In his final polo match before flying to the UK with Meghan Markle and their two children to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, Prince Harry observed a minute’s silence on horseback for the victims of the Uvalde school massacre.
The Duke of Sussex’s outpouring of grief over the deaths of 19 children and two instructors occurred after his wife made a surprise trip to Texas to pay her own respects to the deceased.
However, there was excitement for Harry yesterday when he played polo in California after his team, the Los Padres, won the championship polo match final in Santa Barbara.
He also held his arms aloft and cheered wildly as his ride won the match’s best horse award.
The royal, who is sixth in line to the throne, is listed as H. Wales in the four-player line-up with his friend Nacho Figueras, who he embraced after their victory.
The prince joined polo team Los Padres, having played the sport for most of his life after learning in the UK with his brother William. The club is run by his friend Nacho, who said he was ‘excited’ for the duke to join the ranks.
Harry has signed up to a whole season of polo, but he will be taking a break to come to the UK for his grandmother’s Platinum Jubilee this week. When the Sussexes head to the UK, The Queen will meet their youngest daughter Lilibet for the first time at the soon-to-be one-year-old’s birthday party during Jubilee celebrations.
The 96-year-old monarch, who Lilibet is named after, is likely to miss her favourite sporting event, the Derby horse races at Epsom, for the little girl’s birthday bash.
Since she was born on June 4 2021, parents Prince Harry and Meghan have only been to the UK once, in a fleeting visit where they made a detour to see Her Majesty while on their way to the Invictus Games in The Hague in April. Although Harry has said that he video calls his grandmother, who always sends gifts for birthdays.
Before the UK trip Meghan, 40, laid a bouquet of white roses at a makeshift memorial outside Uvalde County Courthouse, not far from the scene of the senseless slayings at Robb Elementary School.
In Victoria Beckham jeans, Adidas trainers, a T-shirt and a J.Crew baseball cap, the Duchess dropped to a squat with her head bowed in front of the names of the 19 child victims, plus their two teachers, who were killed in last Tuesday’s massacre, America’s worst school shooting for a decade.
Wearing a £5,500 Cartier Love Bracelet and Princess Diana’s £19,000 Cartier Tank Watch, she then walked along the tributes, which have been made by the local community with the space for people to write their own messages of support to the grieving families.
Meghan’s visit to the small community, 1,300 miles from her home in Montecito, California, was unannounced, and came as a surprise to the close-knit town, which is still reeling in shock from the tragedy.
She also made a surprise visit to a blood centre close to the Uvalde school massacre with two crates of food and drinks for donors, volunteers revealed, as one admitted: ‘I had no idea who she was’ and another confused her with a neighbour.
She flew in on a private jet from California, where her father, Thomas, is currently gravely ill in hospital as he recovers from a suspected major stroke this week. It is not thought the Duchess has been to visit him.
Mr Markle, 77, fell ill on Monday and was rushed to hospital in Mexico, where he lives, before being transferred to a facility over the border, where he remained last night with son Thomas Jr and daughter Samantha by his side.
He had been due to fly into the UK to appear on TV during the Queen’s Jubilee. The Sussexes, and their two children, will travel to London in the coming days to join in the royal celebrations.
Lilibet’s first birthday is set to be celebrated at Frogmore Cottage next Saturday, just a stone’s throw away from Windsor Castle. Princess Eugenie and her family have vacated the Cottage ahead of their arrival.
In their first trip to the UK with Archie and Lilibet, Harry, 37, and Meghan, 40, are going to stay at the property during their four-day trip over to the UK for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Baby Lilibet, was born in California unlike her brother Archie, three, who was born at London’s Portland Hospital, a Royal favourite. The Queen met Archie two days after he was born on 6 May 2019.
The birthday party comes in good timing as sources revealed to The Sun, that is becoming ‘increasingly unlikely’ that the Queen will be able to travel to Epsom, Surrey, for the horseracing Derby as all three of her precious horses have pulled out of the race.
This will be the third time in the Queen’s reign that she will miss the Epsom Derby, with the first when she was on a state visit to Sweden in 1956 and another when she was in France for the 40th anniversary of D-Day in 1984.
Anne, Princess Royal will be standing in for Her Majesty and representing the royal family on her behalf.
Aides are said to be making ‘every effort’ to manage the monarch’s diary to not tire her, and the cancellation is another attempt to help the Queen ‘pace herself’.
Palace sources told The Sun that efforts were made to ‘ensure she could get to the royal box on the big day’ but this is being called off, they said.
For the past six months, the Queen has been suffering from mobility issues and has used a walking stick.
However the monarch has stated that she will make a double balcony appearance during celebrations for her Platinum Jubilee this week.
Her Majesty will step onto Buckingham Palace’s balcony on Thursday, during the official birthday parade, marking the start of the four-day celebrations.
‘The Queen is determined to take part in the Jubilee celebrations,’ a royal source told the Mirror.
They said that the monarch ‘very much wants to be a part of’ Trooping the Colour, which was brought forward by a eek so that it could be incorporated into the celebrations.
The Queen is also aiming to attend Friday’s Thanksgiving Service at St Paul’s Cathedral.
In March, she had a £62,000 golf buggy delivered to help, complete with hi-tech specs including a fridge and entertainment screen.
The 96-year-old monarch received the four-seater vehicle two weeks ago and has had a quick tour around the Windsor Castle grounds alongside her beloved corgis.
She has also had a lift installed at Balmoral Castle.
Built by Garia, a Danish manufacturer of premium ‘golf cars’, as part of a ‘tie-up’ with Mercedes-Benz, the speedy battery-fuelled four-wheeler has a range of 50 miles before it needs recharging.
Considered the ‘Rolls-Royce’ of the golf cart world, the Queen is thought to have the ‘Monaco’ model from Garia’s range of buggies.
It also features a 10.1inch tablet-style screen next to the steering wheel, offering maps and weather updates, as well as ‘weather enclosure’ doors.
The Queen was chauffeured in the buggy around the Chelsea Flower Show earlier this week, where she was showed around by Royal Horticultural Society President Keith Weed.
She is expected to remain in Scotland at the Balmoral Estate until the middle of the week before heading down to the capital to begin the festivities for her 70 years on the throne.
She will also be missing Thursday’s Trooping the Colour salute – but has vowed to make two appearances on the Buckingham Palace balcony instead.
The Queen’s birthday on June 2 sees her Household Division troops march and ride on Horse Guards Parade with Her Majesty usually attending and taking the salute.
But this year, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge and the Princess Royal will ride on the parade as colonels of the Welsh Guards, the Irish Guards and the Blues and Royals.
Only William was seen at the run-through yesterday, which went without a hitch – unlike last week.
A Royal source told the Mail on Sunday: ‘The Queen is determined to take part in the Jubilee celebrations. Trooping was brought forward by one week to be part of the Jubilee this year and the Queen very much wants to be part of it.’
There has been no indication that the Queen is pulling out of Friday’s Thanksgiving Service at St Paul’s Cathedral, where the entire family will be, including Meghan, Harry. Prince Andrew will also be in attendance.
Earlier this week, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex told the Queen that they will keep a low profile during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations next weekend and will only take part in official engagements after the Monarch ‘ordered the family to come together’ with ‘no dramas’ to overshadow the events.
Harry and Meghan will reportedly take part in the service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday 3 June after Trooping the Colour on Thursday 2 June – but will not appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony with senior working members of the Royal family. Prince Andrew will also not make an appearance on the balcony.
On Saturday night, the younger members of the royal family will head to Buckingham Palace for Platinum Party at the Palace, a concert starring Diana Ross, Queen + Adam Lambert, Duran Duran, Alicia Keys, Hans Zimmer, Nile Rogers, Eurovision runner-up Sam Ryder and more.
Organisers of the Jubilee are said to be ‘frustrated’ over a ‘lack of clarity’ in regard to where the Sussexes will be appearing and when, according to The Telegraph.
They said they have fears that the novelty of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex being back in Britain for the huge 70th Jubilee celebrations will ‘overshadow’ the Queen’s special weekend.
Princess Eugenie and her family have vacated Frogmore Cottage ahead of the arrival of Harry and Meghan for the Queen’s celebration, it was reported last night.
Eugenie, her husband Jack Brooksbank and their one-year-old son August have lived at the property since November 2020.
The family have been allowed the use of the five-bedroom house by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex while they live in California.
And Eugenie has made it her home, having recently redecorated the cottage to suit her own style.
But the Brooksbanks have now packed up and moved out for Prince Harry, his wife Meghan and their two children, Archie and Lilibet, according to the Sunday Times.
It is thought the move will last for the duration of Harry and Meghan’s stay for the Jubilee weekend as Frogmore Cottage is still the couple’s official residence in the UK.
The Brooksbanks are likely to have moved in with family.
Frogmore was converted into one home in 2019 for Harry and Meghan, having previously been five separate properties for staff working on the Windsor Estate.
The whole renovation famously cost the Sovereign Grant £2.4million.
n Saturday, it was revealed that Meghan Markle is ‘trying to heal four-year rift’ with estranged father Thomas as he leaves hospital five days after suffering stroke, ahead of Sussexes travelling to UK for Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
The Duchess of Sussex, 40, reached out to Thomas Markle’s camp after it emerged he left hospital following five days of treatment for a stroke.
However, it is understood that Meghan is concerned about involving her half-siblings Thomas Jr, 55, and Samantha, 57, as she ‘believes they have their own agendas’.
A source told The Mirror: ‘Despite their estrangement, Meghan is concerned. She wants to know if there is any way to contact her father privately, without other family knowing about it or having to get involved.’
The insider added: ‘Meghan can’t contact her half-siblings because she believes they have their own agendas.
‘If she can contact their dad, she wants it to be totally private. It won’t involve Netflix, it won’t involve any photographs and it must not involve any tip-offs to the paparazzi.’