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Prince Harry and Meghan are staying far away from the Festival of Remembrance this year, after filming a video in California instead.
The Sussexes both wore dark blazers with poppy pins fastened on their lapels as they spoke in a video about protections for ‘the most vulnerable in our world’ against the threat of digital violence and harm yesterday.
The new video message appears to have been filmed in California, where the Sussexes reside with their children, Archie and Lilibet.
So it seems that Harry, 40, and Meghan, 43, are keeping their distance from the annual Festival of Remembrance.
It comes after they were sat at the back of the royal box in 2018 and 2019, far from the first row where the late Queen, Prince Charles and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge sat.
Harry, 40, and Meghan, 43, both wore dark blazers with poppy pins fastened on their lapels, in a video message about online violence against children yesterday
2019: The royal family were sat in the same positions as the year before, with Harry and Meghan in the back row, far away from the Queen, William and Kate
2019: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (circled left) sat on the other side of the royal box to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex (circled right)
2019: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry (left) joined Kate Middleton (right), Prince William and the Queen at the Royal Albert Hall for the annual Festival of Remembrance
2024: The Sussexes are nowhere to be seen in the Royal Box during this year’s Festival of Remembrance
The Princess of Wales is attending the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall today, along with her husband William, King Charles, and other senior Royals.
But the Sussexes are nowhere to be seen as Kate and a hirsute William joined the King and Princess Royal in the Royal Box tonight.
But Kate’s double appearance this weekend will be the first time she has carried out two consecutive days of public official engagements since the start of the year.
As is tradition, Kate will watch Sunday from above on the nearby Foreign Office balcony, taking part in the two-minute silence and viewing the veterans’ march past.
But Queen Camilla will not attend, the palace confirmed, due to a chest infection.
The 77-year-old royal is understood to be recovering at home in Wiltshire and is being monitored by doctors.
Camilla’s condition meant that she had to reluctantly withdraw from the annual opening of the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey on Thursday; with the Duchess of Gloucester, 78, standing in for her.
It appears Harry and Meghan have decided to opt out of attending the event in person.
Yesterday, a video message played at the inaugural Global Ministerial Conference on Violence Against Children in Colombia, Harry opened their address by saying: ‘We are at a crossroads where the urgency to reassess and redefine our approach to protecting children has become increasingly evident.
2019: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds are pictured
2019: Harry and Meghan sat next to each other, but were not seated alongside William and Catherine (pictured) in the royal box
The event in 2019 was the first time the Sussexes (right) and Cambridges (left) were seen together since Harry and Meghan opened up about their struggles in an emotional television documentary
‘While the necessity has always been apparent, it is now time to translate that awareness into meaningful action.’
Meghan added that while ‘greater connectivity and advanced technology’ have obvious advantages, they also ‘compel us to better understand how digital violence against children is manifesting itself’ in 2024.
Harry and Meghan launched the Parents’ Network, an online campaign aimed at tackling harm caused to children online, in August this year.
Their initiative aims to help offer a ‘safe and supportive community [which] is available to all caregivers navigating the complex digital world’.
But – while they wore poppies – there was no mention of the Festival of Remembrance.
In 2018, the pair appeared to be put in the ‘cheap seats’ of the box at the Royal Albert Hall as they paid tribute to the British victims of WWI.
Several members of the Royal family attended, among them were the Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William and Kate.
The Sussexes were also in attendance but, for some reason, they were both seated at the back of the box, far away from the front row.
2019: The Queen looks on from the royal box in the Royal Albert Hall
2018: Queen Elizabeth II attends the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall last night, complete with a cluster of five poppies
2018: Meghan arrives at the event (left), as does The Duchess of Cambridge (right), who limited herself to three paper poppies fastened in place by her brooch, wearing her poppies on her right breast instead of the traditional left, to be close to the heart
2018: A large procession salutes in the arena during the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall, as members of the royal family watch on
Shots of the royal box showed the late Queen, Prince Charles, Prince William and Kate sitting close together while Harry and Meghan were almost out of view 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 Festival of Remembrance.
All four of them joined the Queen in the royal box for the event on Saturday evening, but were seated apart in similar positions to the year before.
It was the first time the Sussexes, William and Kate were seen together since Harry and Meghan opened up about their struggles in an emotional television documentary.
Last year, the Sussexes absence from the event sparked calls for the couple to return to the UK.
Following interviews with several Invictus Games athletes at the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance, many noted Prince Harry’s absence.
He founded the Invictus Games – an annual major sports event for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and servicewomen – in 2014 while he was still a working member of the Royal Family.