King Charles will likely pay no mention of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Christmas speech next week, one royal expert has predicted.
The King, 76, will give his Christmas speech to the nation on Wednesday. The ten-minute message will be the third of his reign so far, having previously been delivered by the late Queen Elizabeth II between 1957 and 2022.
As the nation prepares for the monarch’s annual speech, royal expert Richard Fitwilliams claims that it will likely send a “message of togetherness and mutual caring at a difficult time both for the Royal Family and for the world generally” – but that the King could override two members of the family when potentially paying tribute to various royals.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, Mr Fitzwilliams said that the King will possibility avoid any mention of his youngest son and daughter-in-law.
Mr Fitzwilliams said: “We are likely, as usual, to see footage of the positive side of the royal year, of the King’s visit to Australia and to CHOGM [Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting] in Samoa as well as footage from some events to which Catherine has been able to attend and very likely, a tribute to Queen Camilla.”
But he added: “I strongly doubt that Harry and Meghan will be mentioned.”
The Duke and Duchess, who now reside in California with their two children, stepped down as senior working royals in early 2020.
The couple have since experienced high tension with the Royal Family – in particular with the Prince and Princess of Wales – and have directed highly-damaging accusations and claims towards the family.
Speaking of one area that the King could focus on, Mr Fitzwilliams added: “Queen Elizabeth always stressed the religious part of the broadcast which has enormous global reach on social media and other platforms. King Charles has a great interest in matters of faith.”
King Charles appeared to ignore Harry and Meghan in last year’s Christmas speech – with the Daily Express royal editor Emily Ferguson sharing that she believed that was a right move by the monarch.
In her comment piece for Express.co.uk, Emily shared that “it is quite right that they don’t get a mention”.
Although Harry has paid various visits to the UK throughout the year, Meghan has not stepped foot on UK soil since 2022.
King Charles is set to welcome members of the Royal Family for the annual Christmas celebrations at Sandringham next week.
The Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children will be among those in attendance, as well as Princess Anne and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh.
It has been reported that Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson have made the decision to pull out of the celebrations due to the alleged spy scandal.