Meghan Markle skips the Invictus Games anniversary after 'overshadowing' Harry
EXCLUSIVE: Meghan Markle has attended most Invictus Games events with Prince Harry since the pair first met.
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Meghan Markle has likely decided to stay at home during Prince Harry's UK return to avoid "any more disparaging comments", according to a royal writer.
Dr Pauline Maclaran, author of Royal Fever: The British Monarchy in Consumer Culture and professor at Royal Holloway, told Daily Express US poor popularity ratings point to possible tension between the public and Meghan were she to return.
The Duke of Sussex is speaking at St. Paul's Cathedral this afternoon to mark the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, a sporting competition he co-founded for injured service personnel.
Dr MacLaran said: “The fact that Meghan is not with him is unsurprising given her ratings in the opinion polls.
“Why risk anymore disparaging comments here, is likely to have been her response.
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“There was criticism when she attended the last Invictus Games that she was overshadowing the event.”
Meghan has attended most Invictus Games events since meeting Harry, including in 2017 before the pair were married.
She was at the 2023 Invictus Games in Germany, and last year’s 2025 Invictus Games one-year countdown in Vancouver, B.C.
According to Dr Maclaran, what we’re seeing with this visit, may be a long-term strategy: “She is better to leave Invictus to Harry and concentrate on her various ventures, not least her new lifestyle brand.”
Meghan soft launched a new lifestyle brand called American Riviera Orchard and has been slowly but surely promoting the brand one canned jam at a time, sending them out to friends and influencers.
Her website has yet to go live, and there’s no word on when to expect a hard launch.
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While this trip may be considered anticlimactic, says Dr Maclaran, there is more to come.
Harry will continue his travels, heading to Nigeria following his time in the UK, where he will meet up with Meghan.
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