Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Not Marking Wedding Anniversary Is 'Very Strange,' Commentator Claims

A royal commentator found Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's lack of public acknowledgment of their five-year wedding anniversary "very strange."

Bronte Coy, an entertainment and royal reporter at News.com.au, said on Sky News Australia's "The Royal Report" that it was unusual that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who tied the knot on May 19, 2018, opted not to publicly celebrate their special milestone Friday.

"Interestingly, they haven't actually marked the occasion at all. I would say maybe they're opting for privacy, but that doesn't really fit with recent events," she said, possibly referring to Prince Harry and Markle's recent high-profile appearances and media projects. "It's a bit of a weird one and it has certainly been noticed by people as well."

Coy reflected on the time since the pair's lavish nuptials at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, noting royal watchers had been "optimistic" about the future of the royal family with Markle and Prince Harry involved.

"It's only been five years, but it feels like we've lived several lifetimes since the wedding," she said. "They looked so happy, and it was the new chapter of the royal family. How times have changed."

Coy went on to suggest that the Sussexes could spend their anniversary this year reflecting on what they've achieved since quitting royal duties and moving to the U.S.

However, the commentator claimed that "we really are yet to see them move forward in a significant way away from the royal family ties into this new chapter they talked about."

"It is a significant occasion and also very strange that they haven't said a word about it," she added of the couple's silence on their anniversary.

Royal expert Shannon Felton Spence, the former head of communications and politics at the British Consulate in Boston, seemingly echoed Coy's comments about the couple's lives after leaving the royal family.

"We're three and half years out now from their exit, and there is no strategy on how to move them into the next phase of their life and mission," Felton Spence told Fox News Digital about the Sussexes.

In 2019, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex posted photos from their 2018 nuptials via Instagram to celebrate their one-year wedding anniversary. But the couple stopped being active on social media after stepping back from royal duties and relocating to California in 2020.

In 2021, they used their anniversary to bring attention to their Archewell Foundation's collaboration with World Central Kitchen to build a community relief center in India to help the country cope with its coronavirus outbreak.

According to People, Prince Harry and Markle typically spend their anniversary quietly as a family and have a tradition of exchanging gifts.

Unnamed sources told the outlet that the couple gave each other gifts based on paper, cotton, leather as well as fruit and flowers for their first four anniversaries.

This year, they may have celebrated their fifth-anniversary milestone with gifts of wood, which "reflects the strength and durability of your marriage, as well as the strong eternal roots you're putting down," according to Brides.com.

A day after their fifth wedding anniversary, The Sun reported that Prince Harry "has a room set aside in a luxury hotel where he stays without Meghan Markle" near their $14 million mansion in Montecito, California.

However, a rep for Prince Harry debunked the claims that the royal has an "escape place" from Markle, telling Page Six, "This is not true."

While the couple did not post photos on their wedding anniversary this year, they did share never-before-seen images from their nuptials and reception in their Netflix docuseries, "Harry and Meghan," which was released in December 2022.

Prince Harry and Markle also proved that their relationship is as sweet as ever when they were recently photographed smiling and enjoying a sushi date in Montecito with other celebrity couples.