Meghan Markle is doing things her way, and nothing is going to change that.
The Duchess of Sussex has been living life on her own terms since she and Prince Harry made their decision to step down as senior royals. The year since has been eventful for the couple, in good ways and bad.
This year was expected to be a public-facing one for the royal family, though the health crisis continues to leave that in question. There's Prince Philip's 100th birthday, Queen Elizabeth's 95th birthday, and ceremonies honoring Princess Diana on what would have been her 60th birthday.
Yet it seems that as of now, Prince Harry will go to these events alone. It's reported that Meghan Markle has no plans to travel to the UK during spring or summer of 2021.
The Daily Mail recently shared reports that Meghan Markle isn't planning on any trips to the UK in spring or summer. Since the family relocated to the US, this isn't entirely surprising. Still, there are some events that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were expected in England for.
Omid Scobie, one of the authors of Finding Freedom, says that Harry and Meghan aren't sure what their plans are due to the rapidly changing situations around the health crisis.
"Neither Meghan or Harry have been vaccinated and travel plans are still very much up in the air," he told OK.
"Meghan wouldn't want to be away from Archie and it would be very tricky to factor a small child into their travels with all the restrictions that could potentially be in place."
As news of Meghan staying stateside has spread, feelings have been mixed. Some are happy that Meghan's doing what she needs to in order to keep her sanity and her family intact. Others feel it's more of a deliberate snub toward the royals, though Omid argues that directly.
Omid insists that the royals are more understanding than publicly thought and that the strain between the Queen and Harry isn't real.
"No matter what has happened, the Queen will always remain close to Harry and Meghan," he explained.
"She has a very special relationship with Archie and due to them all living in Windsor, was one of the royals to spend the most time with him as a baby."
"Archie loves being on Zoom calls with the family and the Queen has been enjoying those throughout lockdown," he continued.
"I'm sure Meghan will send the Queen some gorgeous flowers for her birthday and also get Archie to help her with the card. Meghan and Harry feel very sad about the time that the Queen, Philip and Prince Charles have spent without seeing Archie due to the [health crisis]."
Omid also says that Harry and William have been on good terms despite reports to the contrary.
"Despite their differences, Harry and William have been equally involved in planning the memorial and sometimes have been in on the same calls or emails," he shared.
"No matter what has happened between them, they would never let anything stand in the way of this. It would be wrong to say their relationship is healed, but 2020 forced them to have many conversations."
"For instance when Charles was sick with [the virus] and then William," he continued.
"And when Meghan suffered a miscarriage. The focus on family pushes them forward and while progress with their healing is still minimal, it’s moving in the right direction."
When it comes to reuniting to honor Diana, there's nothing either brother takes more seriously.
"William and Harry know all eyes will be on them when they reunite for their late mother's memorial and how important it will be to not let what has happened in the past between them overshadow her memory," Omid noted.
"They know they need to put on a united front for the sake of their mother’s legacy."
