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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to miss King Charles's birthday parade

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are not expected to join the royal family at Trooping the Colour

Harry and Meghan on the palace balcony during Trooping the Colour 2018
Danielle Stacey
Online Royal CorrespondentLondon
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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will not be among the guests at King Charles's birthday parade – known as Trooping the Colour – on Saturday.

Prince Harry, 38, and his wife, Meghan, 41, stepped back from royal duties in 2020 and have carved out a new life in Montecito, Santa Barbara with their children, Prince Archie, four, and two-year-old Princess Lilibet. 

Since then, the couple have landed deals with Netflix while Meghan has signed to a Hollywood talent agency, but on Friday, it was announced that they have parted ways with Spotify and the Duchess' Archetypes podcast will not be renewed for a second series. 

As well as their Netflix docuseries, Harry also published his tell-all memoir Spare in January, which detailed his complicated relationship with his family. 

The Duke and Duchess flew over to the UK for the late Queen Elizabeth II's last Trooping the Colour in 2022, which coincided with Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

While Harry and Meghan did not make an appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony to watch the flypast, the Duchess was spotted at the windows during a sweet interaction with Peter Phillips' daughters, Savannah and Isla, and Zara Tindall's children, Mia and Lena.

Meghan wore Dior to the Platinum Jubilee Thanksgiving service in 2022© Getty
Harry and Meghan attended the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations last June

The Sussexes' last joint visit to the UK was in September 2022 when they attended the One Young World Summit in Manchester, but the couple extended their stay following the death of the Queen, with the pair attending her state funeral at Westminster Abbey.

Prince William and Prince Harry© Getty
Harry and Meghan joined William and Kate to view floral tributes to the late Queen in Windsor

Harry has made three solo trips to London this year. In March, he attended a preliminary hearing at the High Court in his privacy claim against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) – the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail On Sunday.

And in May, the Duke attended King Charles and Queen Camilla's coronation at Westminster Abbey, but he stayed less than 24 hours and flew back to California to be back in time to celebrate his son Prince Archie's fourth birthday.

Harry was pictured sitting three rows away from William and Kate at the coronation© Getty
Harry was pictured sitting three rows away from William and Kate at the coronation

Earlier this month, Harry appeared in the witness box at the High Court, as he gave evidence in his case against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) over alleged unlawful information gathering at its titles. See his arrival in the clip below...

WATCH: Harry arrives for second day at High Court

During almost eight hours of questioning over two days, the Duke repeatedly told the court that articles published in MGN titles were "incredibly suspicious" and bore "tell-tale signs" of unlawful activity.

He told Mr Justice Fancourt that he remembered suspicious activity, including missed calls and missing voicemail messages "from the moment I had a mobile phone".

Prince Harry waves as he arrives at High Court© Getty
Prince Harry arriving at the High Court earlier this month

But MGN’s barrister Andrew Green KC contended that Harry had no call data evidence and it was "total speculation" that journalists unlawfully obtained the information about him in 33 articles which are at the centre of his case.