To soften family problems or perhaps to make it clear that Meghan Markle’s absence was not his decision, King Charles III has included a family image in which the exactriz appears in the official Buckingham Palace souvenir program. The family portrait was taken on the occasion of the then-Prince of Wales’ 70th birthday when Markle and Prince Harry had yet to welcome her first child, Prince Archie.
The unusual photograph of the family in this relaxed pose was taken by Chris Jackson in the gardens of Clarence House. It features King Charles III, Queen Camilla, Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle.
This small inclusion of Markle in the coronation program comes after Buckingham confirmed the absence of the Duchess of Sussex at the appointment. Therefore, Prince Henry will attend the ceremony alone and his children, Princes Archie and Lilibet, will not travel to the United Kingdom either. It will be the first time that Enrique meets his family after the publication of his explosive memoirs and equally controversial docuseries on Netflix.
The couple together were invited to the ceremony, but neither they nor their children were scheduled to take part in the procession back to Buckingham from Westminster Abbey by carriage. It was also not clear if they were going to pose on the balcony of the palace with the rest of the family, since they were already separated from this colorful tradition during the platinum jubilee of Elizabeth II. For all this, and for the alleged negotiations between London and Los Angeles that did not come to fruition, Meghan Markle will stay in her house in Montecito.
Markle’s absence at the coronation sets a precedent for what her relationship with the British royal family will be from now on, but it is clear from the use of this image that King Charles III continues to consider the exactriz part of his family despite the accusations of racism that she has leveled at her British court.
