Peter Phillips' Wedding Sends a Clear Message to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, Expert Claims
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s absence from Peter Phillips and Harriet Sperling’s wedding sent a clear message about their place within the Royal Family.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been estranged from the royal family since 2020. Despite talks of reconciliation, nothing of that sort has ever materialised. In fact, the rift has only widened over time. And while the couple has missed out on several royal events, in the past few years, their absence from Peter Phillips and Harriet Sperling’s wedding last week signaled a deeper trouble in the Sussexes’ already complicated relationship with the royal family.
Royal expert, Alicia Liberty, noted in a Daily Express article, “(The wedding) wasn’t a state funeral. It wasn’t a Coronation. It wasn’t one of those grand royal occasions where invitations are dictated as much by duty as they are by personal relationships. This was a wedding. A family wedding - and that is exactly why it matters.” Usually, the bride and groom invite people who are close to them to celebrate the special day with them. In such a scenario, not inviting the Sussexes was a clear "public statement". One that doesn't bode well for Harry and Markle.
When Markle had walked down the aisle in 2018, it had seemed like the ending of a perfect fairytale. But now, the reality couldn’t be more different. What had initially seemed like a “limitless” future does not exist anymore, at least within the royal folds. One family, now separated into two. “The Royal Family gathered together for another wedding, and the Sussexes were nowhere to be seen. If I were Meghan, I would find that deeply embarrassing,” Liberty wrote.
As per Hello!, a source close to Phillips and Sperling had previously mentioned that Harry wasn’t invited to the wedding because the two brothers hadn’t “spoken for several years” and had “simply lost touch”. By royal standards, Phillips and Sperling’s wedding may not have been on the same rung as Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding. It was a smaller, more intimate affair, but that’s exactly why the guest list mattered in this case. It revealed “who is in” and “who is out”. And the Sussexes are clearly "far removed".
But their absence proved a bigger point. The monarchy can run without Harry and Meghan. “The wedding went ahead. The guests arrived. The photographs emerged. The celebrations unfolded. Life carried on. And Harry and Meghan were simply absent from the picture,” Liberty noted. Whenever the rift between the Sussexes and the royal family is mentioned, the first thought has always been of an explosive family feud. But it seems that the family has moved on from that. Harry and Markle not being invited signals something more than just “anger” or “drama”. It shows “indifference,” and that might be even worse.
Liberty further added, “For Meghan, that may be the hardest truth of all, because being criticised is one thing - but being ignored is quite another. If this wedding proved anything, it is that the distance between the Sussexes and the Royal Family no longer looks temporary; it’s permanent.” Their absence from the wedding has certainly raised several question marks, especially as Harry and Markle are reportedly set to visit the UK this July, and the plan for a reconciliation at Balmoral is supposedly in the works.
