Mike Tindall stated today that the Queen’s grandchildren and their spouses had a private lunch during the Platinum Jubilee, but Harry and Meghan did not appear to be present.
The supper with Zara Phillips’ relatives and their partners in London following the Trooping the Colour on Thursday was one of the Platinum Jubilee’s ‘highlights,’ according to her ex-rugby star husband, 43.
While the Queen, Prince Charles, Camilla, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and others on the balcony at the ceremony enjoyed a dinner afterwards at Buckingham Palace, ‘the cousins’ who observed from the Major General’s Office overlooking Horse Guards Parade went for lunch, he revealed.
But, according to MailOnline, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who had been watching the event with the Tindalls, returned immediately to Frogmore Cottage. It’s unclear if they were invited because of persistent rumors about a schism between Harry and his family, particularly Prince William, following repeated transatlantic potshots on US television.
‘It was spectacular, to be frank,’ Mr Tindall said of the Jubilee. ‘It was fantastic to be a part of,’ she says, adding, ‘On Thursday, we had a terrific cousins’ lunch.’ That was a high point.’
Although the Tindalls, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, along with their husbands Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi and Jack Brooksbank, attended a lunch in March at the posh Scott’s restaurant in Mayfair, the location for the no-doubt boozy secret cousins’ meal has not been revealed.
Tindall also stated there were celebration cocktails at the Palace after the Platinum Party at The Palace on Saturday, in his first appearance on The Good, The Bad, and The Rugby podcast since millions celebrated the Queen’s 70 years on the throne.
He also revealed that keeping a check on the raucous younger royals, including Prince Louis and his own two daughters Mia and Lena, who gorged themselves on sweets backstage, had been a challenge.
‘It’s difficult for them,’ he remarked. They’re all in their early twenties. It has been a long time. However, as any parent knows, you simply do what needs to be done. Louis was only looking to have a good time. And my two are always up to mischief, so it’s a constant battle to keep a lid on things. However, there were a lot of sweets out back, so there was a sugar high.’
Mike also hailed the Queen for her “excellent” Paddington comedy, telling listeners, “I’ve always maintained she is really hilarious.”
Louis was undeniably one of the Jubilee’s biggest stars.
Mike Tindall leaned over the seat, looked Louis in the eyes, and said he was ‘watching’ him at one point. That seems to have had the desired effect, as the kid proceeded to speak with his father before settling into Grandpapa Charles’ lap.
Louis was also spotted jumping up and down on his grandpapa’s lap, blowing raspberries, shushing his mother, and blowing raspberries.
The four-year-old sat in the Royal Box with his brother George, eight, and sister Charlotte, seven, for the two-and-a-half-hour parade on Sunday.
Louis sat next to his mother Kate, who couldn’t stop smiling at his antics… most of the time, dressed in a hand-me-down white shirt with blue piping and matching trousers.
Louis cocked his head and stuck his tongue out at her at one point. When she told him to stop, he put his little hand over her mouth.
Harry and Meghan had thrown a birthday celebration for their one-year-old daughter Lilibet just 24 hours before.
Zara and Mike Tindall are understood to have attended the celebration, according to a spokeswoman for the couple. The Sussexes left the next day for their California residence.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, as well as their children, were invited, but they were in Cardiff on behalf of the Queen. They reportedly did not spend any alone time with the Sussexes at all.
As it is known, Harry and Meghan were forbidden from photographing Lilibet seeing the Queen for the first time, giving the public a rare look of the one-year-old – and the grace-and-favour Windsor house they left for LA.
The Sussexes shared a photo of the little girl – named Lilibet in honor of the Queen, who had the nickname Lilibet as a kid – in the grounds of Frogmore Cottage, where she celebrated her first birthday with birthday cake, balloons, party games, and picnic refreshments on Saturday.
A pastel pink VW Beetle ride-on car, worth £75 from Selfridges, was reportedly one of the gifts, while Sussex supporters contributed $100,000 to charity in her honor. After an aide to the Sussexes was observed unloading it from their private plane in Santa Barbara, it’s possible that Prince Charles got her a swing identical to the one he bought for Prince George.
According to reports, the Queen forbade Harry and Meghan from having a photographer shoot her great-granddaughter Lilibet for the first time. The photographer has not been identified, although it is possible that it is their friend Misan Harriman, who has photographed the Sussexes several times since they began dating some six years ago.
‘Meghan must have been upset when she heard that images of their Windsor encounter were barred,’ said investigative journalist Tom Bower, who is working on a biography of the Duchess of Sussex.
Banned from the balcony for Trooping the Colour, no photos of her with the Queen in St Paul’s, and no photos of Lilibet with her great-grandmother were the final blows. Finally, the Palace has a strong hand.’
‘The Sussexes’ Netflix deal is in peril,’ he added. The Sussexes’ wrath will be fueled by the photo veto. Harry’s retaliation could come in the form of more revelations in his book, which is set to be released later this year. Both sides are playing a risky game.’
Prince Harry’s biographer, Angela Levin, told MailOnline: ‘It is an extraordinary cheek.’ It’s impossible to put into words how much pressure his grandmother is under while she’s struggling to move during four days of celebrations where she’s being asked to do a lot. When you’re 96 years old, it’s even more difficult. Despite the fact that the Jubilee is her final effort as monarch, Harry asks for time with her when she can’t say no’.
According to Page Six, Harry and Meghan spent no private time with Prince William, Kate, George, Charlotte, and Louis during the Jubilee, and William’s family is unlikely to have met Lilibet.
After the Sussexes’ transatlantic ‘truth bombs’ about the Royal Family on Oprah and friendly podcasts in the US, an insider said the brothers’ relationship is still ‘fraught.’
According to Harry and Meghan’s friend Omid Scobie, Lilibet met Her Majesty ‘on more than one occasion,’ and Prince Charles and Camilla also spent time with the couple before they returned to California on Sunday.
‘They should have stayed for a few days afterward, spent time with the Queen after her duties were completed, and tried to make amends with William,’ Ms Levin said. They had the opportunity to take their time, but instead chose to rush in and out.’
‘All his impatience and self-destruction is visible,’ she added, adding that Harry appeared to have ‘lost all respect for anyone now.’ He won’t be able to conceal it.’
Her Majesty’s great-granddaughter Lilibet was photographed for the first time since she was a baby, smiling and dressed in a pale blue frock with a white bow in her strawberry blonde hair.
While in Britain for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee festivities, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex hosted a “intimate backyard picnic” for close friends and family before flying back to California on Sunday.
Mr Harriman, who previously tweeted a shot of Meghan holding her daughter inside Frogmore, the mansion they spent £2.4 million of taxpayers’ money upgrading before departing as royals and immigrating, took the photo of Lilibet sitting calmly on the grass.
Mother and her red-haired daughter posed with the photographer’s blonde wife, Camilla Holmstroem, a former Goldman Sachs banker turned businesswoman, and their two daughters, both of whom had their faces painted as part of the guest activities.
Mr. Harriman also published a photo of himself smiling with his eldest child on Instagram and Twitter, but no photos of Harry and Archie were available.
On Thursday, the 96-year-old is claimed to have met Harry and Meghan’s daughter. According to The Sun, they were told there was “no chance” of getting an official photo because it was a “private family meeting.”
Palace insiders may have been concerned that any images taken by Harry and Meghan would be broadcast on American television or included in Harry’s impending memoirs.
They took advantage of the beautiful British summer weather on Saturday to organize a birthday picnic for their daughter’s first birthday. Claire Ptak, an East London baker who prepared the couple’s wedding cake in 2018, provided new delights for the intimate gathering. She later tweeted a photo of a little peony-covered cake, which she hinted could be the one served to guests.
Zara and Mike Tindall are understood to have attended the celebration, according to a spokeswoman for the couple. However, the Queen was represented in Wales by Prince William, Kate, George, and Charlotte.
The Sussexes flew to their California home the next day in a gas-guzzling private plane, even before the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee’s spectacular finale began on Sunday.
The Sussexes used Mr Harriman’s photos to announce Meghan’s pregnancy with Lilibet in February 2021.
Zara and Mike Tindall’s three children, Mia, eight, Lena, three, and Lucas, one, as well as Savannah, 11, and Isla, ten, daughters of Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly, are claimed to have been at Frogmore Cottage.
Charlie Van Straubenzee, Archie’s godfather, and his brother Tom, Princess Charlotte’s godfather, were also invited, according to reports.
‘It was such a privilege to celebrate Lilibet’s first birthday with my family and hers,’ photographer Mr Harriman wrote on Twitter. There was a lot of laughter and face painting going on.’
As he tweeted the photo, Twitter royal expert and friend of the Sussexes Omid Scobie said the couple gathered close friends and family for a “intimate garden lunch.”
Harry and Meghan’s wedding baker, Claire Ptak, prepared a special order for the occasion, according to Mr Scobie.
A spokesman for the couple said they were ‘amazed’ to find that $100K (£79,000) had been donated in Lilibet’s honor and that they’remain profoundly affected by the endless birthday wishes for their daughter.’
According to a representative for the Sussexes, the cash were donated to World Central Kitchen, a non-profit organization linked with the couple’s Archewell foundation.
According to the spokeswoman, the organization has provided assistance in Uvalde, Texas, and Ukraine.
The couple’s publicist declined to name particular family members who attended the ceremony.
‘It was a great do and had everything you’d expect from a child’s birthday party,’ a source told The Sun about the celebration.
‘We wanted it to be really informal and casual, with people being able to come and go as they pleased.’
It was a ‘wonderful opportunity’ for some of the royal children to meet tiny Lilibet, who was visiting the UK for the first time.
They went on to say that there had been “a lot of talk” about the best gifts for the “milestone” birthday, with a “£75 pink Volkswagen Beetle ride-on toy” proving to be a popular choice.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle traveled back to California in a private plane with luggage that appeared to include a wooden swing set similar to the one given to William and Kate by Prince Charles. They missed the Platinum Jubilee Pageant and the Queen on the balcony yesterday.
The California couple released the photo hours after the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge shared photos from the Jubilee on social media, including new photos of Louis with his father, William, and Kate, as well as the children, Princess Charlotte and Prince George, waiting at a doorway.
The Queen, Prince Charles, and Camilla, as well as Kate Middleton and Prince William, all tweeted their greetings at the same moment.
‘Wishing Lilibet a very Happy 1st Birthday!’ wrote the Queen’s official Twitter account, while Prince Charles’ account sent an almost identical greeting.
‘Wishing Lilibet a very happy 1st birthday today,’ the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall wrote on social media, including a cake emoji.
Prince Charles is also quite likely to have met his grandkids. He and Camilla are said to have had a private meeting with Harry and Meghan.
It comes after Meghan’s hairdresser, George Northwood, who recently went out to the Netherlands to do Meghan’s makeup while she was in the Netherlands for the Invictus Games with her husband, tweeted a photo of the Duchess on Instagram.
‘So nostalgic and great to be rejoined Harry, Meghan, and their family in the UK,’ he said in a gushing caption. Archie has turned into the sweetest, most well-behaved young boy, and Lilibet is stunning.’
It comes after Harry and Meghan’s crew were spotted carrying a blue child-size scooter and a wooden swing set that appeared to be similar to the one Prince Charles gave William and Kate.
After leaving the Platinum Jubilee before the festivities ended on Sunday and missing the Queen on the balcony, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex looked to have returned home with gifts from their family.
As Harry and Meghan’s team carried their luggage from Santa Barbara Airport as their private flight touched down on Sunday evening, a member of their team was seen carrying a wooden swing with rope coming out of it and covered in blue wrapping.
Another employee was seen reaching for a blue scooter that was laying on top of a suitcase to load it into an SUV, implying that Lilibet and Archie, who had not been seen throughout the Jubilee, had followed their parents.
The Queen was reportedly said to have met her namesake for the first time when the Sussexes arrived on Thursday or Friday and were invited to Lilibet’s first birthday party at Frogmore Cottage.