After the all-white royals appeared on the Buckingham Palace balcony on Saturday, they went inside the palace for a private reception and a lunch buffet. Apparently, neither the king or queen stuck around in London after that reception – Charles went to Highgrove several hours after the balcony wave, and Camilla likely went to Ray Mill. That’s curious, right? Well, before Charles and Camilla went their separate ways, Charles and William made speeches at the reception, and Charles made a reference to one of his two mixed-race grandchildren, the grandkids he did not invite to the coronation. The ones he evicted from their sole family home in the UK.

The King raised a glass to toast the fourth birthday of Prince Harry’s son Archie at Buckingham Palace yesterday in a moving to tribute to the grandson he has barely seen. Despite the ongoing acrimony with Harry, who was on a plane back to the US within hours of his father being crowned, emotional Charles made a point of mentioning his absent grandchildren as well as those present on his big day.

The poignant moment came at a private family gathering at the palace following his Westminster Abbey crowning and appearance on the balcony with Queen Camilla. It is understood that an invitation had been politely extended to Harry to join the family lunch but he decided to return to California to celebrate Archie’s big day.

A well-placed source said that, while most members of the Royal Family ‘breathed a sigh of relief’ that Harry didn’t join them, the King, 74, seemed ‘genuinely quite disappointed that he didn’t stay’.

Before they started eating, Prince William, 40, stood and congratulated his father on such a momentous day. Charles replied, thanking everyone who had worked hard to make the day so special.

The King raised a glass to his three grandchildren Prince George – who also served as a Page of Honour – Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, who were among the stars of the show and carried out their public appearances with aplomb. But he made a point of also toasting ‘those that weren’t there’ and wished his other grandson a very happy birthday ‘wherever he was’.

‘It was apparently a very sweet moment,’ the source said.

It is understood that as well as the King, Queen and members of the Royal Family, others present included Camilla’s close family – her sister Annabel, best friend, Lady Landsdowne, both of whom served as her attendants on the day, as well as her children, Tom Parker Bowles and Laura Lopes, and grandchildren, Lola, Freddy, Eliza, Louis and Gus. The Princess of Wales’s family were also invited, with her parents Michael and Carole Middleton and siblings Pippa and James present.

[From The Daily Mail]

“The King, 74, seemed ‘genuinely quite disappointed that he didn’t stay’” – Charles deserves a huge kick in the ass, my God. Charles only extended a reception invitation to Harry at the last minute, when it was clear that A) Meghan wasn’t coming and B) that Charles would look even worse by so openly snubbing and punishing his younger son. And Charles saying “wherever he was” – Charles knows where his grandson was. Archie was in Montecito, with his mother, enjoying his birthday. Archie had to be in Montecito because – AGAIN – Charles did not invite his mixed-race grandchildren to any part of the coronation. Charles made it abundantly clear that he was trying to pull focus from a four-year-old’s birthday.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Avalon Red.