Prince Harry, Prince Charles, Prince William, and Princess Kate invited to Invictus Games, but King reportedly ordered current royals to attend garden party

No one from the royal family attended last night's Thanksgiving celebration of the 10th anniversary of Prince Harry's Invictus Games at St. Paul's Cathedral, but that is not because they were not invited.

According to People, Harry extended invitations to several members of the royal family, including his father King Charles, brother Prince William, and sister-in-law Princess Kate, to attend the anniversary celebration in London, but none came. This is not surprising in the case of Princess Kate, who has not been seen in public since she announced on March 22 that she was battling cancer. Yesterday, William held a ceremony at Windsor Castle, while Charles hosted the first garden party of the season at Buckingham Palace, attended by Queen Camilla, Princess Anne, Prince Edward, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, Prince Richard, and Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester. (According to People, "Garden parties have been held by monarchs since the 1860s to honor the public service of community members."

[12] [13] [13] [14] According to Page Six, the King has ordered all active royalty to attend the party.

"King Charles has ordered all active royals, including Princess Anne and Prince Edward and excluding Prince William and Kate Middleton, to attend a 5,000-person garden party at Buckingham Palace at the same time (as Harry's event)," The Daily Beast 's veteran royal correspondent Tom Sykes reported. [Regarding the king's relationship with Harry, "Prince Charles has made it clear that he is prepared to be friendly and cooperative with Harry as a private citizen and as a father, but he has no intention of putting the weight of the organization on Invictus again," a former courtier told Sykes.

"The problem, however, is that people who are not particularly interested in such things, who are dimly aware that the royal family visits community centers and opens supermarkets every day, wonder why they are boycotting this wonderful charity represented by the king's son."

The Invictus Games was founded in 2014 as an international multi-sport event for wounded and injured soldiers, active and retired. Without a doubt, it has become Harry's life's work and his most passionate project outside of his family.

The former courtier said that many believe that the absence of the royal family from Harry's events is a "classic example" of "cutting off the nose at the face": "Invictus is clearly an organization that the royal family should support. If a bridge is to be built [between Harry and the royal family], Invictus is the bridgehead."

Although no members of the royal family attended Thanksgiving (Harry's wife Meghan Markle was also not in the UK), Harry's mother, the late Princess Diana's siblings, came to support their nephew last night, confirming that they still have family there.