Prince Harry, Meghan Markle's pageant absence telling of 'frostiness,' says royal author

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's absence at the Platinum Jubilee Pageant on Sunday, June 5, is said to be telling of their strained relationship with the British royals.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex did not stay to watch the parade from Buckingham Palace along with the rest of the royals. Instead, they flew back to Los Angeles in the afternoon via a private plane. The 37-year-old was later photographed in a car with a sombre look on his face.

According to royal author Victoria Arbiter, the couple's absence is "quite telling" of their relationship with royals. Speaking on the Australian TV show "Sunrise," she said, "I think what is quite telling is the fact that Harry and Megan weren't at the concert at the Palace on Saturday night. They weren't at the pageant, and that speaks to there perhaps being an ongoing frostiness."

She noted that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex may not have the time to patch things up with the family because of the celebrations. She continued, "This was not the weekend in which there was going to be a lot of time for this family to come together and talk behind the scenes."

Arbiter added, "This family needs that private time behind the scenes, but the schedule was just incredibly intense."

She suspected that people may have hoped for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to stick around for a couple more days "in order to have some private bonding time with a family and opportunity perhaps to talk through their difficulties."

Instead, they left for California even before the Platinum Jubilee Pageant started. Arbiter thinks that the couple's decision to leave right away speaks of "ongoing tension."

"But in order for this to be resolved, all parties are going to want to have to talk, and perhaps they're not ready yet," she said.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle reportedly kept to their promise to keep a low profile during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. They only watched the Trooping the Colour parade on June 2 and attended the Thanksgiving Service at St. Paul's Cathedral on June 3, the latter being their first public appearance in the U.K. since Megxit.