Queen Elizabeth II will reportedly miss her favorite sporting event, the Derby horse races at Epsom, to meet Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's child, Lilibet, for the first time. The youngest Sussex will celebrate her first birthday during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations on Saturday, June 4.
Queen Elizabeth is yet to see Lilibet since she was born on June 4, 2021. Her parents, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, have only been to the U.K. once since then and it was only a brief visit when they made a detour to see Her Majesty before they headed to the Invictus Games in The Hague in April.
Daily Mail noted the child's birthday would be celebrated at Frogmore Cottage, near the Windsor Castle. Prince Eugenie and her family, husband Jack Brooksbank and child August Philip Hawke Brooksbank, are said to have vacated the area before the Sussexes arrived.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their two kids will stay at the property during their four-day trip.
Unlike her brother, Archie, who was delivered at London's Portland Hospital on May 6, 2019, Lilibet was born in California. Queen Elizabeth met Archie two days after his birth.
Sources told The Sun that Lilibet's birthday celebration comes in good timing as Queen Elizabeth is unlikely to attend the Derby horse races. All three of her horses have been reportedly pulled out of the race.
This will be the third time Queen Elizabeth cannot make it to the event during her reign. The first one was when she had a state visit to Sweden in 1956 and the second one was when she went to France for the 40th anniversary of D-Day in 1984.
Princess Anne will be attending the Epsom Derby on Queen Elizabeth's behalf and representing the royal family.
Meanwhile, royal expert Neil Sean claimed Meghan Markle could change her mind and might not return to the U.K. after the bad publicity her visit to Texas received, per Express. In a talk on his YouTube channel, he said the former actress knew the British public and the surrounding areas were not keen on her comeback.
"All this negative and bad publicity from the visit to Texas means that she pulls the plug on her return to London," he added. However, he continued that this had happened before when Prince Harry returned to the U.K. to unveil his mother's, Princess Diana, statue.
