It’s been seven months since Queen Elizabeth II passed away at the age of 96.
In just a few weeks, her son, King Charles III will be crowned in the UK’s first coronation ceremony in nearly 70 years.
Many hoped that the far-flung royal family would gather in London for this historic occasion, as they did for the Queen’s funeral.
But that won’t be happening.
Instead, Prince Harry will attend the coronation without his wife, Meghan Markle.
And given the recent reports about sky-high tension within the Windsor clan, Meghan remaining at home in California is probably what’s best for everyone.
It was initially rumored that Meghan decided to skip the ceremony due to lingering tension over Harry’s scandalous memoir, which portrayed Prince William and Kate Middleton in a very negative light.
Now, however, there are reports that Kate declared that she was done with Meghan after the Queen passed away in September.
Journalist Robert Jobson claims that Kate did not get to say a proper goodbye to her grandmother-in-law, a fact for which she still blames Meghan.
“Harry was insisting Meghan travel with him to Scotland as the queen’s life ebbed away, but the king said it was only for the children and grandchildren to be with the queen,” Jobson wrote in his recent memoir about Charles, according to the New York Post.
In order to avoid any awkwardness, Charles told Prince William not to bring the then-Duchess of Cambridge as, “if Catherine doesn’t come, Meghan can’t either.”
“Privately, he wanted to say Meghan was not welcome — but he couldn’t say that to Harry, so he personally intervened and asked Kate to stay back so that it was fairer on Meghan,” wrote Jobson.
“Kate deliberately stayed away, but she desperately wanted to be there with the Queen in her last moments.”
“That’s eaten Kate up and has built up resentment towards Meghan.”
And it seems the tension only got worse when Kate and Harry arrived in London for the Queen’s funeral.
According to NBC royal correspondent Daisy McAndrews, the scheduled walkabout, during which various members of the royal family would greet mourners, was repeatedly delayed by Harry and Meghan’s demands.
“Interestingly, the reason that the walkabout was so late — it was scheduled to be nearly an hour before they actually came — was because, of course, Harry and Meghan had to go and get changed,” McAndrew says.
“They weren’t wearing the proper formal mourning attire, so they had to quickly go and get changed — I guess, do hair and makeup for Meghan. So that’s why they were late.”
Of course, all of this is somewhat immaterial, as insiders say Kate hated Meghan from the moment they met.
But clearly, she now feels that her contempt is more justified than ever before.