Princess Diana's statue unveiling guest list reveals surprising link to Meghan Markle

New details on Princess Diana's statue unveiling guest list have revealed a surprising link to the late royal's daughter-in-law, Meghan Markle. 

• Princess Diana's statue unveiling guest list includes a surprising link to Prince Harry's wife, Meghan Markle.
• The Duchess of Sussex cannot attend the statue unveiling due to her postpartum condition, but she shares a close connection with one of the guests who will be present at the event. 
• In other royal news, Prince George’s Euros outfit has royal fans baffled.
  

Princess Diana's statue unveiling is set to take place at Kensington Palace tomorrow, 1 July, almost four years after it was first commissioned in 2017. 

The poignant event to commemorate what would have been Diana's 60th birthday had to be scaled back at the last minute to adhere to updated social distancing restrictions, and will now only be attended by a small number of people—including the beloved princess's two sons. 

Prince Harry arrived in London last Friday for the occasion, which will see him come face-to-face with his brother William in public for the first time since Prince Philip's funeral in April. The royal siblings will be joined at the palace's Sunken Garden by an exclusive list of invitees, many of whom were close to Princess Diana during her tragically short life. 

Who is on Princess Diana's statue unveiling guest list? 

Princess Diana's statue unveiling guest list includes a small number of people who were either involved in the event's preparation or known to the late royal during her lifetime. 

Kensington Palace released a statement on June 25 to confirm that Ian Rank-Broadley, the statue's sculptor, and Pip Morrison, the designer of Sunken Garden, would be present at the memorial ceremony. 

Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, the former Private Secretary to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the godfather to Prince George, will also be there. As chairman of the statue's advisory committee, he played a major role in ensuring the development of this privately-funded project.  

Princess Diana's close relatives are also expected to attend the statue unveiling. Her brother, Earl Spencer, will travel to London from Althorp House for the event, while her sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, will make the two-and-a-half-hour car journey from her home in Lincolnshire for a rare public appearance. 

Prince Harry's wife, Meghan Markle, was unable to fly with him to London for his mother's statue unveiling. The Duchess of Sussex gave birth to the couple's second child, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, earlier this month, and is busy settling the newborn into their $14 million Santa Barbara mansion. 

However, it looks like one of her close confidants—who also happened to know Diana—will be present at the ceremony. Julia Samuel, a counselor and old friend of Princess Diana, has been confirmed as one of the few guests at the low-key event. According to the Times, the British psychotherapist treated Meghan Markle for her mental health struggles after Buckingham Palace failed to help her, and has remained tight with Prince Harry and Prince William ever since their mother's death in 1997. 

Who else will not attend Princess Diana's statue unveiling? 

The Prince of Wales has already been marked down as an absentee from Princess Diana's statue unveiling, having reportedly already arranged to stay at Balmoral Castle in Scotland while the event takes place. According to royal insiders, the ex-husband of Diana finds her memorial services "terribly difficult" and would prefer to "leave his sons to it." 

As for the Duchess of Cambridge, the jury is still out on whether she'll make an appearance. Royal experts have hinted that Kate Middleton might not attend Princess Diana’s statue unveiling alongside Prince William, choosing to let the brothers grieve their late mother "solo".