This year's Trooping the Colors had a pleasant surprise for royal watchers: Princess Kate made her first public appearance of the year after months of recuperation from her cancer diagnosis. Princess Kate made her first public appearance in months since her cancer diagnosis. I am not out of the woods yet," she explained in a statement before her appearance, "and I am taking it one day at a time." But those familiar with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's past attendance at Trooping the Colour (2018, 2019, 2022) may have wondered: why didn't the Duke and Duchess of Sussex attend Trooping the Colour in 2024?

The answer is simple: they weren't invited; according to People, which confirmed the news in early June, Meghan and Harry were again not invited to the event. The previous year, which was Prince Charles' first "Trooping the Colour," they were also left off the guest list.

As MC Senior Editor Rachel Burchfield points out, "Her late Majesty the Queen invited the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to Trooping the Colour in 2022, even though they had stepped back as active members of the royal family." That event ended up being the last Trooping the Colour for the late Queen.

Relations between the Sussexes and the senior royals have been strained in recent years, and Prince Harry was unable to meet his father, King Charles, when Harry was in the UK last month. A spokesman for the Sussex family said, "Due to His Majesty's packed program, it is regrettably not possible to meet him. The Duke, of course, is aware of his father's timetable and various other priorities and hopes to see him soon."

Prior to that, the last time Harry saw his father was in February, when he learned of his father's cancer diagnosis and flew to England. Father and son reportedly spent only 30 minutes together.