A long-awaited return to the spotlight. Major family drama to overcome.
And an unexpected response from the British public. Meghan and Harry
couldn't have anticipated the reaction they'd receive at the Platinum Jubilee.
Since they stepped down from their roles as senior members of the royal family,
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's first appearance in Britain has been hotly anticipated. However,
some feared the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would steal the limelight from Queen Elizabeth II.
"This is her celebration. Her Jubilee.”
As royal fans will be aware, the Platinum Jubilee celebrations are all about the monarch,
who has ruled the United Kingdom for 70 years. During the Trooping the Colour ceremony on June 2,
the Sussexes remained in the background, watching behind the scenes with other family members
instead of appearing on the balcony. Regarding the event, a palace spokesperson told The Mirror,
"After careful consideration, the Queen has decided this year’s traditional Trooping
the Colour balcony appearance [...] will be limited to Her Majesty and those members of
the royal family who are currently undertaking official public duties on behalf of the Queen."
Despite remaining in the background, Harry and Meghan appeared to have fun
as they played and joked with the children watching the ceremony.
There has also been media speculation about how the British public would respond to Harry and
Meghan, after a recent survey showed the couple's popularity had dropped to an all-time low.
The YouGov survey reported that 32 percent of people had a positive opinion of Harry,
while only 23 percent of those surveyed had a positive view of the prince's wife.
It's also worth noting that many members of the British media, such as Piers Morgan,
are not the biggest fans of the Duchess of Sussex, which makes criticism more likely.
And the couple's Oprah Winfrey interview didn't help boost their popularity. As a result, the
crowd's reaction to Meghan and Harry's appearance at the Platinum Jubilee might surprise you.
In their first public appearance in the U.K. since 2020, the Duke and
Duchess of Sussex were greeted with happy cheers when they arrived at St
Paul's Cathedral for the National Service of Thanksgiving. In fact,
live coverage of the event showed the Sussexes receiving an enthusiastic reception, contradicting
media predictions that the crowd might react badly to the couple. Journalist Ava Santina tweeted,
"Cheers for Harry and Meghan,
boos for Boris Johnson. Gosh — I don't suppose the papers were expecting that."
Another royal watcher tweeted,
"Crowd booing Boris and cheering Harry and Meghan. It's almost as
if the Daily Mail doesn't have the influence it thinks it has."
Another Sussex fan tweeted,
"Rapturous cheers for the arrival of Harry and Meghan but you know
the haters gonna hate this! We love to see it."
The crowd's admiration for the couple only continued as Meghan and Harry
left the cathedral, although a few boos were audible too.
[Cheers and boos]
Meghan and Harry arrived at the service on their own, ahead of the senior members of the royal
family. The couple sat next to Harry's cousins, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, and their
husbands. The couple looked very happy and relaxed in photos that were taken inside the cathedral.
It would seem that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are happy to be back with their family. In fact,
royal expert Tina Brown predicts Harry and Meghan will return to royal life after Queen
Elizabeth dies. During an interview on BBC Radio 4's "Today" show, Brown said,
"Harry and Meghan leaving was definitely a blow for the monarchy because they did
represent a more modern — dare I use the word 'relatable' — [...] royal
couple who could be deployed to connect more, essentially, with the younger generation."
Suggesting that the couple's move to California might just be temporary, the royal expert added,
"I think my guess is that they will want to come back actually."
Former Vanity Fair editor Brown published a book about the royal family in 2022 called
"The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor — the Truth and the Turmoil." In a Time interview,
Brown talked about the difficulties Meghan felt when joining the royal family, saying,
"I think she had a lot to offer in terms of media modernity. But [her pushback] was just chaotically
executed and done with such recklessness and bad feeling that a lot of this stuff got mixed up."
Unfortunately many onlookers were not as warm to Meghan and Harry's presence. While some videos
depicted them getting cheered at the top of the stairs on the way into St. Paul's Cathedral,
other videos feature them getting overly booed by the crowds as they were leaving.
What may have happened was that Meghan and Harry got booed on the way in at street level,
and by the time they reached the top of the stairs the crowd cheered for other
Royal Family members who were just arriving from the cars.
If the British crowds' divided response to the couple is any indication,
Meghan and Harry potentially returning to the U.K. is still up in the air.
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