Meghan Markle's Trooping the Colour joke 'met with silence' in awkward moment
Meghan Markle's relationship with Princess Kate was suffering as soon as she joined the Royal Family, at least according to Prince Harry.
Meghan Markle made a joke while attending Trooping the Colour that was met with "yawns" by those around her, it's been claimed.
This Saturday, King Charles's birthday parade will take place in London, moving from Horse Guards Parade, down the Mall, and finishing at Buckingham Palace.
The event is one of the most important in the royal calendar but it may feel very different this year.
The King will be making an appearance as he continues his recovery from cancer, while the Princess of Wales, Kate, will likely miss the event due to her own cancer treatment.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will also be absent. They last attended the event in 2019 before they made their departure from the UK.
READ MORE: Trooping the Colour explained as Charles prepares for birthday parade
The Duchess of Sussex went to her first Trooping the Colour in 2018, just a few weeks after their extravagant wedding in Windsor.
Meghan appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for the first time, but Harry once described how there was awkwardness behind the scenes.
Writing in his memoir, Spare, Harry described how Meghan tried to joke with Princess Kate, only leading to a "yawning silence".
Harry claimed that, once the royals stepped back inside, Kate asked Meghan what she thought of her first Trooping the Colour and she replied: "Colourful."
Meghan then made a lighthearted joke, to which there was "yawning silence threatened to swallow us all whole", Harry wrote.
The Sussexes' relationship with Kate and Prince William remains strained.
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In his memoir, Harry alleged William had pushed him over in a row back in 2019. He also said William had branded Meghan "rude."
A royal expert has claimed that King Charles and William are "shunning" Harry despite his desire to build bridges.
Christopher Andersen told Fox News Digital: "The King and the Princess of Wales’s cancer battles have made it easier for both King Charles III and Prince William to put Harry out of their minds."
He claimed: "They are both shunning him now because they can’t afford not to – they simply can’t handle the distraction."
"Charles and Harry aren’t speaking, period. The fallout from ‘Spare’ has been eclipsed by Kate’s and the king’s cancer battles.
"King Charles and William hadn’t got the time to worry about whether Harry would take more potshots at them. Harry has already gotten the message that there are consequences for his attacks on the royals; his entire family has turned its back on him."
