Prince Harry and Meghan did not attend this year’s World War I Remembrance Day, instead filming a video in California. In the video, both wore dark blazers with poppies pinned to their lapels as they delivered a message about protecting “the world’s most vulnerable people” from the threat of violence and danger online. The video appears to have been filmed in California, where the Sussexes live with their two children, Archie and Lilibet.
This shows that Harry and Meghan are keeping their distance from the annual Remembrance Day service. Previously, in 2018 and 2019, they were seated in the back row of the royal box, away from the front row where the late Queen, Prince Charles and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge sat.
This year, Kate attended the Remembrance Day service at the Royal Albert Hall with her husband William, King Charles and other senior royals. However, the Sussexes were absent, while Kate and William sat in the royal box with King Charles and Princess Anne. Kate is gradually returning to public duties after completing her cancer treatment. Her last high-profile appearance was at Trooping the Colour in June. This weekend’s appearance was the first time she has carried out official duties two days in a row since the start of the year.
Kate traditionally watches Sunday’s ceremony from the balcony of the nearby Foreign Office, taking part in the two minutes’ silence and watching the veterans’ parade. However, Queen Camilla will not be attending due to a chest infection. She is being treated at home in Wiltshire and is being monitored by doctors. Camilla’s condition forced her to reluctantly withdraw from Thursday’s Westminster Abbey event. The Duchess of Gloucester took her place. It appears that Harry and Meghan have decided not to attend the event in person.
Instead, in a video released at the first Global Ministerial Conference on Violence Against Children in Colombia, Harry opened their speech by saying: “We are at a crossroads where the urgency to reassess and redefine our approach to protecting children has become ever clearer.” Meghan added that while “greater connectivity and advanced technology” have obvious benefits, they also “compel us to better understand how digital violence against children is manifesting” by 2024. Harry and Meghan launched the Parents’ Network, an online campaign to tackle the harm done to children online, in August. However, despite wearing poppies, Harry and Meghan did not mention Remembrance Day.
In 2018, the couple appeared to be given “ordinary seats” at the Royal Albert Hall for a service to remember British victims of World War I. Several members of the Royal Family were in attendance, including the Queen, Prince Charles, Prince William and Kate. The Sussexes were also present, but for some reason they were both seated in the back row, away from the front row. Photographs of the royal box show the late Queen, Prince Charles, Prince William and Kate sitting close together, while Harry and Meghan were almost out of sight in the far corner.
Again in 2019, Meghan and Prince Harry joined Kate, Prince William and the late Queen at the Royal Albert Hall for the annual Remembrance Service. The four joined the Queen in the royal box for the event, but sat separately in similar positions as the previous year. It was the first time the Sussexes, William and Kate had been seen together since Harry and Meghan opened up about their struggles in an emotional TV documentary.
Last year, the Sussexes’ absence from the event sparked calls for the couple to return to the UK. Prince Harry’s absence was highlighted after interviews with several Invictus Games athletes at the Royal Military Service of Remembrance. He founded the Invictus Games – a major annual sporting event for wounded, injured and ill servicemen – in 2014 while he was still an active member of the Royal Family.