Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's absence at Platinum Pageant explained

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were notably absent from the grand finale of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee weekend on Sunday, after making just one public appearance over the four-day-long celebrations. 

• Prince Harry and Meghan Markle missed the Queen's Platinum Pageant on Sunday, bringing their quota of public appearances at the Jubilee bank holiday weekend festivities to just one. 
• The Duke and Duchess of Sussex flew into London last Wednesday with their two children to attend the historic occasion but remained relatively absent for the majority of its events. 
• In other royal news, The Queen's Platinum Jubilee bow brooch has a long family history.
  

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were nowhere to be seen at the Platinum Pageant on Sunday, leaving royal fans desperate to know about the A-list couple's whereabouts. 

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were the only close relatives of the Queen to miss the historic event, which told the story of Her Majesty's service on the 70th anniversary of her reign with an extravagant street performance that bypassed Buckingham Palace. 

It's now understood that Harry and Meghan, who traveled to the UK last Wednesday to attend the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, had already left the country with their two children, Archie, 3, and one-year-old Lilibet, by the time the final celebrations kicked off. The Sussex family reportedly caught a flight from Farnborough Airport, a private airport west of London, at 1.30pm yesterday, meaning they were presumably thousands of feet in the air when the pageant began. 

Their safe arrival in the US was confirmed several hours later, after Prince Harry was photographed in California at around 6pm in a black Range Rover. 

"There was no fanfare, they just went," a source told the Mail Online. "They didn't stick around for the Platinum Jubilee pageant which is a celebration of Britain and all of its quirks and eccentricities over the Queen's 70-year reign." 

Harry and Meghan stayed at Frogmore Cottage during their short stay, which happened to be their first joint trip to the UK since their high-profile withdrawal as senior royals and emigration to North America in January 2020. 

It also marked baby Lilibet's first meeting with the Queen in person, as well as the couple's first reunion with the Royal Family en-masse in over two years. It's understood that Her Majesty joined the Sussexes for a 'relaxed' party at the Windsor mansion, which coincided with the Epsom Derby and Prince William and Kate Middleton's Cardiff trip. 

Despite reports that nothing could stop Harry and Meghan from 'freelancing' during their UK trip, the ex-pat couple remained extremely lowkey throughout the celebrations. 

Aside from their attendance at the Service of Thanksgiving on Friday, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made no public appearances at any of the events over the course of the Jubilee bank holiday weekend. Harry and Meghan's absence at Guildhall, the reception that followed the thanksgiving service at St. Paul's Cathedral, drew particular scrutiny, with their no-show made all the more apparent by their sudden departure after the ceremony. It remains unknown when the couple plan to return to the UK, but with no major royal events scheduled on the upcoming calendar, it looks like fans could be waiting a while.