When the Meghan Markle scored a coveted invite to Kris Jenner’s star-studded 70th birthday bash on November 8, she couldn’t have been more excited.
Insiders tell New Idea that Meghan was “totally in her element” at the event, mingling with a who’s who of Hollywood stars. But her mood quickly changed the following day, as it turned into yet another PR disaster for both the duchess and her husband, Prince Harry.
Critics were quick to blast the pair for letting their hair down on the eve of Remembrance Sunday in Prince Harry’s native UK, which is traditionally an ultra-solemn occasion.
Published reports also confirmed that senior royals were distinctly unimpressed, branding their decision to fraternise with American reality stars and their assembled cronies “tacky”.
“It truly shows that Harry is so far removed from the rest of the family,” an insider told the New York Post in the aftermath. “These people may be stars in America, but the pure ostentatiousness is at odds with what Prince William is trying to do with his life and the monarchy.”
Harry and Meghan, 44, quickly went into damage-control mode, especially after Kris and her daughter, Kim Kardashian, posted several since-deleted party snaps featuring the Sussexes on Instagram.
“Harry and Meghan realised it was an extremely bad look so they requested the photos be taken down,” our source shares.
“Harry was especially mortified that there could be any suggestion of not honouring war veterans. For someone who served his country with pride and distinction, it was a humiliating moment.”
The duke – who wore a commemorative poppy on his lapel at the party – was reluctant to attend in the first place.
“Harry went along with it but everyone could see he was like a fish out of water,” the insider reveals. “He’s very homesick right now and pleading with Meghan to line up a trip to the UK, but she won’t hear of it.”
Earlier this month, Harry, 41, penned an essay about his love for the UK, writing that “though currently I may live in the United States, Britain is and always will be the country I proudly served.”
Our source says, “he couldn’t have spelled out more clearly that he is homesick and signalled that he wants to come home.”
After the success of his visit in September, where he met with King Charles for the first time in 19 months, our source says Harry is “eager to return home again soon” – and he’d love to bring Prince Archie, six, and Princess Lilibet, four. But Meghan is busy establishing herself in Hollywood, which now includes a return to acting.
In a clear sign that she and Harry are opting to pursue separate passions professionally, rather than team up on everything, Meghan will appear as herself in the new movie Close Personal Friends. Harry, meanwhile, remains focused on his charity endeavours.
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