Meghan Markle and Prince Harry snub BAFTAs amid bitter feud with Prince William

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were nowhere to be seen as celebrities stepped out in London for the 2024 BAFTA Awards.

Stars such as Fantasia Barrino, Paul Giamatti and David Tennant have arrived at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall for the award show. Even Harry’s brother Prince William is expected to attend the ceremony, although his wife Princess Kate will not join him as she continues to recover from her abdominal surgery.

The Prince of Wales is president of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). However, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex decided not to attend the BAFTAs after recently enjoying a trip to Canada. The couple spent three days in the country for the Invictus Games countdown and even enjoyed a double date night with Michael Bublé and his wife Luisana Lopilato.

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Meghan and Harry dined with Michael and Luisana at Vij’s in Vancouver, enjoying a cosy dinner date with spicy food, multiple courses and plenty of cocktails. Their double date is believed to have lasted three hours.

The restaurant has previously been visited by the Prince and Princess of Wales. Chef Vij revealed Harry and Meghan were “extremely friendly and nice” and said they took the time to speak to the kitchen staff who cooked their meal.

The restaurant shared a snap of the Duke and Duchess alongside Vij to Instagram as they wrote: “We were truly honored to have Prince Harry and Meghan dine with us at Vij’s last night.” The chef then revealed Meghan’s food preferences.

“They came and spoke to the kitchen staff, they were very respectful to let me choose the meal as the chef,” he wrote. “I said I was going to put something together for them. I asked them if there were any allergies or any things that she didn’t feel like having, and Meghan said, ‘I love spicy food.’ ”

At dinner, the group dined on a variety of dishes including goat meat, market shard, potato cream curry and little black chickpea cakes, which were served with rice and naan. Vij also revealed that Harry chose to sample the restaurant’s gin in a classic gin and tonic, with Meghan enjoying “a couple” of cocktails with her meal.

Harry and Meghan’s decision to skip this year’s BAFTAs comes after they were reportedly “not welcome” at last year’s star-studded BAFTA Tea Party in Los Angeles. The decision not to invite the couple was said to have been made amid their feud with the Royal Family.

Speaking to The Sun, a source said inviting to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would have been a mistake, given Harry’s estranged brother William is the president of BAFTA. “For them to roll out the red carpet to Harry and his wife would be like setting off a nuclear bomb,” the source said.

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