Royal Tensions Hinted at by Queen’s Absence from Archie’s Christening

The absence of the Queen from Archie's christening has been suggested to have hinted at royal tensions with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

The christening took place at a private chapel in Windsor Castle on July 6, 2019, when Archie was just two months old.

The small group of pre-selected press that typically photograph the family walking to and from the service were barred from participating.

Instead, Prince Harry and Meghan released a couple of lovely photos to mark the occasion.

The photos showed the proud parents holding their baby boy surrounded by loved ones, including Prince Charles, Camilla Parker Bowles, Prince William, Kate Middleton, Meghan's mum Doria and Princess Diana's sisters.

However, one quickly notices a couple of notable absences, namely the Queen and Prince Philip, Archie's great-grandparents.

The official reason was that she had a prior commitment and had also not attended Prince Louis' christening in 2018 either.

A book released a year later in 2020, Royals at War, the untold story of Harry and Meghan's shocking split with the House of Windsor, reveals that Her Majesty's conspicuous absence from the official ceremony portrait suggests underlying conflict.

Authors Dylan Howard and Andy Tillett claim that the christening came after years of tension between the Queen and the Sussexes, and that she was sending an explicit message by choosing not to attend the high-profile event.

They wrote, pointedly, the Queen and Prince Philip stayed away.

They had been generous and understanding at their best.

But they simply now felt publicly embarrassed by Meghan's controlling behaviour, said a well-placed Palace insider.

Meanwhile, a source claimed that Prince Harry has been begging Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth to allow him to return to the United Kingdom with his children, but the two senior royals have not budged.

After all, they don't want to shoulder the Sussex family's travel expenses only to get into more drama with Markle when she returns home.

The insider also claimed that after Prince Harry returns to the United Kingdom for a short vacation, he hopes to return to the United States to pack his bags before relocating to the United Kingdom permanently.

He also wants to return to his royal duties.

He wants to rejoin the royal fold.

But the ultimate decision rests with Her Majesty and he knows she's furious at him for heaping scandal and scorn on the family.

So, he's shamelessly using his father to get to his steel-willed grandmother and beg her to approve his return with Meghan and their young kids, the source said.

However, even if Prince Charles and Prince Harry's strained relationship seems to be thawing, the same cannot be said about the Queen.

After all, the monarch was at the centre of all the royal family scandals in the past couple of years.

Harry knows the Queen will be a hard nut to crack.

The pain he and Meghan have caused her is immeasurable, the source said.

And as the Queen marks her platinum jubilee this year, the celebrations will also showcase future generations.

This will potentially see Prince George taking part of the proceedings with his parents Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.

Royal author Nigel Cawthrone told that the Queen's great-grandchildren will be expected to step up with Prince George at the front.

I think we're going to see Her Majesty's grandchildren really step up this year and her great-grandchildren, especially George, will be up front and heavily involved in the celebrations.

The Queen will be experiencing a whole gamut of emotions, Cawthrone added, everything from grieving for her husband and remembering her father, to feeling pride towards all that she and her family have achieved.

She took the throne of a bomb-scarred nation and steered it into a period of political stability.

That is an incredible legacy.