Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s absence from King Charles’s birthday is hardly a surprise, according to one royal commentator, as their “presence at any family gathering now would make it feel more like a funeral than a celebration”.

It was confirmed this week by a spokesperson for the Sussexes that they had not received any correspondence from Buckingham Palace regarding an invite to the King’s birthday next week.

This is despite initial reports that Harry and Meghan had snubbed the occasion, with Charles set to turn 75 on November 14, next Tuesday.

Writing in his Palace Confidential newsletter, Daily Mail Diary Editor Richard Eden pointed out how different things were five years ago at the King’s 70th.

Then-Prince Charles held a garden party at the Palace just weeks after Harry and Meghan’s wedding, with them delaying their honeymoon so they could attend.

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He said: “Their delay was seen as a gesture of thanks by Meghan to her new father-in-law, who walked her up the aisle at St George’s Chapel, in the absence of her own father, Thomas Markle.

“When King Charles turns 75 next Tuesday, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will, however, be 5,000 miles away in California, and his milestone birthday has already been the subject of a public row.”

It is thought the King wishes his birthday to be a quiet affair, with close family getting together in the evening after a day spent promoting Charles’s food waste prevention scheme.

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