Harry and Meghan will not attend jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace with senior royals

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will not attend the BBC’s Platinum Party at the Palace concert on Saturday evening.

The star-studded concert in honour of the Queen’s platinum jubilee will see the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in attendance.

However, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have spent the day celebrating their daughter’s first birthday “privately” in Windsor.

The couple’s daughter, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten Windsor, turned a year old on Saturday. She is in London with her parents and her brother, Archie Harrison Moutnbatten Windsor, three, for the jubilee celebrations.

A spokesperson for the Sussexes said they are spending the baby’s special day “together privately as a family”.

Harry and Meghan made their first public appearance in the UK since they stepped down as senior royals in 2020 on Friday, when they attended the special Service of Thanksgiving for the Queen at St Paul’s Cathedral.

They joined scores of other royal family members, including Prince Charles, Prince William, and Kate Middleton, but were seated across the aisle from the working members of the family.

Absent from the service were the Queen, who cancelled her attendance at the last minute after experiencing “some discomfort” during Thursday’s jubilee celebrations, as well as the Duke of York, who has tested positive for Covid

The Sussexes also missed a Guildhall reception for the royal after the service.

Other members of the royal family who are expected to enjoy the Platinum Party at the Palace in person include the Earl and Countess of Wessex and their children, Lady Louise Windsor and Viscount Severn, the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, and Pricness Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank.

Princess Anne’s son, Peter Phillips, is expected to be joined by his children Savannah and Isla, while Zara and Mike Tindall, will also be there.

The Queen’s cousins, including the Duke of Gloucester, the Duke of Kent and Prince Michael of Kent, with the Duchess of Gloucester and Princess Michael of Kent, and Princess Margaret’s daughter Lady Sarah Chatto and her family are due to attend the concert.

The show will be headlined by a slew of major artists, including Diana Ross, Alicia Keys, Queen + Adam Lambert, Sir Elton John, Sir Rod Stewart, Hans Zimmer, and George Ezra.