It's the clip that had royal watchers convinced something was very wrong between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Grainy balcony footage from the 2019 Trooping the Colour circulated across social media for years, with fans certain they'd caught a tense exchange between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in front of the entire nation. Turns out, the truth is far more mundane — and rather sweet.
What the cameras actually caught
The moment in question unfolded during the RAF flypast at Buckingham Palace, with the great and the good of the Royal Family lined up on the iconic balcony — the late Queen Elizabeth, the then Prince Charles and Camilla, William and Kate with their three children, and Harry and Meghan among them.
In the footage, Harry is seen glancing towards the room behind the balcony before saying a few words to someone off-camera. Meghan turns her head, appears to mouth something, and faces her husband.
The pair exchange words briefly — and then Harry appears to tell her to "turn around", which she does, looking momentarily flustered as she composes herself for the cameras.
"Rather than standing uncomfortably after a presumed tense conversation, they are in fact simply listening to the opening part of God Save the Queen."
Cue years of speculation about simmering tensions and backstage drama. But when the video is played with its full audio, the whole thing falls apart rather satisfyingly. The exchange happened just a second or two before the National Anthem began to play — meaning Harry was almost certainly just giving Meghan a quiet heads-up so she wouldn't be caught facing the wrong direction when the music kicked in. Hardly the stuff of a royal meltdown.
A farewell appearance they didn't know was their last
The 2019 ceremony holds a particular significance in Sussex history — it turned out to be the last time Harry and Meghan would attend Trooping the Colour together as working royals. The couple had only appeared at two of the ceremonies in total: their 2018 debut came just weeks after their fairy-tale wedding at Windsor Castle, while by 2019 they were fresh-faced new parents, with baby Archie having arrived only the month before.
By early 2020, of course, everything had changed. The Sussexes announced their intention to step back from frontline royal duties and subsequently relocated to the United States, marking the end of their appearances at the annual celebration.
For those keeping track of the balcony's greatest hits, the 2019 appearance also featured some of the ceremony's more memorable moments — from the late Queen's dignified presence to the reliably scene-stealing antics of a young Prince Louis. Harry and Meghan's brief exchange, it's now clear, was simply not one of them.
The spectacle goes on without them
Trooping the Colour remains one of the most spectacular set pieces in the royal calendar, having served as the official birthday celebration of the reigning monarch for over 260 years. This year's ceremony for King Charles brings together more than 1,400 soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians for an elaborate display of military pageantry along The Mall.
Senior working royals are expected to take their places on the Buckingham Palace balcony as tradition demands — though Harry and Meghan will not be among them. Fans of royal family drama hoping for a repeat of that 2019 balcony intrigue will simply have to make do with whatever Prince Louis has planned this time around.
