Queen Extends An Olive Branch To Prince Harry And Meghan Markle With Invitation

Jun 27, 2021

It’s customary for the royal family to celebrate events throughout the year and when it comes to their birthdays, sometimes it’s twice a year. Queen Elizabeth II has two birthdays recognized — the day she was born on April 21, 1926, and her “official” birthday in June. This day is commemorated by the annual Trooping the Colour event.

Normally, the ceremony features over 1,400 parading soldiers, 400 musicians, 200 horses, and many onlookers, according to The Royal Household’s official website. The parade, which usually starts from Buckingham Palace, even closes with a patriotic showing from the Royal Air Force.

However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, BBC News reported that this event had been scaled down by a lot in 2020 and 2021. The last two years' Trooping the Colour was also different because the reduced parade took place on the grounds of Windsor Castle, rather than in central London, led by the Scots Guards.

The tradition didn't actually begin with Queen Elizabeth II, but rather King George II, all the way back in 1748. The reason is actually due to the weather — King George II's birthday was in November, which is a terrible month for weather in Britain. In order to best celebrate outdoors, it was decided that a big outdoor celebration would take place in June to make use of the better summer weather. Ever since, the Trooping the Colour event has taken place in June, regardless of when the ruling monarch's actual birthday is.

Despite tensions between Harry, Meghan & the rest of the royal family post-Megxit, the queen has offered an 'olive branch' by inviting Harry & Meghan to her Platinum Jubilee. The celebration will begin on June 2, 2022, with the Trooping the Colour.

Read on to learn more about the queen's gesture of peace towards Meghan and Harry.

This year, the queen's birthday was quite different due to Philip's death. While every year the queen releases a portrait of herself for her birthday, for the first time in over seven decades, she did not release one this year according to PEOPLE. Moreover, this year marked the second time that the annual traditional gun salutes, which commonly take place at Hyde Park and the Tower of London to commemorate Elizabeth's birthday, did not take place. The event was canceled in 2020 as well due to the coronavirus lockdown. 

It was also announced that the Trooping the Colour celebrations, which mark the queen’s birthday every June, would again not take place on their usual scale for the second year in a row, with the first being canceled due to the pandemic as well. The Trooping the Colours celebration scheduled for next year for the queen's platinum jubilee should certainly be an exciting event considering that the last two years have been affected by difficult and unforeseeable circumstances. 

Sadly, this year, just shy of her 95th birthday on April 21, the Queen lost her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, who passed away on April 9. She celebrated this year's Trooping The Colour alone. 

With only 275 people in the parade, the queen's celebration was much smaller than usual due to COVID-19. Still, the parade was much bigger than the 2020 Trooping the Colour parade, which only had 85 soldiers.

Elizabeth was seen sitting without the other senior members of the royal family. Express UK reported that Elizabeth arrived at the Quadrangle in Windsor Castle at 11 am to watch the Trooping of the Colour in her honor.

The Daily Star reported that royal experts believe that Archie and his baby sister could make their Buckingham Palace balcony debuts on the queen's Platinum Jubilee next year. Harry and Meghan are also said to be planning a visit to the UK to attend his grandmother's celebrations, which are set to begin in June 2022. The news outlet reported that Buckingham Palace has already announced plans to mark the monarch's 70 years on the throne, which includes an extended bank holiday for workers. Because the event is both a public holiday and also a personal celebration, the queen's invitation to Harry & Meghan could be seen as a gesture of peace.

One of the celebrations includes Trooping The Colour, where the Royal Family gathers on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to watch the RAF fly-past. It is also a second birthday celebration for the queen, whose birthday is actually in April. However, because Harry and Meghan are no longer working members of the royal family, it is unsure if they will get the typical balcony seat like the rest of the royal family members at the celebration. 

Harry and Meghan's birth announcement on Sunday, June 6, 2021, is the first bit of good news the royal family has had in a while, given the saddening events of the past few months, which have been filled with strife and mourning. Prince Philip, who would have been the child's great grandfather, passed away on April 9 at 99 years old. At the time, Meghan could not make it to Philip's April 17 funeral because doctors advised against traveling to the UK while pregnant.

What do you think about the queen's 'olive branch' or gesture of peace towards Harry & Meghan with the invitation? Let us know your thoughts, and be sure to pass this on to your loved ones!