The family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during Trooping The Colour 2018 on June 9, 2018 in London, England. Photo / Getty Images
The family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during Trooping The Colour 2018 on June 9, 2018 in London, England. Photo / Getty Images
The Queen has invited the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to her Platinum Jubilee celebrations next year.
The invitation is seen as an olive branch from the Queen to her grandson and his wife, after they stepped down from their royal duties, moved to Los Angeles and criticised the royalfamily in an explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey.
According to the Daily Mail, Prince Harry and Meghan will join the royal family in London next summer for jubilee.
The couple plan to attend Trooping the Colour, the Queen's official birthday parade, which will form part of celebrations.
However, it is not yet known whether they will be allowed to appear on the balcony during the celebrations.
According to the Daily Mail, it is understood royal aides may seek to limit numbers taking part to working royals only – which could mean excluding Harry and Meghan from those appearances on the balcony.
"The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been invited and I'm sure the Queen is very much looking forward to seeing them there," a source involved in the organising of the event said.
"The balcony moment will be decided much nearer the time but there's a limit to how many family members should be on it, and I would have thought that working royals who contribute to the family would be higher on the list than the Sussexes."
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex travel down The Mall in a horse drawn carriage during Trooping The Colour 2018 on June 9, 2018. Photo / Getty Images
Celebrations to mark the Queen's 70 years on the throne will last all of next year, but the centrepiece will happen during an extended bank holiday weekend from Thursday, June 2 to Sunday, June 5.
According to Sir Michael Stevens, keeper of the privy purse, maintenance work at Buckingham Palace ahead of the jubilee events has "accelerated" during the pandemic to ensure the palace is ready to "play a significant part" in the celebrations.
Queen spotted visiting Harry today
Earlier today, it was reported the Queen had been spotted driving her green Jaguar to Frogmore Cottage, a mere 30 minutes after Harry landed in the UK and arrived at the house, where he will be self-isolating.
The Duke of Sussex landed on Heathrow tarmac from his flight from LAX ahead of the ceremony to unveil Princess Diana's statue next week. He is now self-isolating at Frogmore Cottage for five days.
"It is quite something. No sooner had Harry been driven from Heathrow to Frogmore Cottage the Queen was on her way down," a source told The Sun.
"I'm sure they would have plenty to talk about. The Queen would obviously want to see her grandson after everything that has gone on and could take this opportunity to act as the peacemaker."
The Duke of Sussex landed in London just after 12.30pm on Saturday (UK time), before getting picked up by a dark VW van on the tarmac, that then drove the Prince to the Windsor estate.
The Queen was pictured minutes later leaving Buckingham Palace and driving her green Jaguar towards Frogmore Cottage, where her grandson is staying.
Harry must now self-isolate and provide a negative Covid-19 test before he can attend the ceremony on Thursday where, together with his brother, he will unveil the statue of Princess Diana.
The ceremony will mark what would have been Diana's 60th birthday.
