Prince Harry & Meghan Markle's Future With the Royal Family May Come Down to This Summer

As Covid-19 vaccine rollouts begin across the world, families everywhere are looking forward to the day that they can once again come together — and in the case of the British Royal Family, such a reunion may be even more meaningful than most. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Jan. 2020 decision to leave their positions as senior royals has reached the one-year mark, and already Covid has seen them spending far less time in the UK than they’d previously planned. But as travel restrictions lift, there are three major events this summer that will serve as a major referendum on Meghan and Harry’s future in the royal family, royal author Robert Lacey tells SheKnows exclusively. If the Sussex duo isn’t in the UK to mark these moments with the royal family, as they’d previously pledged to be, it will send a strong signal to all involved that they see their future in the family as extremely limited.

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Lacey, author of recent royal biography Battle of Brothers, noted back in 2020 that there were major events in 2021 that would serve as “signposts” for gauging Harry’s relationship with older brother Prince William and as a member of the royal family.

“They have committed to come back next July the 1st which will be the 60th [birthday] of Diana’s. William and Harry will stand side by side and unveil the statue they’ve commissioned in their mother’s honor, ” Lacey said. “The Duke of Edinburgh will celebrate his 100th birthday in June, and presumably both boys will be at that. So there are certainly signposts we can see ahead to moments of reconciliation.”

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Another big moment in the press these days: Queen Elizabeth’s upcoming 95th birthday on June 12, two days after Prince Philip’s 100th. Typically celebrated with the annual Trooping the Colour parade, the Sunday Times reports that they hope to move ahead with the same plan in 2021.

“The current plan is for the Queen’s birthday parade to go ahead in London as normal, with the acceptance that it may need to be adapted or scaled back depending on what guidelines are in force at the time,” a royal aide reportedly said. “But the aspiration and the ultimate desire is to make it happen.”

Other sources have since spoken out claiming it’s too early to discuss summer travel plans with certainty, but parade or no, Harry’s grandmother will be turning 95, his grandfather will be turning 100, and he’s due to unveil a statue in honor of his late mother’s 60th birthday. If he skips out on these events, it’s hard to imagine them counting on his attendance for much in the future.

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Click here to see the 100 best photos of the royal family from the past 20 years.

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