The significant family event Meghan Markle has always missed out on since becoming a royal

There’s a significant family event Meghan Markle has always missed out on since becoming a member of the Royal Family.

During her time as a working royal the Duchess of Sussex undertook plenty of engagements and attended major family occasions alongside her fellow royals. However, there’s one significant family event that she has always missed out on since becoming a member of the Royal Family. In recent years we tend to only see working royals regularly, though the wider Royal Family still come together for Christmas and Easter. The Duchess of Sussex has celebrated Christmas at Sandringham twice so far, but she’s never joined the royals for the Easter service.

This takes place every year on Easter Sunday at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle where Meghan and Prince Harry tied the knot in 2018. Just like at Christmas when they all walk to church together on Christmas Day, the Royal Family are photographed walking down to the chapel together. 

However, Meghan missed out on attending the Easter service in 2018, as well as 2019 and 2020. In 2018, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were just weeks away from their fairytale wedding and, as per The Guardian at the time, their spokesperson described their Easter plans as “private”.

It’s possible that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex simply wanted to enjoy some more quality time together away from the public gaze before they said, “I do”. Meanwhile, in 2019 Easter Sunday was 21st April and Meghan was pregnant at the time and gave birth to her and Prince Harry’s son Prince Archie a few weeks later on 6th May. This is perhaps the most likely reason for her missing the Easter church service whilst Prince Harry joined his royal relatives without her.

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The following year Easter was during the pandemic and a month after Prince Harry and Meghan had undertaken their final public appearance as working royals. The Royal Family returned to attending the traditional Easter service in person in 2022 and both then and last year, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex weren’t there.

This means that Meghan has always missed out on this significant family event which is a time when many generations of the Royal Family gather and enjoy each other’s company. The Sussexes aren’t currently expected to make the trip to the UK from their LA home to attend the Easter service this year. However, reports have claimed that Prince Harry is set to fly over in May to mark the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games and that Meghan could potentially join him.

Whether this will be the case remains to be seen, though many fans would no doubt be delighted to see the couple make the trip together. Over the Easter weekend, though, Prince Harry and Meghan will likely be at home in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. They’re known to have organised Easter egg hunts in the past - as seen in their Netflix Harry & Meghan documentary - and it’s possible this sweet tradition will be upheld.

The couple could also have created new special traditions for Easter over the years. Meghan previously explained to E! News whilst attending Variety's Power of Women event in 2023 that this is something they've enjoyed doing for Christmas.

“We're creating new [traditions] now that our little ones are growing up. And we're enjoying every moment of it," she declared.