Why the Queen Will Not Attend Baby Archie's Christening This Weekend

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In May, Meghan Markle and her husband Prince Harry welcomed their first child into the world, a beautiful son named Archie. Since then, the pair have remained pretty silent about their little bundle of joy, choosing instead to quietly celebrate his first few weeks of life together. That is expected to change this weekend when the royal couple celebrates Archie’s christening with family and friends. However, there is one person who will not be attending the event — Archie’s great-grandmother, the Queen.

According to The Daily Mail, Queen Elizabeth will not be able to attend the christening alongside the rest of the Windsor family due to a prior engagement. That engagement? According to the report, the Queen and her husband, Prince Philip, planned a quiet vacation together to Sandringham for Holyrood Week several months ago that they just simply cannot miss.

But, as Marie Claire noted, it’s really not a big deal that the Queen will not be in attendance. In fact, she’s missed the christenings of several of her great-grandchildren. Though she was on hand for both Prince George and Princess Charlotte’s big day, she was not in attendance for Prince Louis' baptism last year.

The Daily Mail also noted that the date of Archie’s christening was already moved once. Archie’s original christening date was reportedly Friday, July 5, however, Meghan and Harry chose to move it to Saturday to accommodate Harry’s father, Prince Charles.

Still, Harry and Meghan’s decision to not move the date again to accommodate the Queen came as a surprise to some staffers at the royal residence.

“There is huge support for the couple in not wanting to conform to tradition,” a senior staff member from Buckingham told The Daily Mail. “They are young, they are striking out on a different path from other members of the Royal Family and there is enormous goodwill for them. But they shouldn’t do that without regard for tradition.” The staff member added, “Her Majesty was already scheduled to be in Scotland for her annual Holyrood Week and had a prior engagement at the weekend. There is a feeling amongst some that they should have been more accommodating about the date.”

But, as anyone who’s ever thrown a family event before will tell you, trying to align every single person’s schedule is a nightmare. Nevermind the fact that the great-grandmother in this situation is the freaking Queen of England. So, perhaps people should just let this one slide for Harry, Meghan, and Archie’s sakes.

Oh, and sorry fans, we aren’t invited to the christening either. Harry and Meghan have denied access to photographers and videographers and will not allow any recordings of the royal family arriving. However, the couple did note it will release a small number of photos to the press following the event and you’ll likely be able to check them out on the couple’s Instagram account as well.