Prince Harry, Meghan Markle's Jubilee appearance 'problematic' for royals, says author

The royals were said to have been cautious when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were around during the Platinum Jubilee because of concerns that anything they said could end up on TV.

Royal author Duncan Larcombe acknowledged that it was great to have the couple return to the U.K. for the celebrations. He said it showed that Queen Elizabeth II "obviously has a real soft spot for Harry."

However, he thinks that their presence could "have been tense and cast a bit of a shadow over the whole thing for the royals." He believes that the royals may have been concerned about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex spilling private details about the event in another explosive interview or in Prince Harry's upcoming memoir.

"It's unchartered territory for the royals, really – they've never had one of their own 'in bed' with streaming giants or publishing houses before," Larcombe wrote in his piece for Closer magazine.

He said that while the royal family "may have put on a united front, there will, without a doubt, have been a lot of tension, awkwardness, and wariness behind the scenes."

Larcombe claimed, "Ultimately, Harry and Meghan's presence will have been problematic, because of the fact that there has been a huge amount of trust broken. I can't imagine there would have been a great deal of interaction, or any heart-to-hearts, as the royals will wonder if anything they say may end up as a chapter in Harry's memoir, or on a future podcast."

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex only attended one public engagement during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. They joined the rest of the royal family at the Thanksgiving Service at St. Paul's Cathedral on June 3.

But they did not publicly interact with Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince Charles, Camilla, and the rest of the senior royals. They were seated at the opposite end of the cathedral with the rest of the non-working royals, including sisters Princess Beatrice and Eugenie with their respective husbands.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle did not even get to have a photo taken of their daughter Lilibet's first meeting with Queen Elizabeth II. Palace aides reportedly refused to have their photographer capture the moment over concerns the pictures could end up on a U.S. TV network.