The tea at this party was extremely hot.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were reportedly “not welcome” to the star-studded 2023 BAFTA Tea Party on Saturday in Los Angeles, because to their ongoing spat with the royal family.
“BAFTA decided it was a terrible idea [to invite them],” a consultant for the nonprofit told the Sun on Sunday, adding, “They believed it would be a public relations disaster.”
The insider noted that Prince William, Harry’s estranged brother, is the president of BAFTA, therefore executives apparently believed it would be inappropriate to invite the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to the annual event.
“Rolling out the red carpet for Harry and his wife would be equivalent to detonating a nuclear bomb.” It’s a no-go,” the source told the British publication, adding that Harry “broadly insulted” his family in both “Harry & Meghan” and “Spare.”
According to the story, the possibility of Harry, 38, or Markle, 41, speaking about William, 40, during the ceremony was sufficient to keep them off the guest list.
“Any interviews would go viral,” concluded the insider. “Any negative information about William would be devastating.”
Prince William is the president of BAFTA, and he and his wife, Kate Middleton, frequently attend the awards event.
Getty Pictures
A representative for the Prince of Wales declined to comment to the Sun, while a BAFTA representative told Page Six that the Sussexes’ “attendance was never discussed.”
According to the organization’s website, “The BAFTA Tea Party welcomes nominees, members, and guests for an elegant gathering.”
This year, celebrities such as Angela Bassett, Brendan Fraser, Michelle Williams, and Cate Blanchett attended the glitzy event held at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles in Beverly Hills.
After leaving their royal duties in January 2020, Harry and Markle moved to her native California. They currently reside with their two children, Archie, 3, and Lilibet, 1, in Montecito.
Despite their proximity to the ceremony, William’s link to BAFTA supposedly prevented the co-founders of Archewell from attending.
Since February 2010, William has served as president of BAFTA, and he frequently attends the awards ceremony with his wife, Kate Middleton.
Harry attacked William and Middleton, age 41, in his latest book, heightening tensions between the two brothers.
The redheaded royal asserted that the heir apparent physically assaulted him in 2019 after they argued about Meghan Markle.
Harry reportedly blamed William and Middleton for encouraging him to wear a Nazi outfit to a costume party in 2005, and he reiterated prior claims that the Princess of Wales caused Markle to cry in the days leading up to their wedding in 2018.
In addition, the book contained allegations on Harry’s father, King Charles III, and stepmother, Queen Consort Camilla.
The 76th British Academy Film Awards will be held on February 19 in London.
The Sussexes’ representatives did not react promptly to Page Six’s request for comment.
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