But if there were to be an
opportunity to give the Queen the greatest Platinum Jubilee gift
of all – photographic proof of family unity – it was won and lost in the hour
or so when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex came face to face with
their royal relatives in a viewing point overlooking the Trooping the Colour
ceremony on Horse Guards Parade.
Rationing their public appearances
to just the odd glimpse, they were certainly careful to avoid accusations of
hogging the limelight or of upstaging anyone. Indeed, it seemed they were quite
content to retreat to the shadows.
When they did edge into sight
through the open windows of a VIP viewing area they were seen only with the
most junior or most obscure of Royal Family members.
There was a
blink-and-you-miss-it encounter with the Queen’s elderly cousin, the Duke of
Kent, and two delightful moments when Harry and Meghan – both offering a
playful shush – knelt down to share a joke with Princess Anne’s grandchildren
Mia and Lena Tindall and Savannah and Isla Phillips.
Charming as these episodes
undoubtedly were, imagine the value of a snapshot of them with the Duchess of
Cambridge. Was the absence of it deliberate?
