Royal Christmas: Photos of Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Archie missing from Queen Elizabeth's main display

Queen Elizabeth II is set to give her annual Christmas speech as the year comes to a close. The recently released preview shows her making references to the challenges and difficulties the royal family endured this year. However, what is attracting more attention is missing photos of Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, their son Archie from the queen's desk display.

Queen Elizabeth II will address the Commonwealth Nations through her annual Christmas speech which will broadcast on BBC at 3:00 pm on Christmas Day. In her 67th Christmas message, the queen will apparently talk about what she describes as a "bumpy" year for the royal family and the nation. According to Daily Mail, the much-awaited speech will talk about national issues such as Brexit and the recent general elections. However, followers can also expect the 93-year-old monarch to make references about problems faced by her family.

As per the publication, in the last 12 months, the royal family made headlines for different issues such as Prince Philip's police probe for a car crash, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's battle with the British press, and Prince Andrew's interview about his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

"Small steps taken in faith and in hope can overcome long-held differences and deep-seated divisions to bring harmony and understanding. The path, of course, is not always smooth, and may at times this year have felt quite bumpy, but small steps can make a world of difference," the queen says in the preview.

Meanwhile, an official image from the queen's Christmas speech shows her sitting at her desk in Windsor Castle's Green Drawing Room. According to Harper Bazaar, she is dressed in Angela Kelly's royal blue dress pairing it up with pearl necklace, stud earrings, and a sapphire, diamond, and gold brooch which reportedly originally belonged to Queen Victoria as a gift from her husband Prince Albert.

Like every year, this year too, the queen's desk was adorned with a handful of frames consisting of photos of the members of the royal family. While her husband, Prince Philip, her son Prince Charles and Duchess Camila, Prince William, Kate Middleton and the rest of the Cambridge family, and her late father, King George VI can be seen smiling through the frame, notably absent are the pictures of Sussexes from the main display. This has definitely left the followers of the royal family wondering.

While the real reason behind exclusion remains unknown, it may not come as a surprise to Harry, Meghan, and Archie who chose to skip royal Christmas this year and spend time in the US. The couple missed pre-Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace as well as the celebrations at Sandringham estate as they spend time with Meghan's mother Doria Ragland.

In the meantime, for the first time, Prince George and Princess Charlotte will take part in the annual Christmas march to the church this year. The younger Cambridges especially third-in-line George is expected to play an important role this year in the great-grandmother's annual Christmas festivities.

"With key royals ill, absent or banished, the little prince will play a starring role in the queen's Christmas Day broadcast," said The Sunday Times' correspondent Roya Nikkah.