, along with other senior royals, after the parade to watch an RAF flypast.
The event took place whilst Meghan was on maternity leave having given birth to her first child, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, the previous month.
According to Hello Magazine the reason Meghan missed the welcoming party may have been because she was tending to her recently born son.
Alternatively the publication suggests she may have been changing her outfit, as she was minus her coat and white gloves when she reappeared on the balcony.
A source told Hello last year Meghan was keen to take part in the event despite having recently given birth.
They said: “The Duchess is still on maternity leave, but this is a family moment, with the wider members of the royal family all in attendance.
“The Queens birthday celebration is a family event.”
In January Meghan and Harry shocked the world by announcing they were stepping down as senior members of the royal family.
The couple said they intended to become “financially self-sufficient” and would divide their time between North America and Britain.
Following discussions with other senior royals they agreed to repay the taxpayer money spent refurbishing their former Frogmore Cottage home, near Windsor, and dropped their Sussex Royal brand.
After initially spending time in Canada the couple have now settled with their son in Los Angeles.
This is Meghans hometown and is also where Doria Ragland, her mother, still lives.
During the coronavirus pandemic Harry and Meghan were seen delivering food parcels to vulnerable residents in Los Angeles.
This years Trooping the Colour, at Windsor Castle, will be performed by 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.
The Queen has urged members of the public not to gather in Windsor for the ceremony due to coronavirus restrictions, noting it will take place in private.
At the beginning of the ceremony the Queen will arrive in the Quadrangle of Windsor Castle where she will receive a royal salute.
She will then watch the Welsh Guards parade before a second royal salute and her departure.
The Band of the Household Division will provide music throughout the event.
In her entire reign the Queen has only missed trooping of the colour once, in 1955, when it was cancelled due to a national rail strike.
Prince Charles is still believed to be self-isolating at the Queens Balmoral estate, in Scotland, after being diagnosed with COVID-19 earlier in the pandemic.
The Prince, who only suffered minor symptoms, has since recovered.
