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You NEED To See These Gorgeous Photos Of Meghan Markle & Prince Harry At Trooping The Colour
Their honeymoon may be over, but Meghan Markle and Prince Harry still had every bit as much of their newlywed glow while celebrating the Queen's birthday on Saturday, June 9, in London. As seen in the photos of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry at Trooping The Colour with the royal family on Buckingham Palace's iconic balcony, the Duchess of Sussex looked to be fitting in perfectly with her new family members.
In a move that'll likely give you flashbacks of the stunning Givenchy wedding gown she wore at her May 19 fairytale royal wedding, the photos show that Markle arrived via carriage with her new husband in an off-the-shoulder blush Carolina Herrera dress and Phillip Treacy fascinator. Every bit a modern-day princess, the fashion-forward American's beautiful look pushed the boundaries of the no flesh-baring royal fashion rules in the best way. But the royal family hardly gave their newest member the cold shoulder, with the group looking happy as ever and embracing Markle with open arms, figuratively, of course.
Standing on the balcony at Buckingham Palace, the Queen and members of her royal family — including Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and their children, Prince George of Cambridge and Princess Charlotte of Cambridge — gathered to watch a flyover by the Royal Air Force, a yearly tradition, according to Kensington Palace. (Sadly, William and Kate's 1-month-old Prince Louis of Cambridge missed the photo opp on the balcony, where we saw his parent's first kiss as a married couple in 2011.)
The Trooping The Colour festivities, the official celebration of the Queen's birthday, marks the couple's first official public appearance since returning from their post-wedding vacation just days ago. (FYI, The Queen actually turned 92 on April 21.) The royal couple's honeymoon destination has not been confirmed, but reports suggest they traveled to to Alberta, Canada, Namibia, and County Galway, Ireland's Ashford Castle.
During Markle's first Trooping the Colour, she followed her sister-in-law's lead in curtsying to the Queen. The show of respect will surely help break the ice when she joins her new grandmother-in-law as they travel together by the Royal Train to their their first solo outings together in northwest England's Cheshire on June 14.
The trip “is a really positive sign of favor, encouragement and endorsement by the Queen,” Robert Lacey, a historical consultant for Netflix's The Crown, recently told People. “I can’t think of a more striking signal and expression of welcome into the royal family for a new recruit. It shows the Queen’s excited by it.”
For the Queen's birthday parade, which is held yearly in June, the fanfare also included more than 1400 marching soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians. Sharing an amazing 1947 photo of the royal on the family's official Twitter account, Kensington Palace confirmed that the Queen has attended the event every year of her reign, except once in 1955 when it was cancelled due to a strike.
This, of course, was Markle's second official appearance as a royal, after attending Prince Charles' 70th birthday celebration with Harry on May 22 — in an ensemble strikingly similar to her Trooping The Colour look, by the way. You can see the Duchess' first outfit in the photo below.
While her husband gave a sweet speech in honor of his "Pa," Markle adorably shared giggles with her father-in-law a new mother-in-law Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall when a bumblebee interrupted the Duke of Sussex, per Town & Country.
“Sorry, that bee really got me,” Harry joked at the event, before recovering and finishing the tribute, as his family looked on lovingly.
While Markle has only had two official public events in the weeks following her and Harry's wedding, the evidence is clear that she is enjoying married life and fitting in with her new family quite beautifully.