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A spokesperson for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is setting the record straight on The Sunday Times’ report that Harry was invited and turned down an invitation to his father King Charles’ 75th birthday party on November 14.
“In response to U.K. media headlines, there has been no contact regarding an invitation to His Majesty’s upcoming birthday,” the rep told The Messenger and People. “It is disappointing the Sunday Times has misreported this story.” A source close to the situation additionally told The Messenger that the Palace had “never reached out.”
It is no secret that Harry and Meghan’s relationship with the royal family has been strained following them stepping back from their working senior royal family member roles. Only Harry attended Charles’ coronation, and he left after the Westminster Abbey service to get back to California for his son Archie’s birthday, which was the same day.
Royal reporter Omid Scobie spoke about Harry’s dynamic with both his father Charles and brother Prince William in May right before the coronation.
“Obviously, this is the first time he sees his family face-to-face since the release of Spare [Harry’s memoir], but I don’t think people know that there has been somewhat regular […] conversation between him and his father since the release of that book,” Scobie said. “Now, have they discussed the details and the points that he wanted to go into? From what I hear, no. But he has had contact with his dad and, of course, there have been some negative moments with the loss of Frogmore Cottage [Meghan and Harry’s former U.K. home that the Queen gave them as wedding present, which Charles later evicted them from]. They lose the keys to that any week now at this point, and of course he would’ve spoken to his father about that, but also discussed his attendance at the coronation with his dad and made it clear that he wanted to be part of it, and I think that was really well received as well. So it’s interesting to now compare that to where William and Harry are, which is still in the exact same place that we last saw them. There has been minimal contact since the Queen’s funeral.”
Senior News and Strategy Editor
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.