Why so many royals missed Lady Gabriella Windsor's wedding

From Cosmopolitan

Almost exactly one year on from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal wedding, St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle played host to another set of nuptials when Lady Gabriella Windsor married Thomas Kingston.

Lady Gabriella, whose father Prince Michael of Kent is first cousins with Queen Elizabeth, looked stunning as she arrived at the castle in the first of four wedding dresses. The high society wedding saw lots of familiar faces, including Prince Harry, Pippa Middleton, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. But while there was definitely a royal quota filled, there were also several notable royals absent from the day's celebrations. Here are the excuses they probably used when they declined the RSVP:

Prince William

Prince William is President of the FA Cup (and also a massive football fan), which meant he was required to attend Saturday's FA Cup Final between Manchester City and Watford, where he presented the trophy to Manchester City after a 6-0 win. With kick off being at 5pm at Wembley Stadium, the Duke of Cambridge was unable to make it to Windsor and get across London with enough time to be at the football match, so he was a no-show at the wedding. He didn't make an appearance at the evening reception, held at new London restaurant Wild by Tart, either.

Kate Middleton

We knew Prince William wasn't going to attend the wedding, but thought Kate Middleton may have shown up regardless, considering the rest of her family were invited. Thomas Kingston is actually an ex-boyfriend of Kate's sister Pippa, who turned up to the ceremony along with her husband, James Matthews, her brother, James Middleton, and her parents, Carole and Michael. Kate, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen. While we don't know for certain why she decided not to attend, it was probably a mix of having three children to look after (and now Prince Louis is walking, she'll be doing lots of running around after him) and also being the day before the launch of her Back to Nature Garden as part of the Chelsea Flower Show. The garden is intended to inspire children, families and communities to get outside and enjoy nature for all the benefits it can have on our physical and mental wellbeing.

Princess Eugenie

Princess Beatrice arrived at Lady Gabriella Windsor's wedding along with her boyfriend, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, and her mum, Sarah Ferguson. But while Princess Eugenie and husband Jack Brooksbank would usually have gone with them, the newlyweds didn't show up. According to HELLO!, it's because the couple had planned a holiday before they knew the date of the 2019 royal wedding. Princess Eugenie didn't forget about her cousin's nuptials whilst sunning herself, however. She posted a picture of Gabriella and Tom on Instagram, writing "Congratulations dear Ella and Tom!! You look absolutely stunning."

Meghan Markle and Archie Mountbatten-Windsor

Prince Harry's arrival at St George's Chapel was something of a surprise. Despite living a stone's throw from the venue, it was assumed the Prince might not want to leave wife Meghan Markle and new baby son, Archie. That wasn't the case for Harry, but Meghan and Archie stayed put at Frogmore Cottage. Considering the newborn is only two weeks old, he would be too young to bring to a wedding, and new mum Meghan (who's probably breastfeeding) wouldn't want to be away from him at such an important time. It's thought the next time we'll see baby Archie is when he's christened; although we don't have a firm date for that yet, it's expected it'll be in a couple of months' time.

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