Twitter Reacts To Claim King Charles Did Not Invite Prince Harry, Meghan To His Birthday Parade

Reports claiming that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are allegedly not invited to his father King Charles III's upcoming birthday parade have garnered mixed reactions on social media.

The Duke of Sussex has never been excluded from the annual Trooping the Colour, but an unnamed source claimed to the Daily Mail that he and Markle have not been extended an invitation to participate in this year's parade, which will be held in London Saturday. International Business Times could not independently verify the report.

While neither the palace nor the Sussexes have addressed the matter yet, several Twitter users immediately reacted to the claim, with some approving the couple's potential exclusion from the traditional event and others saying not inviting them would only widen the rumored rift between them and the royal family.

"The right decision from the King," Nile Gardiner, a foreign policy analyst, tweeted.

"First of all, we do not know if they were asked. Secondly, if they didn't attend his coronation as a family, what were the chances of their attending a[n] unutterably boring parade? They didn't do so for [Queen Elizabeth II] either. I doubt an invitation was extended," another user suggested.

"At the end of the day, he is the King's son. He should have been invited. You can't mend a broken fence from anywhere else than right next to it with the right tools," a third user added of Prince Harry.

"They're going to come out with puff pieces that they were invited but declined," another commenter speculated of the Sussexes. "After the ridiculous [New York] car chase where everyone knew they were lying, his court performance without any evidence and criticizing the British government, it's best to keep his son at a distance."

Others said they would take the report with a grain of salt.

"I've no idea if they've been invited or not, but I wouldn't be putting any store in a story based on 'a source' who 'told the Daily Mail,'" one commenter wrote.

This year's Trooping the Colour, the annual birthday parade for the British sovereign, is significant as it will be the first since King Charles became monarch in September last year.

The event comes just six weeks after King Charles' historic May 6 coronation, which Prince Harry attended.

Last year, Prince Harry and Markle flew to the U.K. with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, to attend what would be Queen Elizabeth's final Trooping the Colour, which was part of the late monarch's Platinum Jubilee weekend.

However, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex did not join the other royals on the Buckingham Palace balcony for the official flypast that took place later that day. Prince Harry and Markle stepped back from their roles as working royals and relocated to California in 2020.

On Saturday, Prince William conducted the Colonel's Review, the final rehearsal for the Trooping the Colour, as part of his role as Colonel of the Welsh Guards.

The Prince of Wales later took to Twitter to praise the servicemen for their dedication after at least three guardsmen fainted during the military parade due to the heat.

"A big thank you to every soldier who took part in the Colonel's Review this morning in the heat. Difficult conditions, but you all did a really good job. Thank you. W," the future king wrote.