Over the Memorial Day weekend, the British tabloid media was full of stories about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Hilariously, Meghan and Harry haven’t told palace aides their plans, so the aides don’t have any solid information to leak to the tabloids. So the aides are just whining about how Harry and Meghan better not do anything to “distract” from the Queen, forgetting the fact that they’re the ones trying to leak sh-t about the Sussexes (which distracts from the Queen). In any case, it’s abundantly clear that the Queen is absolutely delighted that her favorite grandson (I said what I said) is bringing his children back to the UK. Aides sniffed at the idea that the Queen would deign to attend a birthday party for Lilibet, but aides also believe that the Queen is going to do like ten events in four days? It’s ridiculous. So yet another outlet spoke to additional royal sources, and now they’re admitting that yeah, the Queen probably will spend some private time with the Sussexes. LOL.

The Queen has freed up her diary to attend a ­possible first birthday party for Lilibet — Harry and Meghan’s daughter named in her honour. Her Majesty, 96, is likely to miss her favourite sporting event, the Derby, on Saturday — the day her great granddaughter turns one.

Aides are making every effort to manage Her Majesty’s diary so as not to tire her. She has been at Craigowan Lodge, her Highlands bolthole with its own wheelchair-friendly lift on her Balmoral Estate.

Sources close to the Queen say it is becoming “increasingly unlikely” she will travel to Epsom for the Derby after all three of her horses pulled out of the race. Efforts had been made to ensure she could get to the royal box on the big day but palace sources tell The Sun it will be called off. The Queen, who will remain in Scotland until the middle of the week, will also miss Thursday’s official Trooping the Colour salute. She will instead appear twice on the Buckingham Palace balcony — once to receive a salute from returning guardsmen and then with family for the RAF flypast.

[From The Sun]

The Queen has apparently only missed the Derby twice during her reign, but I think this was always going to be the case, where she would cancel her appearance this year. It’s one thing to make very stage-managed appearances at the Royal Windsor Horse Show (which is actually on the Windsor Castle complex) and quite another to be out at a horse event in public, without the ability to completely control her surroundings and everything else. I doubt QEII was ever going to go to the Derby this year. My guess is that Harry and Meghan already invited her to a private birthday party for Lilibet on Saturday. I’m also starting to wonder if the Queen’s coziness with the Sussexes is exactly why she was sent to Scotland ahead of the Jubbly. Those aides didn’t want the photos of the Queen racing over to Frogmore as soon as the Sussexes arrived.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.