Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Reportedly Not in Attendance at Kate Middleton’s Birthday Lunch

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry reportedly skipped out on Kate Middleton‘s birthday lunch last weekend, keeping rumors of a royal rift alive.

On Saturday, The Daily Mail reported that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex did not attend the Duchess of Cambridge’s Sunday lunch with Prince William and their close friends at Anmer Hall to celebrate Middleton’s 37th birthday.

Those who did attend the lunch include interior designer Emilia Jardine-Paterson, who attended Marlborough College with Middleton and is one of Prince George’s godparents, and Jardine-Paterson’s husband David. Laura Meade, one of Princess Charlotte’s godparents attended and is described as one of Middleton’s “closest confidants.”

Friends Sophie and Robert Carter also reportedly attended.

Middleton turned 37 on Jan. 9, and the Royal Family marked the occasion with a celebratory tweet.

“Happy Birthday to HRH The Duchess of Cambridge,” the statement read. “The Duchess undertakes royal duties in support of The Queen, both in the UK & overseas – and devotes her time to supporting charitable causes & organisations, several of which are centred around providing children with the best possible start in life.”

Although William was at the Sunday lunch on Jan. 6, he did not spend Middleton’s birthday with her. The Duke of Cambridge was at the Air Ambulance Charity in London to meet with air ambulance staff and a man whose life was saved by the charity. He was also named patron of the charity’s 30th anniversary campaign to highlight its delivery of life-saving treatments throughout London.

The news that Markle was not at the Sunday lunch followed rumors that Markle and Middleton put their differences behind them on Christmas Day. She has also been busy renovating their home, Frogmore Cottage, in Windsor and making final preparations of the birth of her first child in the spring.

In the midst of the drama within the royal family and with her own estranged family, Markle’s 2015 InStyle interview resurfaced. In it, the former Suits star discussed how she deals with drama.

“In life, in the office, in any of that, stay out of the drama,” she told InStyle at the time. “You’ll be endlessly happier for it. If you want to do that, save that for drinks after work with your girlfriends. But I would say don’t get involved in the inner-office politics.”

On her now-deleted lifestyle blog The Tig, Markle also wrote about the importance of finding “balance within your life.”

“That is one of the most important things,” she wrote. “So that means that your lunch break, you leave and go and get some fresh air. You don’t make your life your job. All of those things are so important — that you have a really full, flourishing life. I have to find that balance for myself as well between The Tig, my time on set or my time at home, I have to make the time to throw in a yoga class or walk my dogs or literally just turn it all off and meditate for a minute. I think you have to make time for yourself so that work doesn’t become the end-all be-all.”

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